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Upper Thigh Pain Months After Hip Replacement

Posted by juliepoolie71 @juliepoolie71, Mar 2 11:34pm

I had a hip replacement 4 months ago and from the day after surgery I have horrible pain in my upper front thigh/groin area. Come to find out the surgeon fractured my femur but didn’t tell us, I found out a month after when I ended up in the er with horrible pain they thought was an infection in the hip, they found the fracture in a ct scan. My surgeon won’t see me I only see his PA, and the last thing the PA said was the pain was psychological, and he’s sending me for a nerve conduction study.
It hurts to sit in the recliner, lift my leg when standing, I can’t lift it to get in the passenger side of the car (was my left hip that was replaced) and laying in bed is awful and I’m in pain and unable to sleep all night. Could they have injured something else when they broke through the back of my femur? Has this happened to anyone else? I’m only 52 and needed the replacement from a bad accident that tore the labrum and cartilage beyond fixing.
Thanks for your help, I can’t take this and the surgeons pa anymore.

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juliepoolie71 | @juliepoolie71 | Mar 7 9:00pm
In reply to @pb50 "Yea I couldn’t take it - gave me psycho dreams . I replied earlier but I..." + (show)
@pb50

Yea I couldn’t take it - gave me psycho dreams . I replied earlier but I must not have saved it. I wonder if those back Pain patches at pharmacy might help? Like Salon Pas? I guess you’ve tried ice - or heat.
I hope
It
Improves!

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Oh my gosh I haven't even thought of the patches! at least for overnight. I'll have to get some when I go to the store tomorrow. thank you so much! I'm so grateful for all the help on this thread, keep it coming.

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1 reply
grandmother2 | @grandmother2 | Mar 10 8:29am

Was this hip replacement an "anterior approach?"

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1 reply
juliepoolie71 | @juliepoolie71 | Mar 10 9:53am
In reply to @grandmother2 "Was this hip replacement an "anterior approach?"" + (show)
@grandmother2

Was this hip replacement an "anterior approach?"

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It was on the side of of my leg

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1 reply
grandmother2 | @grandmother2 | Mar 10 10:53am
In reply to @juliepoolie71 "It was on the side of of my leg" + (show)
@juliepoolie71

It was on the side of of my leg

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I'm scheduled for right hip replacement using "anterior approach" which I'm told is less invasive and muscles aren't touched. I'm wondering if that is 100% accurate.

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1 reply
Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Mar 10 1:36pm
In reply to @grandmother2 "I'm scheduled for right hip replacement using "anterior approach" which I'm told is less invasive and..." + (show)
@grandmother2

I'm scheduled for right hip replacement using "anterior approach" which I'm told is less invasive and muscles aren't touched. I'm wondering if that is 100% accurate.

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Umm, not exactly. Muscles, tendons and nerves are all "touched" in hip replacement surgery. The common wisdom is that the muscles do not need to be cut when using the anterior approach, just moved out of the way - but the surgeon still need visual and physical access to the joint and the femur, which is impossible without touching.

And when the surgeon tells you "healing time" is 4-6-8 weeks, that's what it takes for the incision to heal - depending on age and health, physical recovery from major surgery can take twice as long, and return to full function and strength anywhere from 4 months to a year.
What has your surgeon suggested as far as physical therapy before or after surgery?
Sue

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2 replies
grandmother2 | @grandmother2 | Mar 10 2:41pm
In reply to @sueinmn "Umm, not exactly. Muscles, tendons and nerves are all "touched" in hip replacement surgery. The common..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Umm, not exactly. Muscles, tendons and nerves are all "touched" in hip replacement surgery. The common wisdom is that the muscles do not need to be cut when using the anterior approach, just moved out of the way - but the surgeon still need visual and physical access to the joint and the femur, which is impossible without touching.

And when the surgeon tells you "healing time" is 4-6-8 weeks, that's what it takes for the incision to heal - depending on age and health, physical recovery from major surgery can take twice as long, and return to full function and strength anywhere from 4 months to a year.
What has your surgeon suggested as far as physical therapy before or after surgery?
Sue

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My doctor has given me several exercises to do 3 x's a day which i do faithfully. after surgery I will have pt. I'm hoping that by september I'll be able to take a trip to japan that we are planning.

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1 reply
juliepoolie71 | @juliepoolie71 | Mar 10 5:36pm
In reply to @grandmother2 "My doctor has given me several exercises to do 3 x's a day which i do..." + (show)
@grandmother2

My doctor has given me several exercises to do 3 x's a day which i do faithfully. after surgery I will have pt. I'm hoping that by september I'll be able to take a trip to japan that we are planning.

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It also depends on how active you have been before also. I am on month 4 post op and I think if I didn’t have any complications I’d be almost back to normal. I think the biggest thing is the muscles being weak that takes so long, and they take so long to fully heal… muscles take 4-6 months and nerves even longer. Tendons over a year… all info from my PT.
But the pain you had is all gone and a lot of people say they wish they had done it soonet

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pb50 | @pb50 | Mar 10 6:53pm
In reply to @sueinmn "Umm, not exactly. Muscles, tendons and nerves are all "touched" in hip replacement surgery. The common..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Umm, not exactly. Muscles, tendons and nerves are all "touched" in hip replacement surgery. The common wisdom is that the muscles do not need to be cut when using the anterior approach, just moved out of the way - but the surgeon still need visual and physical access to the joint and the femur, which is impossible without touching.

And when the surgeon tells you "healing time" is 4-6-8 weeks, that's what it takes for the incision to heal - depending on age and health, physical recovery from major surgery can take twice as long, and return to full function and strength anywhere from 4 months to a year.
What has your surgeon suggested as far as physical therapy before or after surgery?
Sue

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Such a brilliant distinction Sue. I had a left lower Lobectomy almost 10 months ago. The scars have long since healed. Healed is still a work in progress for me.

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sallyj2 | @sallyj2 | Mar 11 10:29am
In reply to @sueinmn "With the knee, I had motor loss - almost, but not quite, a drop-foot. Without the..." + (show)
@sueinmn

With the knee, I had motor loss - almost, but not quite, a drop-foot. Without the nerve feedback, I also had no clue where the foot was, so any uneven terrain - even my yard, was scary. This eventually resolved.
With the hip/thigh there was no motor loss. The most mystifying thing is that the numb area occasionally becomes quite painful to touch - whenever I have an inflammatory flare anywhere in my body.
Sue

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I have the same, occasionally painful spot on abdomen, where nerves were severed 38 years ago,

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susanfalcon52 | @susanfalcon52 | Mar 12 7:04am
In reply to @juliepoolie71 "Oh my gosh I haven't even thought of the patches! at least for overnight. I'll have..." + (show)
@juliepoolie71

Oh my gosh I haven't even thought of the patches! at least for overnight. I'll have to get some when I go to the store tomorrow. thank you so much! I'm so grateful for all the help on this thread, keep it coming.

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juliepoolie,
I have found that the over the counter patches don’t work well. I got my doctor to write me a script for 5% lidocaine patches which work great.

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