Post hip replacement problems

Almost six months out and in addition to thigh pain I also have groin pain and occasionally my knee acts up a bit. Last night I had to slap on a salonpas with lidocaine pain patch on my thigh. I can live with that if I have to. For the moment all my pain is manageable which is saying a lot. Prior to surgery I would wake up every night with horrible knee pain. That’s no longer an issue. Thigh pain is annoying but I don’t feel it when I am on the treadmill. Thank goodness.

No kidding about the violence! For one of my hip replacements I was able to get a good look at the operating theater and all of the tools they use - WOW. They looked like the power tools I have in my shop, but all surgical white. Someday I'll have the stomach to watch one of these operations on YouTube. My surgeon also called my wound "angry" - it's much happier now though that it's healed.

Yes - full recovery takes a while, and from my experience it's not a straight line. Some days are much better than others.

Helpful, yes, now I’m thinking I’m on the 18 month “plan” given thigh pains of various sorts. The one year anniversary of my hip replacement is in a few weeks. I’m still seeing improvements. It’s just taking longer for me than for many.

Yesterday I had my two week post opp appointment with surgeon. I was told that it would take a year for the thigh pain to completely subside.
They also said that they will keep writing the Percocet scripts for six weeks. So, that was a relief. I work pretty hard at PT which sometimes makes the pain worse.
I have to remind myself that I was in a good bit of pain before the surgery and was limping.
They prepared us well for this - all the hip and knee patients attended a class and had tons of reading materials. Yet…..somehow there is plenty that they don’t tell you.

Hello,
Don't get discouraged by 18 to 24 months you shouldn't have any thigh pain and you'll forget that you even had your hip replaced. It's like I woke up one day and it was gone.

I was told swelling can last up to 2 years so be patient. I had a PHR so not sure if same. I am in my 4th year. I still have mostly groin pain which Tylenol and Advil pretty much alleviate. Usually after long walk or exercise. I don’t want to rely on these nor have a THR which my surgeon says will cure it. I have an appointment for OMT to try. There are also other type of massage therapy and shots etc. my surgery was the result of a trauma fall so not sure I should be even posting here. There are actually very few people posting about PHR (partial hip replacement).

Same here. Prior to surgery I talked to two people who had hip replacements when they were in their 60's. I am going to be 75 soon. Both said they were up and at em the same day. That's what I was expecting too but my surgery was more complicated and I was 10 years older than the two people who told me that it was a walk in the park. My 92 year old neighbor had her hip replacement nearly four years ago. She is doing great. Has absolutely no pain. Swims every day. She is a tough old bird and doesn't let anything get her down. I think having a good attitude is very important. After I had my first DVT a friend of mine couldn't believe that I looked like it had never happened even though it was massive. She said a friend of hers had a DVT and she was bedridden. I simply could not imagine that. I went on to have two more DVT's and now am on a blood thinner for life but I don't let that or anything else get in my way. Onward and upward.

I am 15 months post THR and still have pain, some days more than others. I am encouraged by this thread with 18-24 month encouragement. I had pulmonary emboli after surgery and am on blood thinners for the rest of my life. No big deal!

My surgeon is a professor at Harvard Medical School and I trust in what he says. If he says that it will be 18-24 months before full recovery I believe him. Our recovery is dependent on the skills of our surgeon. I met a few people in my small town who used local doctors and had to have their surgeries done more than once. Granted that one of my neighbors had surgery on her toe but having to have any surgery a second time was not in the cards for me as far as I was concerned. Why would I choose a surgeon who was not top notch in his/her field? Yes so many people feel as though going to a local doctor is quite the thing to do as they are afraid of the big city and big city hospitals. I am very lucky that I live close to one of the best hospitals in the country and all the doctors on staff teach at Harvard Medical School.
I think the protocol now is to give a blood thinner soon after surgery in order to prevent blood clots. Did you get a blood thinner after surgery as you said you got a pulmonary embolism? My doctor was a bit concerned that I had had 3 dvt's and I had to stop taking a blood thinner three days before surgery which was very stressful for me. As far as I am concerned I am able to manage the pain that I have now which was not the case prior to surgery. I know that no matter how good the surgeon is, there are always cases where things do not go as planned. My expectations are that if I can manage the pain, I will be much better than I was before the surgery. I will be 75 in a few short weeks and to ask "what is normal" well I have to take into consideration that I will be 75 and have no idea what normal is going forward but I just want to keep going forward which is a goal in itself.

Anyone experienced post surgery grief ? I’m 5 weeks into a total Anterior hip replacement, have good mobility, my appetite has improved and I have minimal pain and have been seeing progress daily. When I look at my surgical scar I get nauseous, I want to cry for no reason frequently and I feel like I’ve been through a traumatic experience. I should be grateful that I’m progressing so well but I’m feeling so sad.