leg pain

[podgornymd]

I think i know the answer but thought i would ask. I am 2 weeks out from Left BHR and have been trying to get around on 1 crutch a little bit of the time but past 2 dys my leg has been thigh has ben sore and heavy. I have been doing PT 2 x/wk and it tends to hurt quite a bit  after PT. Contributing to it is the swelling and blood has trackes down lateral thigh and knee. I was wondering if i should keep walking or lay low?

[hernanu]

I'm assuming home PT. Each time you ramp up the work, you'll have a bit of trouble.

Right now, you're two weeks out, so everything is still healing, not just the long term bone and muscle, but the incision and the overall trauma from the surgery. I still had issues (night sweats) from the anesthesia (I think), so was a mess until about three weeks.

One thing I tried to do was to avoid setting goals for how far I was going to go when walking. I would go until it felt 'right' to turn around, then back.

I also went back and forth from two crutches to one. If I was having some pain or tiredness, I went back to two crutches and toned things down a bit.

I'd downshift - keep walking but make it more leisurely and ice the heck out of things.

[Tin Soldier]

Agree, lay low, take it easy.  Those first few weeks are an adjustment period trying to get the whole body back to normal.  Remember you just got quartered and put back together.  There's always going to be ups and downs, and you should see a lot less downs as you get past the 3 and 4 week timeframe. 

[podgornymd]

Thanks guys. Really good advice. It sounds like I am going through the same things you all went through. I have actually been going to outpatient PT since i got home but doing it  at home also. I also have groin and hip flexor pain which seems to be common.

How did you guys know when you were ready to go with 1 crutch and then to walking. I am getting a little worried because i have to get back to work in 3 weeks which is 5 weeks post op and i do quite a bit of walking at work.

[John C]

All the PTs that I have talked to (as well as surgeons), discourage using one crutch for any extended walking. They prefer that you use two crutches for long walks until there is no limp. One crutch creates some very unsound walking patterns, where as two crutches allows for a more normal gait, with better controlled weight bearing.
My own schedule, which was not particularly fast because I had been on crutches off and on for the two months prior to surgery was; two weeks on two crutches all the time, then a cane or crutches around the house while still using two crutches for long walks for another two weeks, then a cane for one more week with my wife carrying the crutches for me on long walks just in case.

[podgornymd]

Thanks John C. I noticed your picture skiing. i telemark and do some backcountry skiing and was curious how long it took you to get back to skiing and how does it feel? Skiing moguls