ROM (Range of Motion)--What Is Good?

[stevenp]

I've seen many posts here discussing ROM concerns, and I'm not sure what is good or bad for ROM.

For me (5 weeks post-op), I can just touch my toes and hope to expand that further so my hand hits the floor. (Quads are a bit tight I guess). Lying down, I can just touch my knee to my head, and with heels to my butt, I can comfortably spread my knees a bit more than 90 degrees (not quite as far as before).  Everything is a little more restricted than a few years back, but not significantly so. Is this typical restricted range, or do some people have more severely limited ranges? I haven't seen much detailed description of actual motion ranges.

One thing I would recommend for any recovery (after the initial healing) is YOGA. Not the "health-club yoga" stuff, but real, self-paced yoga. I used to do a lot back in my 20's and have been rediscovering it.  I'm not doing anything involving bearing weight on my hip, but gentle stretches in various directions (mostly while lying down).  In 'real' yoga (as I know it), the focus is on paying attention to every sensation, not pushing past points of resistance, spending lots of time on even simple stretches, and using breathing to relax those resistance points. It is NOT about forcing yourself to get to the same position the instructor or picture is showing.

I strongly recommend any of the Yoga books by Richard Hittleman. His introductory comments are very important, where he emphasizes the importance of not forcing things, and of relaxing in each posture wherever your body is at that time. Forme, I'm not doing any advanced postures yet, and nothing that feels uncomfortable. Only basic stretches, and only tothe point where I begin to feel resistance.

[cgraves]

RT Hip Resurfacing
Now 4 months post operation
Recovery has been slow and painfull
As my prior posts have noted ROM has been a major problem and matter of concern

Walking without pain 20 to 30 minutes per day
Even go for a 2-3 hour easy trail hike on weekends
Hitting the weights for the legs 2-3 times per week
Engaged the services of a personal trainer who us also a chiropractor.
ROM is improving quickly, except for hip flexion.
Still cannot tie the shoes easily.
I believe soft tissue tightness and muscel  imbalance is a significant cause.
Much progress being made last several weeks.
I have finally come to believe that I will end with a good hip.

The leg ended up a little longer, about 6 mm longer than the left.
This has been very hard, much work.
I would still do this again.

The big lessons:
do your homework before the surgery
work hard
be patient
work hard

[Pat Walter]

cgraves

I am glad your are being able to do more and have less pain.

Hopefully, you will eventually get your ROM back.  You defiinitely must have had some kind of muscle issue since it has been difficult for you.  It is good that you have a trainer working with you.

Good Luck.

Pat

[Eurocard]

I think this ROM thing may become an issue for me as I haves struggled with doing up my shoes for a few years before the LHR.  Hasa anyone a similar experience, and can I expect a significant improvement post surgery and if so what kind of timescale am I looking at.  7 days out of surgery I am feeling good, taking it slow, some swelling in leg and some muscular discomfort, I will be increasing my amount of walking (2 crutches) from tomorrow.

[DirkV]

Hi Eurocard,
Glad to hear your surgery went well, and it sounds like you are already having a great recovery. Congrats!
I'm somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2 yrs post-op bilateral. I'm very active riding bicycle (approx 10 hr/wk) and hiking and playing family badminton and stuff like that. I can say that ROM has been my biggest recovery challenge. Forward/backward has been easier than sideways/lateral. I do some stretching, maybe a couple times a week, but I really lack patience to work on stretching/ROM like I do cycling training.
That said, I was stretching today, and can touch hands - almost flat palm - to floor, and do a curl touching knees to forehead, among others. It comes back with time, and of course, the more you work at it, the sooner it comes back. I recall posting in the months after surgery how it's a funny way to chart recovery progress - by toenail clippings. What was a struggle the month before gets easier and easier as months go by, until at some point after many months, it becomes a mundane task again.

Before surgery, I played hockey as goaltender, ever since I was a kid. It's a position that requires fairly extreme lateral ROM, and I know I'm still a ways away from my pre-surgery state (well a few years presurgery) when it comes to lateral ROM. Like I said, I don't work stretching really hard, and I think it's fine for most any endeavor, just not goaltending. And I do notice continued improvement even after 1 1/2 yrs.

Keep up the good work. You'll be tying shoes with ever increasing ease, but it does seem to take 2-4 week intervals to notice slight improvement. They cut and traumatized a lot of muscles in there. Those muscles need to heal; they need to strengthen. I'm somewhat surprised, but happily so, to still be noticing improvements a year and 1/2 out.

I look forward to hearing about your continued good recovery.
-Dirk