Leg size and muscle changes.

[Joe_CA]

Anyone else who has had hip resurfacing (or THR) notice the size of your leg(s) have noticeably changed, even in the early stages post-surgery? I'm about 10 weeks out, and my upper thighs are probably 2-4 inches thicker in diameter. This is just a guess, as I have never measured them before or after my bilateral surgeries.

I mentioned earlier in another thread that I had let my hips deteriorate for so long, that it appeared I was becoming bow-legged. Now I don't know if it was truly this, or simply the fact that my inner thighs appeared to have atrophied over the years due to the structural changes from arthritis. These muscles in my legs have recovered really quickly, which is somewhat strange since I'm only walking and doing stretches that should only be strengthening muscles in my outer/front of the hips.

Anyway, I guess I haven't used these muscles for many years, and they've recovered pretty fast. I'm rather impressed!

[Mike D]

Hi Joe,
My thigh size has increased quite a lot since my THR in 2012 but it took about 18 months before i noticed the increase.
Like you, I did lots of walking and always felt the muscles being worked but it never seemed to get any bigger.
Playing walking football has really helped though, and it's now very close to being the same size as my other leg.
It sounds like you're doing all the right things, keep it going!
Cheers Mike.

[Quig]

This sounds like very good news Joe!

[John C]

I have not noticed any changes in thigh diameter. However, it has been interesting to note that even after almost 9 years, my resurfaced leg is still only about 75% as strong as my non-operated arthritic hip in terms of reps to failure. In fairness, I have never given the resurfaced leg extra work to build it back up, but instead just work both legs out with the same exercises and resistance. When doing single leg reps, the resurfaced leg always fails at about 75% of the reps of the arthritic leg. I don't notice the difference during my sports activities, but only when doing workouts in the gym.

[karlos.bell]

  My strength is building on week by week I do not know when it will stop that in it self is a reminder that there were issues.
Combine that with the correct absorption of food and I cannot tell when it is going to stop getting better. Cheers K