Inversion Tables post-op

[lynne123]

Does anyone use an inversion table after their hip resurfacing surgery and what did your doctor have to say about it?  I will not use mine unless my doctor gives me his absolute blessing and even then I may still be reluctant.  So I am thinking about just selling it.  It sure does help my back though!

Thanks
Jennifer

[Dannywayoflife]

Hi jennifer,
                I believe that long term most enlightened surgeons don't impose any restrictions post op. However surgeons will normally restrict your activities for a certain period. Here in the uk it seems that most surgeons state 12 months until high impact can be resumed as this is the time frame for bone density to return to normal. In the US however it seems like surgeons say you can resume impact at 6 months. I personally think the 12 months is a more sensible time frame.
So anyway after your fully healed I see no reason you couldn't use your inversion table. I know my surgeon Mr Treacy and Derrick Mcminn have both got patients who have sky dived and bunjee jumped after there hip resurfacing.
Danny 

[Woodstock Hippy]

You might find that after your hip or hips are fixed, your back problems will go away.


Good luck with your hips and your back

[Tin Soldier]

Agreed.  Lots of folks get rid of the back problems from HR.

[John C]

Inversion is really great for my back. I don't use a table, but instead a type where you stand with your hips up against a pad on a metal A frame, and then tip over forward with your ankles locked behind a support bar which swings over with you. You end up hanging upside down, supported by your thighs across the pads. I prefer these because as a skier, you are not hanging any weight from your knees, and also there is limited stress across the hips. Nonetheless, the brochure that came with mine said not to use it if you have a hip replacement. At first I was a little concerned, but my hip feels pretty well supported by the pad, so I am no longer concerned.
I cannot speak directly to your table, but I would at least be careful for the first few months until all of the soft tissue around the joint has tightened enough to keep the joint secure. Check with your doc.

[lynne123]

I have been secretly hoping that some of my back pain will go away after hip surgery.  Although, I have degenerative disc disease and herniation in my lower back.  I feel that with so much going on between both hips and my back that it is difficult to separate out the pain and the affected areas aggravate each other - so my hope is that some of the pain is due to my hips. It will also be interesting to see once the left hip is done and healed how it affects the pain in my right hip.  Time will tell all.

@ John C.   I will look into the type of "table" you are using.  I have not been happy with how my ankles feel sometimes after "hanging" from my table.  I hadn't even considered my knees!  My hobby is bellydancing and my favorite part of it is doing sword routines that involve a lot of floor work which greatly affects my knees.  I have just begun to experience some pain in my knees and backed off doing floorwork. I would like to return to it but need to approach it very cautiously.

I have vowed to myself to be patient and not try and rush my recovery, to not do a thing without my doctors approval.  I stopped dancing a little while back and miss it so much but I have to not rush things.   I don't want to mess this up in any way!!

Thanks folks!!

[Neild5]

I have 4 herniated discs in my lower back with constant spasms.  Since having my left hip RS 95% of the day in day out spasms are gone.  I am looking forward to getting the right one done next month.  The pain has always been worse in the right but the left had no range of motion left. 

[lynne123]

NeilD5

I am so sorry to hear you have four herniated discs.  I can only understand on a smaller scale what that must feel like and how tiring it has to be.  Hopefully once your right hip is done you will experience even more pain relief in your back. My heart goes out to you.
I have a similar situation with my hips.  My right hip hurts far worse than my left hip but the MRI shows my left hip is worse with more labral tears, more arthritis and bone on bone leaving me with no rom in my left hip.  I was hoping for a bilateral surgery and just get them both done and avoid another surgery and more down time.  My doctor wants proceed conservatively which is I'm sure the wise thing to do, but as you know when you are in chronic pain it can make you a little crazy and you just want to end it.  I suspect it won't be long before I am back in for the right hip.

 

[hernanu]

Hi Lynne, I had both hips done three months apart. I scheduled both to be done, so there was no ambiguity about when the second would be done. It helped me mentally, since I knew after the first was done, that I was working towards the second.

Good luck with both, I didn't have diagnosed back issues, but I did have a lot of back pain that no longer is there, and went pretty quickly after the procedure(s).

[Neild5]

Lynne,

I was in the same boat, the right hip was more painful but the right hip had no range of motion left due to bone spurs.  Also there was a bone cyst on the femur.  On 2/20/12 I am looking forward to getting the right one surfaced.

Besides the the lower back I have 4 herniated discs in the cervical spine and 3 in the thoracic area.  The only area I am having problem with is the lower back right above the bad hip.

[Nemesis]

I don't do an inversion table but I do something that I believe is more of a pull. Look into the Cox chiropractic adjustment. You lie down on a table and your legs are pulled away from your hips. Then they are pulled back and to the side. This is the only thing that keeps my lower back (two herniated discs) pain free.  I am 7 months now and get no hip pain from this.

[lynne123]

I wish I could have both of my hips done at the same time or at least schedule the right hip to be done in the next few months, but right now my doctor wants to do the left hip and wait some time for the right. Bone on bone is not showing up in my MRIs for my right hip and I guess that's the deciding factor to proceed with surgery although it does show torn labrum and arthritis. My right hip hurts so much more than my left and I just know that it is not because it is carrying the load of the left.  I don't expect my right hip to last long after the left one is done.  I have let the pain in my hips and back get the better of me this past year and stopped dancing and working out and have put 20lbs on.  I need to get back into shape and active again because I have become depressed as a result, so unmotivated and afraid if too much more time goes by I will never get back there again.  I know I have to be patient but the chronic pain is so discouraging and although this first surgery will eliminate some of the pain, I will not be pain free.  The upshot is that doing one hip at a time will more gently introduce my body to the metal prosthesis.  If there are any issues with allergies or metal ions it will be half the problem it would've been had I both hips done. 

@Nemesis - Thanks for the suggestion!  I just went in for a deep tissue massage for the first time and she used a technique of pulling my legs and arms down and out that felt fantastic. So from what you describe I can only imagine that it would feel wonderful and could only help.  I wonder if insurance would cover it?

Jennifer
51 years old
LBHR upcoming 1.21.12
Dr. Su HSS

 

[Nemesis]

It is considered a Chiropractic adjustment for insurance claims.  Not to many chiros to it thou and even fewer really stretch you out hard.  If you do find a chiro that does it insist on a good stretch.