hi all, im new here, after just discovering this most helpful forum. im an Aussie on the far north coast of
nsw, male 50 yrs into fishing and golf both of which have been missed sorely in the past 12 months or so ...

im up for my resurface job on the 8th Feb.(right side),(not far away now after having waited over 12 months on our public health list we have here), i suffer with severe sciatica in my left leg and occasionally both,as with most sciatic pain it does move around from day to day and hour to hour. my question is ,has anyone here got or had the same problem and how does or did it effect your op and recovery  ??

cheers all    Maxi

Maxi, I do not have sciatica, but I do have a compressed spine with some stenosis in my neck, but as yet not in my back. I have had a back injury longer than arthritis in my hips.

Recovery from the operation was quite easy, and I feel that walking evenly again took a great stress off my back.

Though, as I have increased in mobility since, I realise that my back is still in a poor state and might well need some surgery in the future.

So resurfacing might give you some relief, but it will not cure your back. You will get a working hip and great mobility.

D.

While we're on the topic of nerves, (maybe I should post this separately), but my neighbor who just got an RS maybe THR in Dec. says she's still got some numbness in her leg, and expects to have some for a few months, maybe a year.  Is that common to have some nerve damage from surgery?  Also, I have numbness in a few places now from impingement, inflamation, bone pushing on a nerve?, who knows exactly.  I'll be getting an RS on the numbish leg and I'm hoping that that will go away.  Thoughts?

Also, sciatica is common with Dad and bro and I think it has more to do with narrowing of the vertebrate, than it does any leg issues. 

BTW - with the poor posture from rusty hinges, my back gets way more strain than it used to before the hinges went bad. 

thanks for the replies guys.

loppy ... i have neck dramas as well, and like u the back, and neck, has been a prob well before the hip ....

sounds as if we have similar probs...

i have a knee prob as well, (right) so to get the biggy done first may help the others.. i am trying to avoid back surgery at this point, but time will tell. (have been told i need it) ...

thanks muchly for your replies ...  :-*

I have both. For some people the HR helps to reduce some of the off mechanics and improved back and knee problems in time. I'm 5 1/2 months out but still have the sciatica coming from a herniated disk. There was a bit of balancing in PT for the two separate problems and both doctors are aware of both situations. Now my hip is no longer getting worse so focus is on the back. Some people do get nerve problems from the surgery but they usually go away on their own.

Tin Soldier,

I had the numbness in my leg (front) all the way down to my foot prior to surgery. After surgery, once all of the surgical pain was gone, I realized I had no more numbness. I think you will be surprised at how good you feel each week post surgery...it only gets better with time.

June

June and others - that's very good to hear.  I can't expect to be feeling like an 18yr old after HR, so I won't have too high of expectations.  I am just hopeful that re-balancing after both hips have recovered, will reduce the strain on my back and reduce some of the weird nerve pain I get under my knee cap and on the side of my calf. 

Like I've said before, this whole hip thing wouldn't be a problem if I sat in an easy chair for the rest of life, but who wants to do that?

Actually, I'm looking forward to a "vacation" during recovery and getting some sweet recliner action.  I'm going to dig through my kid's video game stash.

I know the recliner will get old. 

Good Luck to you! Before surgery, sitting, sleeping, or driving were awful for me. Hated to go to the movies. I actually felt less pain or numbness if I was moving. All that is gone now and I have been able to sit through a movie without pain! You will wish you had found out about this surgery years sooner or been able to get referred to a surgeon for it. I sure wish I had known about this 3 years ago!

Give me a couple more years of this and if I didn't become an alcoholic I would probably be a morphine addict.  It would be too easy to fall into a life of not trying because of the constant pain, albeit small pain, but constant.  We all know folks that have slipped into a rough life of dealing with pain killers,.... Slow changes and you wouldn't really notice, then you'd look back and wonder, "how the hell did I get here?"  I'm not going there.  It's not the direct pain, its what it makes me become by slowly beating me down and I don't like it.  I can't let that happen to my family. 

well im 2 weeks out now and pleased to report all went exceptionally well and NO sciatica at this time.. bloody hell isnt this a good feeling ....   ;)

all swelling has gone except for around wound site..
no numbness except for around wound site..

had a great time in hospital due to good drugs and funny as fellow hip op people .. laughed all day and night ...   :D :D

hip can stand 50% weight easily but im not pushing it ...  im doing all my exercises and some light upper body weight training ..
i even went to the mall today with my dear sister and did some shopping ... 8) ;D
i love a beer but have only had 4 to date ....
and best of all i havent had a fag since .... poor old body doesnt know whats hit it ....   :P ;D

the op has certainly changed my whole outlook on life ... much to my surprise ...

now to focus on full recovery back to my fishing , golf, and my studying for a new career ... :D

cheers all

paul

Awesome news. I had the same feeling after my first and second. Sounds like you're progressing really well, keep it up - good news about the smoke.