I had my right hip resurfaced by Dr. Gross on 12/6/06. I was problem-free and doing well until April. I had gone to Houston to care for someone in the hospital. The only "lifting" I did was to help her sit up in bed. During that week, the base of my incision looked bruised. Apparently I was bleeding internally. The bruise spread, swelled a great deal, and hardened. The night I returned home, I ended up in the ER in severe pain. I stayed the night in the hospital, and the orthopedic surgeon said the next day that he couldn't drain it because it would be like "sludge." I had 2 choices -- I could wait and see what happened, or he could cut me again to drain it. I chose the waiting. Over 6 weeks the swelling went down, and I was back to a little bruise at the base of the incision.
Fast forward to July. I sustained some kind of injury at the health club -- getting on my knees to reach under a counter to plug in a hair dryer -- nothing glorious like getting hurt while exercising. I got up on my right leg (resurfaced hip) instead of my left, and at an angle as well. I literally felt something tear, and it was excruciating.
I went back to the surgeon I'd seen in the ER in April. He took X-rays, said everything was fine, come back in 6 weeks. I was very unhappy with this because I was still in extreme pain. Finally, in August, I went to a pain specialist I'd seen for over a year, and trusted. He injected two sites to calm down some of the pain. Two days later, 8/29, I returned to see if he could inject another site. What happened next was so fast I still don't understand it. I was on the examination table, and I believe the doctor was checking for range of motion. Ordinarily I'm outrageously protective of my right leg, but before I knew it, he pushed my leg to my chest and rotated it. The result was dislocation. Now I know what a "10" on the pain scale is. (I'll spare readers the charade of getting me to an ER from the doctor's office...)
In the ER, the X-ray revealed that the ball had literally gone behind the socket. By sheer luck, they were able to locate the orthopedic surgeon I trust most. He came to the ER, put me under, and put the hip back together. His theory is that at the health club I tore two sets of the ligaments surrounding the hip capsule. He prescribed 8 weeks of physical therapy, and the end of which we'd reevaluate. I was progressing very well with the PT until the day I hurt it again -- this time in front -- simply trying to lie face down on a bed. I have not been able to get back into see the him -- I have an appointment in 4 days. In the meantime, I was told by his PA to do nothing - no swimming, etc. Swimming is a major pain controller for me. Finally, yesterday I reached the PA again, after she reached the doctor (who is out of town), and was told I can try the recumbent bike until I can see the doctor.
One of my biggest problems is frustration, and downright depression, about how long I've been in pain -- and I'm on medication. I feel like I've torn more ligaments. The OS in the ER had said that if the PT didn't work, he wanted to do surgery for ligament repair. Dr. Gross is opposed to that, and wants me to try a brace.
So, after this long story, I'd like to find out if anyone else has experienced dislocation (which is supposed to be more rare with a resurfacing than a THR), and what he/she is doing about it.
Topic: Dislocation (Read 13501 times)
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