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Numbness, and inability to extend leg below knee following THR

Posted by jenas62 @jenas62, May 25, 2023

Hello everyone, I had a right total hip replacement on 3/17/23. Immediately when I woke up from the surgery, I felt that something was wrong. My surgical side leg was throbbing so bad that I was actually moaning. The nurse gave me a pain pill. After 30 minutes, she gave me another half but I was sent home shortly after.

I got home and felt that I had been shot in my hip. I could not get comfortable. Way more pain than I was led to believe that I would have.

After a few day, that pain subsided but then my entire inner leg from groin to ankle was numb. No pins and needles just numbness. My knee became numb except for the top near my thigh and the outerside. I also cannot extend my leg at the knee or lift my leg from while laying down. I have done a lot of research and I have femoral nerve damage. My surgeon confirmed this. It's now been 10 weeks and I am no better except that I can walk but my knee gives out on me so I am afraid. I also cannot drive because it's my right leg.

I have an appointment at Mayo for August with Neurology but that is still 2.5 months away.

Has anyone had this issue and if so, did you recover? How long was the recovery?

Thanks!

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linnie1948 | @linnie1948 | Jun 2, 2023
In reply to @chriskay "Hi, I had my right hip replaced on April 17th. I went to my post op..." + (show)
@chriskay

Hi,
I had my right hip replaced on April 17th. I went to my post op 6 week appointment yesterday. I complained of thigh, knee, and shin pain and all he said was that it can take a year to go away! Yikes!! It is slowly getting better on it's own, there were some nights I had trouble sleeping as that was the time it ached the most. He also said that because I was so crippled up with the hip pain my gait was probably off and that those things contribute to how I'm feeling now... I don't believe that. I do think the trauma of the actual surgery, the pounding and sawing has to be pretty rough on your joints. I actually feel that my legs are bruised on the inside when I touch them.
I'm sending healing prayers to all that go through this!
P.S. I think the guy that said that he had no pain is full of it!!!

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I had a thr January 26. I have only just started to walk almost normally. I have a treadmill and have been averaging at least 8000 steps a day total. My doctor told me that by going about my daily routine recovery would be 18-24 months. Yikes. I was stunned as I too have spoken to people who have had thr and they were pain free in just a week or two. That was definitely not my experience. I recently located my x-rays and I have a cable and what appears to be a very large screw somewhere in the mix. Had no idea but my surgery was complex due to having lots of damage that went into my pelvic area. Feeling pretty good now but still in some pain. But the pain is manageable. Yay. I suffered pain for years before getting the surgery. There are times that I actually skip taking Tylenol. Before surgery I was taking it round the clock for years. Hang in there. Hopefully it will get better. My surgeon is a professor at Harvard medical school and I put all of my trust in him and his extraordinary experience.

REPLY
jenas62 | @jenas62 | Jun 14, 2023
In reply to @continentalred "I had nerve related pain following my surgery in September 2022. The only thing that gave..." + (show)
@continentalred

I had nerve related pain following my surgery in September 2022. The only thing that gave me relief was a drug called Pregabalin (Lyrica). If you haven’t been taking this I would recommend you as your doctor for a prescription. It was a game changer for me.
I still have some areas of my knee that feel numb but no real pain.

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Hello. sorry to hear about your nerve pain. Does you knee feel jelly like? For instance if I kneel down on the bed, it feels very strange. The numbness in my leg has not changed and my surgery was 3 months ago. I am trying to be patient waiting for my quadricep muscles to come back so that I can extent my leg. I can walk around the house now unassisted but I am constantly worried that my knee will give out and I will fall.

REPLY
1 reply
continentalred | @continentalred | Jun 14, 2023
In reply to @jenas62 "Hello. sorry to hear about your nerve pain. Does you knee feel jelly like? For instance..." + (show)
@jenas62

Hello. sorry to hear about your nerve pain. Does you knee feel jelly like? For instance if I kneel down on the bed, it feels very strange. The numbness in my leg has not changed and my surgery was 3 months ago. I am trying to be patient waiting for my quadricep muscles to come back so that I can extent my leg. I can walk around the house now unassisted but I am constantly worried that my knee will give out and I will fall.

Jump to this post

That’s my niece felt jelly like for a while. I really found aqua fit classes has helped me gain back leg strength
At the six month mark seen things seem to open up for me. I was able to walk for long periods of time. I am now at the 9 1/2 postop. Mark and I can walk several miles. However, I still have some numbness on the side of my knee and I do get a burning sensation on and off. I think it’s just going to take a while before the nerves to completely heal.

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