@artscaping : I’ll try to be concise. The hip bursitis (repeated episodes), as well as the gait problems were supposedly caused by differences in leg length. At least, that’s the only thing that was likely to produce those symptoms without any other factors. Whether the TKR was the cause of the length difference, or whether I have had uneven legs all my life, and it was simply aggravated by the surgery, nobody knows. The actual length difference is “only” 1/3”, but that can still cause a lot of trouble. My PT said that I may eventually get used to living with the discrepancy, but because I had already gone through 2 episodes of hip bursitis, as well that I have a decade long history of sciatica, he strongly advised custom orthotics to prevent further episodes. I use them when I’m very active and on my feet a lot, but still go barefoot or wear sandals part of the day. Or, for example, when I do yard work, where because of the terrain my legs would anyway never be level respective to each other, I don’t use the orthotics either.
Other than judicious use of the inserts, I do a 10 minute set of leg/back exercises to keep my sciatica in check (every day, 5 years running now), I walk 2 miles 5 to 6 days a week, and most days do 30 squats or 20 bridges, or both, or something similar, and do roughly 1 to 2 hours of yard work per day. Just turned 70 recently, and in generally decent shape (both health-wise, and weight-wise.... proud to be 37-29-37!!!!!) = Not my social security # 🙂...