clicking/popping in the hip

[Magnus]

First and foremost...thanks for all the feedback on my previous post.  I am 4 weeks post surgery and doing great.  i am completly pain free with the exception of some discomfort around the incision.  I had a walker for a day, crutches for 3 days, and then a cane for about 4 days.  thru physical therapy and alot of ice...I lost my limp after 3 weeks.  And...sleeping like a baby again.

The question I have is that I am having alot of clicking and popping in my hip.   My doctor said it is normal since it is metal on metal and will eventually subside, (but wont completely go away) as I get my strength back.  Has anyone else had this problem and does it actually go away?   

Would value your input

thanks


Magnus

[Pat Walter]

Hi

A lot of people have clicking, clunking, etc.

I had a lot of clunking.  You would feel it more than hear it.  My doctor told me that is was because the muscles were lose around the new hip.  It eventually pretty much went away.  I am almost 3 years post op and I still sometimes get a slight clunk when I bend just right.

It normally does go away for most people.  It is just there in the begining to remind you of the great new hip you got - sorta talking to you!!!  ::)

Good Luck.

Pat

[obxpelican]

I had strange noises early on that went a way.  I've read lots of people with noise problems and I believe most of them with time went away.  I've heard some of that is your muscles needing to become stronger.

I would not worry, unless the noise is accompanied by sharp pain.  


The fact that you are pain free is a big positive, if it were me I would not worry.  


Chuck

[JohnS]

Magnus,
I too had/have clicks and cluncks.  My wife could hear them, I couldn't 'cause I've got a hearing loss, but I could feel them.  They didn't seem to occur for any particular movement but seemed random.  As I understand it (not a medical or scientific explaination), since your muscles and tendons are somewhat streteched out, the is more room for movement in the new joint.  As you strengthen the muscles and the tendons return to normal, it will reduce the room for movement.  I'm 5 weeks post-op and the cluncks occur much less frequently.

Again, Happy Holidays and/or Merry Christmas.

JohnS (RBHR 11/19/08)

[John C]

I had lots of clicks and major clunks for the first month or so. Now at six months, it is pretty much gone. Sometimes when I first get up, there is a very subtle feeling of a clicking when walking, but once I am up and out the door, it is completely gone. Sometimes I will get a faint clicking feeling when doing some of the turning movements in Tai Chi, but is not there during skiing, jogging, or biking.
To quote my doctor when I asked him if it goes away eventually, his reply "it is a metal joint" :-\, but that it would get better and better, and that with time he no longer hears people talk about it. I guess that is good. :)

[obxpelican]

I actually forgot this, I do not know how I forgot it.   I did have one day when I had some clicks.  I do not know if it was the cold or the over use of my hip, but in November while casting for stripers I do remember feeling a click a couple of times.

I wonder if it's possible, somehow that the cold had something to do with it.  In November I would have been 3 months and a few weeks post-op.

I cannot believe I did not remember that.  Well, I finally did remember.

Anyone else experience some clicks once your body got out in the cold?


Chuck

[John C]

I must admit that I was concerned about how my new hip would perform in the cold, but I am happy to say that it has no affect. Temperatures have been averaging between five below to five above zero when I go up on the mountain over the last couple of weeks, and there is no stiffness or additional clicking associated with the cold so far.

[stevel]

My car got stuck on a hill in about 8 inches of fresh snow today.  I shoveled in front of the wheels and my nephew towed to get the car out.  At about 34 F, I experienced no clicking at 3 months post-op LBHR.

[sgoulet]

I am now 14 days post-op from a right hip resurfacing.  I am walking without the need for a cane or crutches.  Now I am not walking miles and miles, but getting around the house and occasional walks around the block are relatively easy for me once I get up out of my chair or couch and work out the initial kinks and stiffness.

I do have a considerable amount of clicking and shifting as I walk around.  I feel it when I turn and pivot and intermittently when I walk.  There is no pain associated with the clicking, but it obviously feels weird and gives me the feeling that something is coming loose.  After reading countless posts on this topic, my fears have been allayed.

Steve

[percy hipkiss]

I have had clicks and clunks for a few years now and I'm still waiting for the ops!

Left one clicks almost all of the time - I'm told it doesn't mean anything but the odd times it doesn't click or clunk I have little or no pain/ache/stiffness.

Right leg doesn't click at all.

Did many of you have these clicks and clunks before the op?

percy

[obxpelican]

The clicking was what told me I needed surgery.  If I soaked in a tub and moved around a bit I could make it click anytime I wanted.

I would not worry.


Chuck

[Mudpro]

I'm at 3 weeks.

I had a clicking sensation before surgery which was accompanied by pain, which I was informed was caused by bone spurs.  Since the surgery the clicking is completely gone (so is that pain, thank God), but I've had a good share of "clunking" which is an entirely different sensation and one which I am concluding is simply the two metal components touching each other.  I too get the clunking experience more often when I twist or turn a little.  I suspect / hope that once everything that was detached and then re-attached begins to heal and the muscles develop back their strenth that it will hold things in place a bit better and the odd "clunking" sensation will diminish.

At first it was a little disconserting, but since there is no pain associated with the "clunking" I've just said, "what the heck...

This issue is on my list of items to discuss with the surgeon at my 6 week visit.

[wayne-0]

For anyone who has had clicking or clunking did it start right away after surgery or did it start days/weeks after. I'm asking because I never felt any of that but right into my sixth week post op I started to get a very subtle click now and then.
                                                 Wayne

[Mudpro]

For anyone who has had clicking or clunking did it start right away after surgery or did it start days/weeks after. I'm asking because I never felt any of that but right into my sixth week post op I started to get a very subtle click now and then.
                                                 Wayne

My bone "click" (painful bone on bone) went away with the surgery, the "clunking" (non-painful metal on metal) sensation was noticed as soon as I tried walking the first few times.

[fenceman]

I didn't notice my clicking/clunking until 3-4 weeks post op.  That was when I started using my leg more naturally.  It has continued through 18 weeks but has almost completely subsided.

I too worried about it until I read about how common it was on this site.

Happy New Year
Bill

[sgoulet]

For anyone who has had clicking or clunking did it start right away after surgery or did it start days/weeks after. I'm asking because I never felt any of that but right into my sixth week post op I started to get a very subtle click now and then.
                                                 Wayne

Wayne,

My clicking started about day 5 or 6 of post op.  It progressive got worse (clicked on every step) through day 16 or 17 and now it seems to be subsiding a little.  I am now on day 22 post op. 

There is no pain associated with the clicking but still have muscle pain in the entire front of my thigh.

Steve

[wayne-0]

Thanks for responding to my question you guys. I don't feel like the lone soldier anymore.
                                                 Wayne

[John C]

I would like to encourage everyone to put there info onto the "Clicking and Clunking" poll that Pat has started under "Recovery Issues".
Thanks,

John

[takilasunrise]

I'm almost 1 year post-op and I still have clunking, but not very often.  Just depends on how I move.  It seems to mostly happen when I'm sitting and I go to change my position.  Just a few weeks ago, I was sitting at the dining room table, and I went to reposition myself (bring leg forward) and I actually felt like it got stuck for a couple of seconds and it caused quite a bit of pain!  My mom said she got worried because of the look on my face.  It kind of scared me, and I "flashbacked" to my old pain.  But I seem to be ok and nothing came out of it.  I will bring it up at my next doctor appt., though!