Posted on 06/04/2014 6:23:35 PM PDT by TNoldman
I now live near Indianapolis and will be planning a Hip Replacement in the near future. My left hip joint is painful with bone to bone.
As a long time Freeper I respect the expertise and advise of my Freeper friends.
shims and a stainless steel screw to hold em in place
I am experiencing the same left hip pain as described in the article. Plus my sciatic nerve is causing my lower left calf muscle & thigh muscle to constantly throb with pain as well. I just started experiencing these symptons in the last 6 months up to now. I tried Osteo-BiFlex and went to a chiropractor with very little change in the pain or locations or sypmtons. I am 60 yrs old, and very frustrated that I now hobble & limp like an old man. My father is 97 yrs old and can walk nearly as good as I am hobbling right now. Bummer! Very discouraging. I had x-rays at both the chiropractor and the Mayo Clinic. My follow-up appointment at Mayo Clinic is not until June 25.
I really am hoping to find some type of cure without having to do Hip replacement, as I am not sure that will also solve my sciatic nerve discomfort & pain.
see my post #42. Same problems & symptons for me, as described in the article & other postings
"I had my left done last year, was in the hospital one day, was on a walker or 2 days, a cane for a week, never had any pain or swelling. It's a nothing deal."
Mayo clinic should have the expertise to solve your problem! I can only guess that getting half of it fixed ( hip) would at least be a benefit fir you, regardless if they can fix the other nerve business at the sane time or not. But that’s pure guesswork. You are wise to be going for advice to a clinic with such a high reputation. The best I can suggest is to maintain your hope while you’re getting the doctors’ best advice. Stay upbeat and positive. It’s really amazing just how much the docs can do nowadays. Now is the time for hopefulness not despair.
My neighbor just had one done. They operated on him on Monday afternoon. A 1:00 Tuesday afternoon he was headed home.
I’ve known several people who died from hip surgery. They caught P-neumonia. True story.
I have read through the posts here up to #43, and there is some stuff on here that may scare you unnecessarily. The physical therapy for hip replacement is nothing, really. Walking is the best, and a few other movements, plus learning to go up and down stairs easily and how to get in and out of a car for the first 8 weeks or so. The worst part of a hip replacement is the anxiety.
Just make sure you have a good surgeon. A lot of surgeons are doing these now, because they are so lucrative, but not every surgeon is an artist and a scientist, as the best ones are. I will freepmail you some further information on picking a surgeon.
I would pick one who is “conservative” in medical terms—that is, does not try the fancy new stuff and takes no chances. You don’t want to have both done at once because of the minuscule chance that one of them could fail in some way. If that happens, then you don’t have a good leg to recover with. So doing one at a time is conservative also.
Glucosamine and condraitin are useless for your situation. So are other nonsurgical remedies.
There is no real physical therapy for after a hip replacements. The most important things is what they call the protocols for the first six or eight weeks: No bending the body more than 90 degrees, which means you can’t sit in a regular chair but must put cushions under you if there are no high chairs available; you can’t cross your legs; you can’t bend down to pick things up—they will give you all the information. It’s a pain in the neck for several weeks and then it is over.
Blessings on your journey!
Thanks very much!
Also I went to therapy twice and they told me not to come back that I didn’t need it.
The guy closed the incision with staples but a friend ours had hers done and they closed hers with glue.
I asked the surgeon and he said she got the bikini treatment but I got the zipper treatment since I wouldn’t being wearing a bikini.
Guys get slighted!
The first few weeks were rough; the doctor finally decided he’d have to “manipulate” the knee because of limited mobility. The procedure consisted of giving her a general anesthesia and bending her knee back as far as it would go.
She immediately noticed improvement and her rehabilitation progressed rapidly from that point.
Thanks for the reply. Had to "manipulate the knee (yikes). I am so glad that this fixed the problem and she is now doing really well.
I had no idea that a knee replacement was harder to recover from than a hip replacement.
Obama will tell him to take a pill
Thank you for the information. It sounds like the key is extensive rehab.
If your heart and lungs are in good shape I would go for it before Obamacare kicks in. But if you have any problems with your lungs or heart don’t do it. My mother had a knee replacement surgery and never recovered because of pneumonia. She hid her lung problems from the family and even the surgeon. She was in so much pain I guess she was determined to get herself fixed, and that surgery cost her life. Be honest to yourself about your health, and make sure all your doctors are communicating about your treatment needs. Anyway, that is my two cents worth and I wish you the best.
For all we can know, that sounds quite sensible ( providing you do need that work done, of course). Many hip replacements can now be do e with very small incisions too, they don’t carve you open like the thanksgiving turkey. This helps fir quick recovery and less infections. Stay hopeful as this is something the quacks can usually do quite well nowadays. They do these jobs by the thousands. Best,
I had to have both hips done in ‘09 due to AV Necrosis, and it made a huge difference after all was said and done. Had a great Dr. in CA who did both hips using the anterior method, which is supposed to be a more user-friendly type of incision; healed up quickly. Had to have one hip revised due to complications from other health problems, but now am pretty much pain free, even when doing lots of walking. I recently read about an even newer procedure, don’t recall the details, but be sure and google a bit to see what’s new in this type of surgery.
1. Get yourself in the best shape possible before the surgery because that will speed your recovery. To the extent possible, work through the pain using weight machines like Nautilus and MedX. Walk as much as you can. GET IN SHAPE!
2. If you need to have both hips replaced, have the surgeries as close together as your doctor will allow and you are physically able to handle. Why? Because rehabing the new hip is really difficult when the remaining bad hip is dragging you down.
3. Go to the best surgeon and hospital that your insurance will cover. Joint replacement is a team effort and the best surgeons in the world are usually surrounded by a top notch crew of physician's assistants, nurses, dietitians, orderlies, etc. Make sure your surgeon performs a lot of hip replacements — and I'm not talking about two or three a week, but two or three a day, two to three times a week. A lot of surgeons can competently perform the surgery when everything goes right, but you want a surgeon with enough experience to have seen everything that can go wrong with hip replacement surgery, just in case. Although the surgery is not considered high risk, things can go wrong and I was very grateful for a surgeon who knew what to do when I developed a potentially serious issue during my second surgery. Also, because infection is the of the biggest risks of joint replacement surgery (if bacteria laches on to the implant, then replacing the implant is often the only way to purge the bacteria), try to find a hospital that specializes in orthopedic surgery, as opposed to a general hospital with lots of sick people. I chose the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS)in NYC, where people come from all over the world for joint replacement and other orthopedic procedures. The HSS is the best of the best and if you are willing to travel, then you can't get any better than this place.
4. Even if you are unwilling or unable to go travel to the HSS, go to its website and read everything you can about hip replacement surgery. In addition to the general information that the Hospital offers, many of the hip replacement surgeons have valuable information under the tab "for my patients." Be a smart consumer. The more you know about the surgery and recovery, the better you experience.
Thank you all for the informative dialog. Freepers are the best.
I will keep you up to date on my activities
Sounds like your mother's surgeon,or her primary care doctor,may have dropped the ball.Before my surgeon would touch me he demanded a green light from both my primary care doctor *and* my cardiologist.Hiding a lung problem from a skilled primary care doctor isn't easy because there are several very useful tests to determine a person's basic respiratory status including,of course,a chest X-ray.
my father was bone on bone last year and finally had hip replacement done after years of pain. He got an anterior hip replacement, where they do not cut the muscles (my understanding). They had him up and walking with the walker for a bit the next day after surgery! A couple days after that he was home (walking w/a walker) and getting phys therapy at home. Did his exercises every day. Just last week he was at my apartment, helping me paint and up and down a ladder doing all kinds of things. :)
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