Richard Haynes PTA/CPT - 7/25/2009

Question
I'm 57 yrs. old, about 40 lbs. overweight. I had THR on l. hip 2 yrs. ago. Had THR on r. hip 1 yr. ago. Am having back pain and constant hip/buttock,leg pain every day and night. When not actual pain it is always discomfort. Never low level-always distracting level. Work on my feet all day. Had difficult recovery. Ankle on newest side swells and when I try to paint my toes am in pain for days in all the areas mentioned Can't get down on floor or on knees or will pay dearly. At 3 months Dr. said structurally sound and shrugged. Cause for real concern or extremely slow recoverer? Am financially limited so have to really consider before going to dr. Am extremely fatigued all the time. Can this all just be that I am slow to recover?

Answer
Patricia,

Once the surgeon indicated it was sound as far as the hip replacement prosthesis, then it comes down to muscular recovery. It sounds as if you may have two areas of concern but not an emergency.

1. Your hips and surrounding musculature could use further strengthening.

2. You need to work on some type of flexibility program as you no doubt have some tight soft tissue causing undo pressure on the surrounding nerves.

I would also highly recommend when you are feeling better and can get together some sort of structured program is to drop some of the weight as your hips and body will also perform much better.

Also depending on what you eat and how well you are sleeping will play a vital role in your recovery.

Any type of hip or knee replacement will take at leat a year to heal fully with the joint capsule itself.

You do not have anything that is a major concern, it sounds though you will want to work on your overall physical conditioning Patricia if you do, you will notice a remarkable change in your physical health and your hips.

Sincerely
Richard Haynes














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