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Hip Replacement
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Message 1.Â
Posted by eloquentmameha (U10584512) on Tuesday, 5th October 2010
I am hoping/desperately to have a hip replacement and have an appointment next week to see the consultant. Does anyone who has had the OP any advice on what to ask the Consultant. Sort of "if I had known I would have clarified/ asked for?" sort of thing. I have heard of some consultants advising 6 months on crutches or some consultants advising 6 weeks. I am 69 so will qualify for the op. but I would appreciate some information from the Horses Mouth so to speak. Has anyone any tips for coping with the constant pain, I exercise in the heated swimming baths three times a week which helps but would be grateful for any advice.
Mameha -
Message 2
Posted by boo decker (U10848648) on Tuesday, 5th October 2010
I will speak to my mother and get back to you. She had a hip replaced last september and if you didn't know then you wouldn't know if you see what I mean.
She was compiling a sort of booklet with things she felt she wasn't told but should have been.
I'll ask tomorrow when I phone her. -
Message 3
Posted by sagethyme (U5272261) on Tuesday, 5th October 2010
Mame
Commiserations. This operation works well and I am a good advert for the results.
Are you in UK? If so the charity Arthritis Care has a free telephone helpline and useful free leaflets, though they appreciate a donation if possible:
I found their advice particularly helpful on how to prepare the house for when I came out of hospital. For example you need a firm highish chair with arms, and need a few gadgets to help you reach things for the first few weeks while you cannot bend properly.
I was on crutches for 6 weeks and a walking stick for a while after that. Ask the consultant for an estimate of when you will be able to do the things important to you, eg driving or swimming.
You are doing the right thing exercising in the pool even though it hurts like h*ll. This is to strengthen the muscles and makes recuperation quicker. Ask for as much physiotherapy as possible before and after. I found the physios wonderful (and they like it if you do what they say!)
Happy to help if you have more questions. -
Message 4
Posted by Finally (U2221028) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
Ohh, I'd agree, get a good physio and do exactly what they say. One of the most useful gadgets they reccommended for me, was a vest-type-thingy which kept me up in teh water, so I could do the motions of walkign / running in water, without putting any weight on my limbs.
A really useful start for exercising. F xx -
Message 5
Posted by halftidy (U8567554) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
my ma in law had both hips replaced (not at the same time) in her late 50s early 60s,and was back water skiing (on one ski) within weeks. She was pretty fit before she went in. An orthapaedic nurse on the beach was impressed and said that it was much safer on one ski as your legs are 'locked' and not wobbling from side to side which would not have been so good. I suggest if you are an active type that you get the advice of a good sports physio (and follow their advice to the letter) as some doctors and physios do not get it that there are people out there who do more than sit in a chair and knit. I also have friends who are snow skiing happily after a hip replacement.
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Message 6
Posted by eloquentmameha (U10584512) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
Thank you all for your kind and reassuring replies, booandpingasmums mothers' booklet sounds like just what i was hoping for. I am hoping to have the op when I retire next April when I will have the summer and hopefully good weather to recuperate and I feel that the more I know the better will be my recovery. Thank you all
mameha -
Message 7
Posted by April (U7310327) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
Hi eloquentmameha, I was speaking to a lady on Saturday who'd had a hip replacement just recently and she told me that she can't believe that she's no longer suffering excruciating pain every day. She said that waking up each morning was now a joy. She's still limping a bit, but expects that to get better too soon. Good luck to you. I hope your operation's a complete success like hers obviously was.
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Message 8
Posted by Cheshire Cat (U14533219) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
My older cousin has had both his hips done in the last two years and has always been a swimmer. He was advised to stick to crawl strokes rather than breast stroke. He was walking around with a single stick fairly quickly.
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Message 9
Posted by notjenniferaldrich (U8555450) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
I had one hip replacement twelve years ago, and it put an end to a lot of pain. However, the reason for my problem was congenital, and it did not restore the lifelong shortening of ligaments and muscles, which I had not appreciated in advance, and so I was a bit disappointed that I still cannot sit a horse or ride pillion on OH's bike.
My other hip is very creaky now. -
Message 10
Posted by sagethyme (U5272261) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
Mameha
Hmm, April is a long time, so maybe my experience will help.
Ordinary painkillers (aspirin, paracetamol, ibuprofen) had no effect on arthritis whatsoever for me although some people find they work. Stronger codeine-based painkillers had little effect and had too many side-effects to stay on them for long, including making me feel sad and muggy.
Light exercise was the best strategy for a while, such as you are doing. Walking is good, as much as you can manage even though it hurts, to keep the rest of your body as fit as possible.
Eventually sleeping became difficult a few weeks before the scheduled operation, and the physiotherapist suggested acupuncture. This was the NHS and I was astounded! I was also very sceptical, but gave it a try as she was offering one session a week until the operation.
It definitely helped with the pain and is not scary, quite pleasant in fact. It is not a cure, but somehow affects how the brain perceives pain, and each session made the next few days bearable.
The operation itself took the pain away immediately. The inconvenience of crutches etc was as nothing compared with that lovely fact! -
Message 11
Posted by halftidy (U8567554) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
notjennifer - if you want to ride - have you thought about riding sidesaddle? -
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Message 12
Posted by Lindy (U9525153) on Friday, 8th October 2010
It is 12 years since I had my THR (I was quite young), and the best thing I could have done. Yes there is quite alot of pain afterwards, but (and I am the world's worse for putting up with pain) it is all worth it in the end
I also think in the time since I had it done, things have improved enormously. I was in hospital for 2 weeks, and the worse bit tbh was learning how to walk again. I think now you are in hospital for 5 days, and get an awful lot more support from physios etc.
Good luck, and let us know how you get on
Lindyx -
Message 13
Posted by notjenniferaldrich (U8555450) on Friday, 8th October 2010
Thanks for the tip, halftidy, but I think I'm a bit past wanting to start riding now. It would be nice to accompany OH on the bike now and again, but we have resigned ourselves that it is not to be.
What I was trying to say is that it depends a bit on the nature of the hip problem. If it's just wear and you have always had a natural range of movement, it should make you completely normal again. If the hip problem is "not alone", it will take away the pain but not restore (or even create) movement you didn't have to start with.
I also had the kind of prosthesis that needs to grow into the bone, hence a full three months on crutches. Rucksacks, bags to hang around the neck and a thermos flask and little bottles for milk are great for transporting tea from the kitchen to the table or your chair. I was also given a raised toilet seat and a plastic stool to sit on in the shower (we started off with an upended plastic bin!). If your hands get sore with the elboy crutches, cycling gloves help a bit. And the NHS put wooden blocks under my mum's bed to raise that - a poor substitute for physiotherapy, but it helped.
Can't really think of anything else, but if you can get rehab treatment, grab as much as you can and USE it. There were a few patients when I was in rehab whose necks I would gladly have wrung if I'd had my hands free - they just didn't appreciate how lucky they were and "cheated" with glee on the exercises. My poor mum left hozzie after three days with a list of do's and don'ts. The district nurse used to come and look at her stitches every few days and have a cuppa with us - it was very nice but not really helpful in getting her back to strength. -
Message 14
Posted by notjenniferaldrich (U8555450) on Friday, 8th October 2010
Hi, Lindy, we must have been "done" about the same time, and I was quite young for the op at the time, too, though I had been on and off the list for 20 years by then.
Didn't really have to "learn to walk" again, just learn how to use crutches and gradually ramp up the loading of the joint from 20 % to full load.
Because the artificial bit was growing into the joint, I could feel it for about a year. I found I could not hurry up, e.g. when crossing the road, and I learned to be philosophical about missing buses and trains, as there was no way I could run for them. Otherwise, I can't really remember pain after the op - only before. -
Message 15
Posted by organistswife (U14259593) on Friday, 8th October 2010
I had a 're-coating' done some 10 years ago when I was 50.
The operation is as big as a total replacement, & I was only in hospital for 6 days.
I was back at work in 12 weeks, & I found it very painful at times, but manageable.
DO your exercises daily, they will help immensely.
My pain was worse than many, so don't let that worry you.
I wasn't allowed home before being able to manage stairs....
You'll be fine. -
Message 16
Posted by Bearhug (U2258283) on Friday, 8th October 2010
He was advised to stick to crawl strokes rather than breast stroke.Â
Yes - if you've any joint or back problems, you should avoid breaststroke, or at least ask your doctor what they advise - it's the bending the legs out to the side thing, puts a lot more strain on them than the simple up and down motion of back or frontcrawl.
When tLG was convalescing in a Kur, he met a woman there who was doing physiotherapy before a hip op, to strengthen her up before she had it, so I agree with those who say try and get as much physio as you can before, as well as after. I imagine that the more preparation you can do in strengthening muscles will help your recovery after, but it would have to be the right sort of exercises, not something which would make it worse. -
Message 17
Posted by eloquentmameha (U10584512) on Friday, 8th October 2010
Thank you for replying bearhug, I exercise in the heated swimmimg pool three times a week but tried breast stroke last week and I am still suffering. I can't do crawl but will swim just using my arms with one foot on the bottom (baths bottom. I have been on the arthritis website and gained lots of useful information from there. But I really value first hand information - tried and tested as it were.I am also doing reccomeded physio exercises as a warm up before going to work which helps. Thank you all for your concern and advice, I knew I would find sensible advice in the village hall.
mameha -
Message 18
Posted by Bearhug (U2258283) on Friday, 8th October 2010
I can't do crawl but will swim just using my arms with one foot on the bottomÂ
Do you have access to floats at all? You could take a float in your hands and hold it out ahead of you, and then kick your legs up and down (front or back crawl legs). But even with your feet on the bottom, walking through the water is good exercise - you get to work against the water, so it's different exercise from walking on land.
If you are a confident swimmer, one training exercise is to take a pullbuoy (or float) between your legs, and just do front crawl or back crawl arms only, but if you're not used to it, then that can take a little while to get going, so walking along the bottom is probably better.
Definitely stick with what the physio advises, and do the warm up exercises. -
Message 19
Posted by Digitalis lividus et niger (U8605497) on Wednesday, 20th October 2010
I must have been extraordinarily lucky: I had my first replacement fifteen or sixteen years ago, and the second a year later. I had no pain after either op., but the second did have to be revised because the joint had dislocated half a dozen times. Again, I had no subsequent pain. I think the main thing is to make a great deal of fuss about the ultimate length of your leg. Be quite certain that the surgeon KNOWS that you insist on both legs being the same length when the op is over. My surgeon apologised after the revision, saying that he hadn't wanted to muck about in my pelvis! Well, quite. But the disparity in length is a definite disadvantage, ensuring recurrent backache, adapted shoes and so on.
For your part, please, please do as much exercise as they suggest. I used to walk round the ward three or four times a day, as well as the physio's suggested exercises. Apart from doing you good, it relieves the tedium!
Dig -
Message 20
Posted by Zzumbug (U14655158) on Saturday, 23rd October 2010
I'm coming to this a bit late but a couple of pointers:
Do find out what sort of hip replacement is being fitted, materials and method of fixing, and why.
Get a raised loo seat. An absolute must, post op. I think they can be got on loan from the Red Cross. -
Message 21
Posted by Digitalis lividus et niger (U8605497) on Sunday, 24th October 2010
The hospital provided me with loo seat, chair raisers and a grabber thing to pick stuff up. I was somewhat put out, though, to have (specially cut) boring wooden sticks, instead of those rather glamorous metal ones!!
I wish you a nausea-free anaesthetic, a pain-free convalescence, and plenty of exciting walks when it's all over.
All the best, Dig -
Message 22
Posted by eloquentmameha (U10584512) on Monday, 25th October 2010
Thanks Dig, I had a second appointment this week and saw the x-rays of my hip which was a bit of a shock. There is not enough socket for a straightforward op and I will need a bone graft to provide a socket, the bone graft will come from the bit they saw off. I was a little bit taken aback by the bone graft thing because I had spoken to several people who had the replacement op and it seemed a run of the mill common or garden thing. It would seem that it is similar to the op that notjennifer had and she has lived to tell the tale,I obviously need to have it done so I am keeping a stiff upper lip and will keep exercising and hope everything goes well. Thanks for all your replies and concern
Mameha -
Message 23
Posted by Billycan (U14259232) on Monday, 25th October 2010
..."I wish you a nausea-free anaesthetic,"
I had an epidural.....fantastic!
Straight out of the theatre into recovery...cup of tea..back to the ward.
Can't place enough emphasis on the post op exercises...an absolute MUST.
Best of luck
Billy -
Message 24
Posted by calliope01 (U14639264) on Tuesday, 26th October 2010
Can I point you in the direction of Bonesmart, a forum with a pre- and post op message board. There are people on there who've experienced a full range of situations, from the straightforward to the complex. One of the moderators is an orthopaedic surgical nurse, who is a fund of specialist knowledge and good sense. A frequent piece of advice on that site is to choose your surgeon well, not as easily achieved in the UK as in the US, which is where Bonesmart originates. In fact the forum is quite an eye-opener on the differences between the two countries' health systems.
My own hip was very straightforward, was walking unaided fairly quickly, but i used the forum a lot to allay concerns about the odd twinge and setback.
Good luck with yours. -
Message 25
Posted by Digitalis lividus et niger (U8605497) on Tuesday, 26th October 2010
Mameha, that sounds horrendous. You have my very best wishes. please let us know how things go. I continue to be reminded how lucky I am, a goodly experience!
dig -
Message 26
Posted by Herb Robert (U14072548) on Tuesday, 26th October 2010
Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:46 GMT, in reply to eloquentmameha in message 1
I have had three total hip replacements in two years. The first two were 6 months apart and relieve the unbearable pain and restriction of arthritis. They gave me my life back. The third was after falling on the ice last winter and fracturing the bone; however, it was successfully "revised" and I am now far more mobile than ever I was before. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who suffers from the pain of osteo-arthritis. I had no pain after any of the operations and can not say how grateful I am that I overcame my reluctance to be operated upon and went through with the whole process. It is a wonderful procedure and one that improves quality of life far more than you can possibly imagine.
Herb -
Message 27
Posted by Digitalis lividus et niger (U8605497) on Wednesday, 27th October 2010
Hear, hear, hear! So good to hear of the improvement in your life, Robert. (geranium wotsit? good ground cover, easily yanked up? I hope not, you've done your share of covering ground!)
Dig -
Message 28
Posted by eloquentmameha (U10584512) on Wednesday, 27th October 2010
Big thanks Calliope the Bonesmart forum is superb. Lots of different situations with positve outcomes - very reassurng Thank you
Mameha -
Message 29
Posted by eloquentmameha (U10584512) on Thursday, 28th October 2010
calliope, the bonesmart forum reccomended checking out your surgeon which I did and he is a leader in the field,well qualifield and in a newspaper article on rugby injuries is hailed as a miracle worker. I feel so much better and confident about the outcome. Thanks for the info.
Mameha -
Message 30
Posted by calliope01 (U14639264) on Thursday, 28th October 2010
So glad you found it useful! Am sure you'll refer to it often as the time gets closer...And what good news about your surgeon! Mine was quoted in some articles about the Queen Mum, which I remember finding vaguely reassuring.
Hope you'll let us know how things go -
Message 31
Posted by Westsussexbird or Birdy aka Westie (U6316532) on Thursday, 28th October 2010
Bookmarking ... and I hope you get your op soon.
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