Today I finally got back to Surface Hippy after having researched the whole resurfacing decision in December of 2008. I've been unsure what to report on my situation, and just kept putting off getting on the forum here and asking questions, waiting for my situation to stabilize. The following description of my problem got really lengthy to try and cover all the potential questions, so I jumped back up to this point to summarize: Is it typical to have significant pain and stiffness in the joint a year post-op?
I had my right hip resurfaced in April of 2009. I had played competitive basketball once or twice a week since I was about 15, and had just pretty much worn the hip out. (The left is bad, too, but all the pain was coming from the right.) I'm tall and lean, pretty active (I teach elementary Phys Ed), and in pretty good physical condition, so was a good candidate for the surgery with a good prognosis for recovery. I was 55 when I had the op done. The doctor was very pleased with how the procedure went, although he said he was surprised by the size of my hip joint; it took the next to the largest size Stryker joint he had. He gave a very positive prognosis for recovery.
Therapy went well as far as mobility was concerned. The joint still hurt almost all the time, kind of like a sprained ankle does the day after you do it, but it definitely helped to exercise it. Three weeks post-op I had talked the doctor into letting me drive down to the YMCA and at least do an upper-body workout daily. I'm sure I looked comical dragging my walker around from station to station in the weight area. Six weeks later I had added really light squats and leg curls. I went very cautiously, and never had any exercise-induced pain. Daily workouts seemed to help. Progress was generally positive, although I had good days and bad days. Nonetheless, the pain was almost always there, except for sitting in a comfortable chair or a recliner. If I'd get up from a chair or after driving more than a few minutes, the joint was really stiff and sore (like a sprained ankle) for about 30 seconds, but I could slowly get it to relax. It was hard to find a comfortable position at night on either side, even with pillows between my knees, and finally ended up most nights on my back with pillows propping my leg up.
Like I said, progress seemed to be marked by good days/bad days, but generally getting better over time. That was until about six weeks ago. I'm worried that I'm starting to go backward. I've had one or two very bad days recently, when just standing for any length of time began to hurt a lot, the worst pain since the surgery. It felt almost like the hip was out of joint. It was better the next day, which was fortunate since I reffed kiddy basketball all morning. But for the last couple of weeks it's definitely not as comfortable as it was six months ago. It feels weaker and more painful on the stairs, with kind of a burning sensation at times. Sleeping through the night has become a rarity.
I really would like to get off any painkillers at all, and certainly thought I would be by now. If I don't exercise almost daily the joint tightens up, so that it gets quite stiff and sore after sitting or driving for any time at all, and it hurts to stand up at first. So I try to get a workout every day: weightlifting for about 40 minutes, then 20-25 minutes of mixed cardio on the recumbent bike, stairmaster, and a few walking/running laps around the track. I take a couple of ibuprofen before working out every morning, and that helps with the inflammation and consequent pain, but lately the pain is often bad enough by early afternoon that I have to take more. Most nights I can't sleep well unless I take aspirin or naproxen sulfate (Alleve) before going to bed. At nights I often get referred pain down to my shin, which is what usually wakes me up.
So the question: I'd like to know if it's typical to have significant pain in the joint a year post-op. My doctor has assured me I'm better off than I would have been without the surgery, but the reality is that I'm having pretty much the same difficulties as what forced me to have the surgery in the first place. I saw no poll about post-op pain this long after the surgery, which makes me wonder if I'm the Lone Ranger on this one. The poll on "customer satisfaction" discouraged me, too, since I'm the only one in the crowd who rated my satisfaction at 50%.
I went in to see my doctor on December 8th since I had seemed to plateau on progress with the pain and stiffness issue. He gave me an injection at the surgery site at that time, and asked me to log the results over the next few days. It was better for about a week, at least it wasn't so stiff, but it felt oddly "loose" and a little weaker, and kind of burned at times. Those sensations went away, but I kept the log going. Over the four months I've been logging things, I'd have to say I'm a little worse off now than I was then.
Any ideas? Recommendations? Similar experiences? This diatribe got way too long, but I kept imagining folks asking me questions, so I tried to answer those in advance. Hope some of you can help. I've decided if the pain is no better or worsens over the next two weeks that I'll go back in to the doc again. I'm afraid he'll want to do something drastic, and I just don't want that again.
Topic: Still in pain one year post-op (Read 5661 times)
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