Hi again tallbackhip,

I mentioned my dislocation story above. I was fine after closed reduction (although like you, I had to wait close to 4 hours in the ER before they put it all back together). I am now 5 plus weeks post-dislocation and all is well.

Xrays were taken of my femur and pelvis to ensure no fractures. The only good news to come out of this is no fractures and no damage to the prostheses. In fact, my surgeon said the X-rays showed my bone was already starting to grow into the prostheses, even at 4 weeks. I've been fortunate all my life though and recover and heal quickly. I have no defense against doing stupid things, alas.

I was doing a really aggressive stretch, right foot over and next to left (so crossing the right leg, a no no), and then bending at the waist far enough to put my palms on the floor (an old and now bad habit from my running days, and I'm very flexible. hips bent way past 90 degrees, another no no). That was enough to pop the femoral ball out of the socket. Ouch.

From your low pain level, it sure sounds like the closed reduction was successful, very similar to mine. If anything, my anxiety level was through the roof for the following week, walking on egg shells and fearing a repeat. All is well now, five plus weeks after dislocation. My hip was sore after the dislocation, but that was expected.

So my advice is to do what you're doing. Be careful how far you bend, don't cross your operated leg over the other leg, continue to use your grabber, and go back and do the rehab exercises provided right after surgery (foot pumps, heel slides, quad sets, abduction, and on).

For what it's worth, I have a very bad lumbar spine - all the problems you can think of. I've had no pain in the lumbar/sacral region, and the sciatic nerve was not bothered by the dislocation.

If you feel any symptoms of sciatica, pain in the back of the leg or legs, get to your Dr. Fortunately, it doesn't sound like that happened.

Final advice, give the hip capsule time to scar over. I don't know how long that takes. I have my last post-op on June 13 and I'll ask if and when I can be a bit more aggressive with stretching. Until then I'm following guidance!

(One other phenomenon I went through - hip snapping. This is where my IT Band would cramp and move out of position over the greater trochanter. It felt like a dislocation, but would snap back in place with a "thump-like" feeling when I straightened my leg. Nerve-wracking feeling! Happened mostly when putting socks and shoes on without a grabber, or sitting on a hard surface with hips too far down and knees slightly up relative to hips. Apparently hip snapping isn't uncommon after a THR.)

Finally, the things you describe, while warned against, shouldn't have caused dislocation - just my opinion and I'm not a Dr. I'm sure you've had your new hip checked out via X-ray. I'd ask the Dr about it anyway - that is, can you ever cross your legs or bend farther than 90 degrees?

All the best to you.

Joe