Some info from those who were 10% weight bearing after surgery

[Hippy spouse]

If you read my "how much swelling is normal" post from last weekend you can tell I didn't know if I would be asking the questions below any time in the near future! But as those of you who have gone before us knew---it would get better.

And it has!!! Bob has made great progress this week, but the 10% weight bearing restriction has raised some questions. Just how much are you expected/allowed to do? Just do what you can within the restriction? Anyone who has had to work within this guideline have any special tricks/tips?? For those of you who were full weight bearing, if you get a scale, put one foot on it and only apply enough weight to get to 10% of your body weight you will see it's pretty much just enough to balance yourself.

The recovery protocol as directed by Dr. Gross is 5 basic exercises and walking, no regimented PT, at least at this point. However, the 10% weight bearing limitation results in an awful lot of use of the good leg, which doesn't need a workout at this point, and not so much for the operated leg. The 10% restriction is in place for 2 more weeks and then he can start increasing the weight bearing, go back for 6 week checkup and then go to a cane for 4 weeks.

Also, having to use the crutches limits the type of movement he can do. He certainly doesn't want to do any damage and maybe he's just being impatient, but he sure wants to be on a productive recovery track.  The range of motion of the operated leg has really improved especially on the range he gets with the "heel slide" exercise so we must be doing something right.

Thanks in advance for anything suggestions.

Hippy Spouse(Cindy)

[Lopsided]

Cindy,

Ten percent weight bearing sound awfully little. I was fully weight bearing straight away, and have heard of other patients being fifty percent. But ten?

D.

[einreb]

The recovery protocol as directed by Dr. Gross is 5 basic exercises and walking, no regimented PT, at least at this point. However, the 10% weight bearing limitation results in an awful lot of use of the good leg, which doesn't need a workout at this point, and not so much for the operated leg. The 10% restriction is in place for 2 more weeks and then he can start increasing the weight bearing, go back for 6 week checkup and then go to a cane for 4 weeks.

Yup... its essentially no weight.  I rambled on for a long thread on my 10% experience w/dr gross.  Post surgery starts here...

http://surfacehippy.info/hiptalk/index.php?topic=2242.msg15471#msg15471

In addition to Dr Gross instructions, I did some very basic abductor exercises in the initial 6 weeks that did not break his rules (in my opinion ) Laying on the bed, i would slide my legs out.  Standing on the good leg, I would raise my leg out to the side (no weights or resistance, was VERY difficult at first).  It was so very weak after surgery.

I was bouncing off the walls after 4 weeks and likely put more than 10% by weeks 3 and 4.  Weeks 5 and 6 I forced myself to try to have a 'normal' walk, but assisted with the crutches.  7-10 weeks on the cane, I again slowly transitioned to less weight on the cane and a normal walk. That last week on the can, i would often go short distances without it around the house.

Truth be told... the first 10 weeks stunk for me because I wanted to 'work' on the hip.  Unfortunately his job is to take it easy on the hip.  Once he gets to 10 weeks, all bets are off as far as being 'bored'... tons of work to do on stabilizer muscles, walking long distances, etc.

The key to this short 10% weight protocol is that Dr Gross has had ZERO fractures for those with lousy bone that have followed it.  It may be overkill, but its worked.  

Good luck... the time will pass.

-Bernie

[Josephine18]

10% weight bearing is essentially toe-touch weight bearing in terms of how much weight should be applied to the operative leg.  This does not mean though that you should walk tapping your toe while on crutches. Using a normalized "heel-toe" gait pattern will help to maintain good range of motion in the ankle and will help with swelling and blood flow through the deep veins of the lower leg which helps in preventing clot formation.  When using the heel-toe pattern, imagine only exerting as much pressure through the whole foot as you would if you were just tapping your toe.  I was 10% weight bearing after my first surgery with Dr. Gross, and though it seemed like an eternity at the time, looking back I hardly remember the difficulties and challenges of those early weeks in light of how well the hip is now.

[FlbrkMike]

I was 100% weight bearing "as tolerated" after my first (left) hip, but "toe touch only" for four weeks after my right.  This was a decision made by my surgeon based on some difficulty he had in placing the acetabular cup and, I believe, was a precaution to ensure that the bone had a chance to heal properly.  It was quite frustrating after the relatively quick progress from my first procedure, and feeling that I could walk fine on my second after a week or so.  I stayed almost 100% faithful to the restriction for the four weeks and, when I did finally put the crutches down, my leg felt pretty weak.  I used a cane for maybe a week after that and the strength came back pretty well.  Actually, I think that depending so much on my left leg for four weeks after the surgery on that side helped in building the strength more quickly than might have been otherwise

Different doctors have different protocols for weight bearing, PT and everything else.  I think, though, it's often a decision that they make based on what may have happened during surgery and the strength and density of the patient's bones.  High bone density is presumably a good thing normally, but my surgeon told me that my hip bones were so dense that he had a hard time getting the acetabular cup seated and had to pound on it harder than he normally would.  This led to my "toe touch only" restriction as a precaution to make sure that any damage to the bone would heal.

[Hippy spouse]

Thanks to each of you for your thoughts and sharing your stories. We were talking earlier about how last week we would have never thought this weekend would be so much better, so I guess we will just keep on doing what we are doing for 2 more weeks. After all, in the big scheme of things what is 2 weeks, or even 6 or 10 weeks??

Hippy Spouse