Impatient

[oldsoccerplayer]

I'm just a few days shy of 4 weeks post-op (left hip resurfacing, Dr Gross) and got a great deal of encouragement from seeing such an active and supportive community here.
I'm walking independently but get frustrated because I can't bend over enough to put my left sock & shoe on without help and start wondering if this is my new reality. It seems like impatience is enemy #1 in the healing process, so I assume my physical and mental conditions are normal and I just need to give it some more time.

[Anna]

Hi,

I'm behind you at only 11 days post op but it sounds like you are doing really really great. I know very few people who can put their socks on at 4 weeks post op!!! It is not your new reality. This is a major operation and you have only just started your recovery. I hear it takes one year + to fully get back to normal so give yourself some slack!

Good luck, Anna

[Juno]

Sounds like you're doing great! Try to be patient. Reality is coming! I am just 5 1/2 weeks post op with Dr. Gross and just  had my 6 week ( did it one week early) check up. I've made great strides in just 3-4 days since seeing him and Lee in the office. I've been working on the 6 week exercises and after 3 days of those I can bend over to tie my shoes. There is something so reassuring about having that X-ray and them telling you everything looks good.

I will say they both told me to back off 20% -- both thought I was doing a little too much. In fact Lee said that if she opened me back up today, the joint would be bloody, inflamed and still in early healing stages. She said it really takes several months to fully heal the tissues.

Being a Gross hippy you still are dealing with the 90 degree rule. Give yourself another two weeks and you will see a difference.

It's amazing the difference from week 4 to week 5 1/2. Even sleeping has vastly improved.
You can do it!!

[hernanu]

I'm just a few days shy of 4 weeks post-op (left hip resurfacing, Dr Gross) and got a great deal of encouragement from seeing such an active and supportive community here.
I'm walking independently but get frustrated because I can't bend over enough to put my left sock & shoe on without help and start wondering if this is my new reality. It seems like impatience is enemy #1 in the healing process, so I assume my physical and mental conditions are normal and I just need to give it some more time.

 

So many of us were impatient with recovery, myself included.

The problem is not the surgery or your healing, but the typical type A personality we have here. The biggest challenge we all have is patience. Our typical strategies for achieving what we want are not applicable.

You need to let things heal. Then push it. As a soccer player, you are used to pushing yourself; in this case pushing early is not the right approach. As far as putting on socks at four weeks, I used my handy dandy sock putter onner for at least six weeks.

Your reality is not where you are now. I'm doing yoga and keeping up with people who have done it for years. I'm also doing martial arts kicks with abandon and yes, playing soccer.

So let it flow, your sock impaired days will soon be behind you.

[Bill27]

Im from Pa and Geisinger hospital did mine. James Woodmier , mine is a metal on metal bearing surface, he has done 41 resurfacings in 3 years. Im at 12 weeks Thursday, and still have a hard time putting my left sock on.. Still in a lot of pain at times , depending on what I do.. Sometimes it doesn't take much and im really hurting . I had 2 spurs on my ball and a sleeve had grew up around it which they chiseled off.  Seems like arthuritis pain is the pain Im having . Any of  you having really bad arthuritis pain? And if they grind the arthritic part away , I wonder why Im having such bad pain..  At 12 weeks I still have to take alot of pain meds.. Starting to wonder if a resurfacing was the wrong way to go.. My strength is starting to come back so therapy is helping but rotation is still far from where it should be.. I went 9 years with less then half rotation so maybe it will take along time to get it back.. I can currently bring it to about a 90 degree towards my chest .. My therapist says normal is 115 and most people usually get at least 100-110 back..

[patm]

Of course everyone is different in what shape their joint was in before surgery, surgeon, recovery etc., but you certainly sound within normal limits for 4 weeks. I am fascinated by the differences in limitations during recovery depending on what surgeon you had. I had Dr.Brooks, and from all accounts I have heard that he is very conservative with your rehab- however my only real restrictions are 75% weight bearing for 6 weeks  ( ON 2 CRUTCHES!) and no supine straight leg raises. They encouraged us to sit and bend over as far as we could the day after surgery. I can put on socks by just bending over , but just recently was able to cross my surgical leg over my other leg and put lotion on my foot- I can cross my leg fairly easily, but couldn't bend forward to touch my foot- now, by bending forward as best I can and twisting my foot as much as I can, I can get that lotion on!

[oldsoccerplayer]

Interesting post, Pat when I compare our experiences. I was lucky that my bone density on the operated side was good enough to be weight-bearing almost immediately, so I was on crutches for one week and a cane for another week, and since then I'm walking unassisted.
On the other hand, I still can't cross over my surgical leg to get my socks on the 'normal' way. I can just about bend down far enough to loop the mouth of the sock over my big toe then stretch it across the rest of the toes until it covers all of them. Then I kind of wiggle the sock around until it comes all the  way up. I'm assuming this is a temporary condition.

[Jason0411]

Your sock putting on technique is so familiar to me and I bet most people who didn't have the magic sock putter onner. In a few weeks you will look back and think what was I worried about.

But please don't over do things through frustration, I did and made things very difficult for myself. Nearly buggered it up completely. So steady on and let your body heal.

[patm]

Dr.Brooks has the 6 week 75% weight- bearing for everyone, regardless of bone density- just a more conservative approach. Since I am an older female - 58 - I'm just glad I was appropriate for the surgery. Dr. B said my bone size was the same as man my height would be. So I didn't mind the more conservative rehab ( well, not too much anyways) I also have a bad left knee ( right hip surgery) so I think it appreciates the slower approach too. The one thing that did drive me crazy was 2 weeks on the air compression devices form ankle to just below knee- hot,slimy,annoying, have to carry the little pump device with you - but No Blood Clots!

[Bill27]

Anyone help me with my post in post 4 ?

[chuckm]

Bill, I would say you are on the slow side. If the pain you speak of is not SHARP but more like arthritis pain as you describe, then its probably nothing serious (at least this early).

But here is what happens. During surgery, after they install the new resurfacing device, the surgeon flexes your leg all over to see that it can go where it should - knee to chest, backwards, to the side, etc. Once you wake up from surgery, you won't bend your hip like that anymore because now you can feel the discomfort. It can go there, you just have discomfort.

At my three week check up, my surgeon took my foot and knee and tried to bring it up to my chest and I tell you it made me groan and pushed him away the pain was so bad. He was so angry at me and said I have to get this flexibility like he ordered now or the tissue will be too stiff once it has healed. He said there is going to be lots of discomfort trying to regain flexibility but that is much different than sharp pain that could mean something wrong.

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME: I had found that trying to bring my left knee up to my chest like my surgeon asked required more strength than I could apply for a 20 second hold. I actually got into the passenger side of my wife's car, bent my op-side knee and placed it against the dashboard and pressed the electric control to bring the seat slowly forward. VOILA! It was like having a stretching partner who could help you hold a stretch. I only did this maybe five times total, but the result was great. After that I had enough flexibility that I could lean my body weight over to hold the stretch.

So the point is that my early flexibility was something I had to force and it was not comfortable. But each new bit of range that I achieved really helped reduce a lot of other "pains".

Don't know if I helped or not.

Chuckm

[Bill27]

Thanks Chuck, the pain I have most of the time is not a sharp pain however today , and some yesterday I did have some sharp pain. I started back to work Monday ( Light Duty) just driving forklift , well I think the forklift is really irritating it.. Today I almost had to come home early it was that bad.. Now tomorrow I had to take off cause I really don't think I could handle another day like the last couple.. I ran out of prescription meds and been taking 1200-1600 mg of ibaprophen and 1000-1500 of tylanol a day , which I know cant be good for you.. I honestly think I have more arthuritis pain now then before surgery.. Just would like to know what the Arthuritis pain is coming from ??

[oldsoccerplayer]

@Bill27 - I recommend you see a health care professional asap. This forum is great for general advice and comparing experiences but with your level of pain and discomfort I think it's beyond what anyone here can offer. Part of the recovery process is stressing over whether your healing is on schedule and seeking professional advice would help there too.

@PatM - we are the same age but I don't consider myself an "older male". I call myself "oldsoccerplayer" because not many guys my age are still active in that particular sport. If you were a candidate for this procedure you should not be calling yourself an "older" anything!

[patm]

OSP-just meant "older" for this surgery- when I saw the doc last Feb. wasn't sure if I would have my knee or hip done first- he said- concerning my hip - don't put it off too long - I think being female makes a difference

[chuckm]

Bill27, now that you mention how many pain meds you are on I agree with Oldsoccerplayer about getting to see a healthcare pro.
Having that "sleeve" around the hip before surgery makes me think you might be someone susceptible to developing Heterotopic Ossification which will give you arthritic like pain.

Chuckm

[Bill27]

Yes chuck a Sleeve had grown up around the ball and they chiseled that off.. Well I did end up seeing my doc Sept 4th.. He says my pain is coming from my back.. So he sent me for x ray and my l5 s1 disc is pretty much gone which he says is why I have pain in my hip and leg and goes down into my foot.. At this point im not sure to believe him or not.. My back does hurt all the time but the pain I have allot of times I feel is in my hip and rest of my whole leg.... Thing is , as each week goes by , it seems like im taking less meds every week.. So kinda makes me think pain is really coming from hip yet and for whatever reason im just taking along time to heal.. He has me doing therapy for my back now which I don't think is helping and im going to be seeing a reg doc that specializes with back oct 7th. If it is back pain to then I hope they can do something with it..

[oldsoccerplayer]

Bill,
I had a herniated disc a few years ago and one of the symptoms was a pinching sensation around the hip. I had a similar symptom when the hip arthritis flared up and at first I thought it was a recurrence of the disc problem.
One of the differences was that with the hip arthritis the pain only radiated down as far as my knee, with the disc problem it was all way down my leg.
I don't claim to have any expertise in diagnostics but I wouldn't necessarily dismiss the thinking that the disc is the culprit.

[hernanu]

Yes chuck a Sleeve had grown up around the ball and they chiseled that off.. Well I did end up seeing my doc Sept 4th.. He says my pain is coming from my back.. So he sent me for x ray and my l5 s1 disc is pretty much gone which he says is why I have pain in my hip and leg and goes down into my foot.. At this point im not sure to believe him or not.. My back does hurt all the time but the pain I have allot of times I feel is in my hip and rest of my whole leg.... Thing is , as each week goes by , it seems like im taking less meds every week.. So kinda makes me think pain is really coming from hip yet and for whatever reason im just taking along time to heal.. He has me doing therapy for my back now which I don't think is helping and im going to be seeing a reg doc that specializes with back oct 7th. If it is back pain to then I hope they can do something with it..

I think that's a good move. Any time anything feels wrong, even if nothing comes of it, I go in to see my doctor, even at three years.

It also is good to get a second opinion about the hip itself if you don't feel like you're fully satisfied.  There is nothing wrong with being your own best advocate.

[chuckm]

I had debilitating low back pain for 2-3 years and saw 4 different reputable surgeons and a pain doctor as well. They all found moderate OA but nothing unusual for a 42 year old.
Finally one surgeon ordered an xray of my hips which showed severe OA left and moderate right. He said that was the problem. 
Got my left hip resurfaced and back has been normal ever since I passed the third month post op.

[Bill27]

Thanks guys for helpful info. Hopefully i find out something monday when i see back surgeon . Im at like 4.5. Months po so can't see the pain really coming from My resurfaced hip yet.