Knees & Hips

Do you mean never forget about the 90 degrees?! Even I bend over to tie my shoelace - granted with difficulty and it finishes up a bit loose sometimes, but I do it.

My friend who had his done 4 months ago happily sits on our futon which is very low and his hip is definitely at less than 90 degrees - I never sit on it, but he does.

A very simple word NotTooOld, never! I cannot believe that you were given so little information pre op to make an informed decision whether to go ahead or not.

That is very encouraging, Pompa. Would love to see your ballet moves. Mine is not glued either but I haven't been told I must stay on crutches for six weeks. I am actually down to one crutch now (at 4 weeks), so I hope that is alright. I didn't get much guidance on that either. How long before you could forget about the 90 degrees?

NTO, you are right to be concerned about dislocation. However, provided you don't push the joint past being comfortable ( 90 deg, if I remember correctly) and keep up the exercises your muscles will get stronger. Depending on how active you are, you will start to forget about your hip surprisingly quickly.
I tried to walk about a mile a day, even with my crutches. My hip was not glued and I had to stay on crutches for 6 weeks.
I now have more movement in my replaced hip than the other "good" ? one. and never give a thought to it.
I can manage all my ballet moves equally well as before the op now. OK I admit it - I couldn't do any before the op.

Charleygirl - you are right - but don't tell him I said so.

A week is okay I think as you have persevered until now with the scratching. Most hip replacements come with names eg one of the first in the 60's was named after John Charnley, the fellow who invented it. They have progressed hugely since then.

I go to the gym once a week and I cringe when I watch one lady twist and turn and also sit on the very low rowing machine, having had a THR under a year ago. I err on the side of the cautious but I prefer to be there.

Even when your 6 weeks are up, you cannot have carte blanche re your new hip. Hopefully you will keep us all informed.

Thankfully there appears to be one voice of sanity in that household and the voce is male!

Hi, Charleygirl! DH will not allow me to put the TED on, he's become very strict! It's metal and it was not cemented but I don't know what sort of metal. It will be four weeks tomorrow since the op. I am getting terrible itching from the Rivaroxaban but will persevere as I am seeing the consultant next Monday.

NotTooOld if you are not careful, I will be asking your DH to switch off your computer, tablet or what ever you have to google things like that!! Provided you do not do anything silly such as try to put the TED stocking on or off by yourself without help and follow the instructions that you were given, you should be fine. It is around 3 weeks I think since you had surgery- it would appear that all is well. Do you know what type of replacement was inserted?

It is a bit worrying but I think I'm more concerned about having a dislocation, mishap. I just read somewhere on the internet of a patient who had to be immobilised for weeks until her hip was stable. That was because she kept getting dislocations. Oh, I know, I shouldn't look up stuff like that - it's not a good idea. I'm trying to forget about it now - perhaps it was all lies................

I was so anxious about having a clot that I would have kept them on all year if they had told me to!

Thanks, mishap. My follow-up appointment is a bit early at a day under five weeks because the consultant is going on holiday, so I will def wait until then and hope he says I can leave them off after that.

I was told 6 weeks for the stockings, but actually wore them a bit longer as I waited till my follow-up appointment to finally remove them. It certainly felt good!

Hmm, Pompa, DH IS usually right. I shan't tell him I asked!

anno - that must have been horrible. I am taking anti-coag tablets which make my skin itch.

I never had surgical stockings - thank goodness; it was a hot summer when my hip was replaced. But I did have a black and blue stomach from three weeks of anti-coagulant injections.

I was told 6 weeks, which i did. your DH is quite right (as we always are of course)

Can anyone tell me how long I should be wearing the surgical stockings for, please? I am still wearing them all the time but now I am 4 weeks post-op I am getting really fed up with them and would like to take them off except that DH thinks I should wear them until I see the consultant again a week tomorrow. (He worries about me.)

I have had a lot of major surgery from my Mid twenties onwards. Such surgery can take a long while to recover from (luckily for me, surgery was the answer every time). As I remember within a year of the completion of treatment, I was always back to normal (my kidney problems were spread over several years before being solved). At this moment, my new knee is OK. but does not feel normal, see what another 6 months brings

I sometimes wonder if those who bounce back really do!
After reconstruction work on my ankle I put one face on in public and bawled my eyes out from time to time when alone!
Certainly the anaesthetic, painkillers and sheer exasperation got to me sometimes!

Thank you, too, Pompa. Yes, give a prayer a go - you never know!

Thank you, both, for your sensible advice. I'm going to cheer up now.

NTO, don't worry that is par for the course (or was for me). I guess we all have expectations of our recovery and if it does not live up to it, we get depressed. You have had major surgery and it does take a toll on your system that can take months to overcome. In a few days you will feel fine again. Before long you will reach the stage when you forget about your hip entirely.
It appears (form another thread) that I can pray for you, so I will.

Ah - they did when I posted it!

Do not panic! I have been there; and have simply come to the conclusion that it is not a smooth run back to full health and mobility and that I have to resign myself to bad days mixed in with the good. I got very depressed at one stage, and was told that it is possible to become depressed after surgery - a combination of the general trauma, blood loss, pain, assorted drugs etc.

But this too will pass. My physio tells me that some people take a year to fully recover from hip surgery - they do not tell you this beforehand! - but that everyone gets there in the end.

They said that the up-and-down nature of the recovery was sometimes related to new bits of healing going on; and inflammation irritating other bits.

The most annoying thing was seeing friends who bounced back in a trice from their surgery - I am pleased for them, but,being only human, it is hard to swallow.

Really 4 weeks is nothing and there will be days when progress seems slow - or even backwards - but you just have to hang on in there.

I do feel for you - don't despair. - I've previewed this message twice and the flowers do not appear - sorry

Oh dear NotTooOld, it isn't unusual to hit a sort of plateau, I'm sure it'll be temporary and you're not sliding downhill.
Have you been doing a bit too much the last few days? It could just be your body saying you've overdone it a bit.
You have done really well, so don't get too despondent, it's just a blip. x

Have resurrected this thread as am having a bad day today. I will be 4 weeks post-THR on Tuesday and have been doing well, both physically and mentally. I am down to using one crutch, doing the exercises and taking walks and have taken very few paracetamol in the last couple of days. However, today things are different. For no good reason, I feel depressed and my hip aches more than it has done lately. I have been out in the car a couple of times (not driving) and that should have cheered me up but it hasn't. Incidentally, getting in and out of the car was no problem, so it can't be that. Why do I suddenly feel I am going down hill?