Recovery from Re-Surfacing Questions -- 12 days post-op

[ajw]

Hello everyone, I am 12 days post op with Dr Gross and feeling great.  I am moving around well with a cane and doing normal life stuff (going to work, driving.etc…) I do, however, have 2 questions/concerns:


1.  If you asked me what hurt the most I would not say my hip or my incision, rather I would say my IT band!  It is screaming at me like I am a newbie runner.  Has anyone had experience with this?  I am guessing it's the result of the fixed hip and the "re-programming" that my muscles and tendons are going through but I wonder if there is anything I can do?  In normal circumstances I would foam roll the crap out of it but that might not be the smartest thing to do.  Any advice would be appreciated.


2.  My discharge instructions say I can begin upper body strength workouts two weeks post op as long as I don't do any pushing with my legs and I don't flex hip to 90 degrees.  Anybody have advice on this?  Not surprisingly I am anxiously looking forward to working out again.


Thanks.


Andy Jones-Wilkins

[John C]

IT band issues are very common after resurfacing. Foam rollers are often the solution, though at only 12 days out, you would need to be careful about the positions you go through in using it, and would probably want to stay well away from the incision area. As always, it is a good idea to run it by Lee Webb beforehand to be sure that you are cleared by her or Dr Gross.
As far as exercise, as soon as I was cleared to get into a pool, I went in every day for a great workout. Great therapy for the hip, and swimming laps is awesome for the upper body and cardio.

[chuckm]

I remember pain on the outside of the thigh from just above the knee to about half way up to the hip. It really felt like someone had kicked me there right in the muscle and it was very sensitive just to touch lightly. Nothing had much affect on it including icing. It lasted about a month and then faded quickly.

Day 12 is so early. You are likely to experience lots of unexplained pains anywhere on your body that will just need time to come and go.

Chuckm

[blinky]

Hey John C, about the post op swimming....


How did you have to modify if at all? Could you do flip turns? Did you push more gently off the wall?  What strokes did you do?


Thanks!

[John C]

Hi Blinky,
I used all strokes, since nothing seemed to violate any post surgery restrictions. Some people have expressed caution about the frog kick in breast stroke, so I just modified the kick to a more limited range of motion for awhile. The flip turn however would certainly violate any 90 degree restrictions that some surgeons use for varying periods post surgery, so I would think that you would want to check with your surgeon before doing that.
There are a lot of pool exercises that you can do besides just laps. In the early stages of recovery, walking forward and backwards in waist deep water is great for working on stride mechanics. Running in waist to chest deep water is great for zero impact lower body cardio, as well as getting back smooth range of motion. Holding on to the side of the pool and doing forward, backward, and lateral leg movements is fantastic PT. You can very the resistance by varying the speed.
For myself, I have found that spending an hour or so in the pool each day (once your surgeon has cleared you to go in the water), is some of the best and most valuable PT that you can do post hip surgery.

[Clarkefan]

I too suffered IT band pain, though not significant. Time helped.

As for upper body, I hit the gym about 2 weeks out. I was very careful to select machines that did not violate my precautions (there are quite a few), and I opted for low weight/high rep to get that more "cardio-like" burn that I was missing. One bit of advice. I found attempting dips and pulls-ups unpleasant. The weight of the leg pulling itself down -- at least for the first month or two -- was a bit much.

[BAM]

I'll second (or third) the swimming recommendation -- I was cleared to be back in the pool both times within three weeks (Dr. Gross patient) and it helped me immensely, physically and more importantly, mentally, to be DOING something.  I stayed away from flip turns and breaststroke for 6 months, but did a lot of kicking drills, jogging, and a ton of yoga-type stuff which all felt great and I really think helped speed up recovery. 


Fellow runner here and I struggled awfully with IT band after the left side surgery; interestingly not after the right (first.)  Lots of stretches until about 8 weeks out when the ladies at Dr. Gross' office said I could lightly use the foam roller.  Have you looked into rolfing or cold laser therapy?  That helped expedite my healing and the muscle issues. 


Good luck -- you're just getting started :)

[MattJersey]

Mr McMinn recommends, after X-ray/check up at six weeks (so about eight weeks), breastroke, building steadily, as one of the best exercises you can do to regain a strong flexible hip.