Forums >Health and Nutrition>Torn Hip Labrum - advice, recovery and experiences
Lush Extraordinaire
I am so happy to be on the recovery side of things. My hip is starting to ache quite a bit now so I have ice on it and have been staying on top of pain meds. The femoral block feels really weird and it's hard to get comfortable with a numb leg.
If you can swing the payment, I would encourage you go have it fixed as soon as possible for the exact reason you mentioned. The risk of developing osteoarthritis increases and that leads to a total hip replacement. No thanks, right?
5k - 23:30
10k - 49:00
Half - 1:48:34
Full - 4:01:28
Working toward hip nirvana.
Today was a little more rough. The block wore off around 6am and I woke up in excruciating pain. I took 600mg of ibuprofen, 2 percocets and iced and it brought it back under control. I have been sticking with the ibuprofen/percocet throughout the day and really taking it easy. My surgeon said I can weight bear as tolerated once the block wore off, but I am still being cautious. I cheated and took a shower but I wrapped my dressing up nice and tight and it stayed dry. I'm a terrible patient. lol I had my husband help me. Putting a little weight on the leg felt okay, but like I said I am scared and haven't pushed it too far. I'm already sick of crutches. I didn't want to bug my husband for the millionth time earlier to I crutched myself into the kitchen and got a new ice pack and some pretzels and crutched back with the ice pack tucked in my waistband and the pretzels in a bag in my teeth. Haha
Ugghh, not looking forward to that level of pain
Sounds like you need a backpack--lol. I'm surprised your surgeon said you could be weight bearing so soon. Mine told me on Monday that I would be on crutches for 4-6 weeks after surgery, depending on how much repair he has to do.
But I hate this whole waiting game. I want to get surgery scheduled and over with so I can move on with life. It's probably a good thing I'm staying busy right now. No days off until next weekend since I have drill with my Army Reserve unit this weekend.
The pain is so much better today. The worst of it was yesterday morning. Once I got it under control, it's been pretty good. AND I have none of my old pain. No groin pain, butt pain, or lateral hip pain. So happy about that!
I pulled out a tote bag with a long shoulder strap yesterday to haul stuff around. It worked out well!
Every surgeon is a little different regarding weight bearing status. And it depends on what you have done. Microfractures would be nonweight bearing for sure. Since he just shaved a teeny bit of bone and repaired the labrum, he told me to weight bear as tolerated. But like I said, I am being very cautious and haven't put a lot of weight on it. I'm scared! lol
The waiting was the hardest part. I really hope they approve your surgery so you can get scheduled and start recovering! Please, keep us updated.
Stfuandrun glad you are doing well! Do they have you on the bike at all yet ?
Hip Redux
I was "weight bearing as tolerated" as well right after surgery. My surgeon wanted me to do as much as I could that didn't cause pain, his theory is that the more/longer you restrict, the harder it is to regain function and ROM.
Of course, if you have more done, it's a different situation.
Even with weight bearing, my op leg is STILL smaller than my other leg. I think once you get close to 40, muscle building gets harder. Because I've done enough squats and lunges and whatnot in the last ten months to warrant much more muscle than I have lol
Not yet, he called me yesterday and I asked if I should be doing it yet and he told me to wait until after the first post op appointment. That makes me slightly nervous but he is the doctor, he knows what he's doing, right? lol
I am so bored. Jeeeeez.
How long did you use crutches? I'm already sick of them. lol
Four long horrible weeks. lol
THOUGH they do get you good parking spots. :P
Four long horrible weeks. lol THOUGH they do get you good parking spots. :P
UGH. I already feel like I could ditch them. We'll see what the surgeon says on Friday. I'm so tired of using them already.
Still waiting to hear from Anthem about whether or not they will cover my surgery--patience, Grasshopper...
stfuandrun, how are things going?
I'm actually doing really well. My pain seems to be under control, weaning myself over to ibuprofen only. I cheated and didn't use crutches to go to the bathroom yesterday (it's like 7 feet away) and I didn't fall or die. It didn't hurt but I was pretty limpy. I will keep using the stupid crutches. I have my first postop appointment tomorrow and I'm anxious to hear what the doctor thinks.
Don't rush it. The labrum is a sloooow healer, and the crutches are more about making sure you don't do too much too soon and not falling, so even if you feel ok without, they are still worth it (even if a PITA). And the real work starts when you hit PT and need to get those muscles firing again! I thought I was doing good until day one of PT and I ended up in tears lol
Good luck at the appt!
Had my first post op appointment. He waits until about 4 weeks post op before starting physical therapy. He said that it just causes flare ups and makes people miserable to he waits a bit. He also told me to use the crutches if I felt like I needed to but I didn't necessarily need them. His approach is so different to everything I read online. However, I have to say that I am getting around really well with and without crutches. I can lift my leg with my knee bent to 90 degrees no problem with no pain. I hardly have any signs of pain while moving it around (there are some things I cannot do, like cross my legs, sit cross legged, etc which I don't even want to try to do). He also said that I cannot undo anything that he did in there but if I overdo it, my body will tell me and will be very, very sore and it will be painful. He cleared me to use the exercise bike for short intervals without resistance. So I did on Friday and I overdid it. Yesterday was very uncomfortable and painful. I rested, iced, and stayed on top of pain meds and today my leg is fine. Next time I will do a shorter interval. lol
Oh, also he was really pleased with how well I was moving around.
Even though he said that I cannot undo anything, I would rather be conservative than suffer any setbacks.
My biggest worry is returning to work. I don't know when I will be able to return to my duties as a home health nurse so I'm hoping that my boss will have light duty stuff in the office for me. If not, I will have to extend my leave. I am supposed to tell them 15 days before I return if I will be returning. It's hard to say because I will only be 2.5 weeks postop or so. How do I know how I will be doing in another 2 weeks? Ugh.