Post Op Quandry-Patience is a Virtue They Say

I reposted my 6 week post op post below. I remember being very impatient and itching to train. Give yourself a chance to heal. You will be up and att’em soon enough. Listen to your body. Good luck !! You’ve got this.

6 Weeks Post-Op Check Up
November 18, 2016 igoerealty@gmail.com
Today’s 6 week check up went great (Direct Anterior Approach). My next scheduled appointment is in 12 months. I’ve been given the green light to bike, swim and lift weights. Told to hold off another 8-12 weeks before doing leg strength training or running.

Over the last six weeks I’ve walked a lot for PT. Started gradually but built up to walking 10 miles on Sunday. Muscle memory and flexibility seem to improve each day.

With today’s Dr approval I was finally able to test out the hip: 1000 yds swim, 30 min spin bike, 1/2 treadmill. No Arthritis pain and significant flexibility improvement. I was finally able to reconnect with something I thought might be gone forever.

I know it takes another month or so for the implant to fully heal into the bone.

What are your thought on stretching or yoga six weeks in ? Too soon ?

I’m not that far ahead of you in terms of recovery ( Dec 1, 2016 Anterior approach). At 64 I’ve learned when to push and when to keep it moderate. I swim, bike and do elliptical as well as trekking with my ski poles. I’ve done a couple trial runs,, very short just to satisfy my curiosity and I’m very encouraged that by April, I’ll start to ramp up some running. I agree with runningagift, listed to your body,, and when you think you’re ready to run, hold off for another month. Can’t hurt, but trying to much too soon can cause a set back.

I started running rather soon, 7 weeks, and ran a half Marathon in less than 6 months. Not blazing fast, but I finished. Then I came back and ran another the following week.

My best advice is run until you notice proper mechanics failing. Your hip muscles went thru a lot of trauma. They will take time to strengthen. Once pushed to the limit, they will start giving in and other parts kick in to help. That’s when to stop. All my post-op injuries have been from overcompensating. Just take it slow and appreciate that you’ll be running again soon.

I would say if you think you may be pushing too hard you probably are, at least within the first 3 months. Let your bone fuse with the new hip and just keep to light, low impact training. Then start to build up with some cross training and strength work, walking and swimming would be good. Then when you’re ready just walk/jog a mile or two and see how you feel the next day. There’s no rush, you have plenty of time ahead of you and the more strength/flexibility work you do will help you run faster/longer. Good luck, Dave.

My rule of thumb is simple. When the hip starts hurting. Back off and give it a rest. If you follow this rule, then eventually you’ll be back to running the way you used to. You’ll know the difference between hip pain and running pain. Give the hip time and it will reward you with longer runs. 🙂

Realizing everyone heals at differnet speeds. Did anyone find it benefical to work on strenghten the muscles around the hips/core/glutes to prepare for surgery. I am having THR surgery on April 10th and trying to go into it as strong as possible, both endurance and strength!

Erin, I’m 53 and had an anterior THR on 3/14. I attribute the ease that I had with surgery and in the past almost 3 weeks to the fact that I went into the surgery physically strong and well nourished. I left the house early in the morning and was home in time for dinner! I climbed the stairs to our upstairs bedroom that night. I went home on crutches and quickly progressed to a cane and then nothing. All winter I bicycled on the trainer for an hour 4x a week, swam once a week, did upper body and core strength training 2x/week, and cross country skied. I also had a spinal which worked great for me and was recommended by the anesthesiologist- my surgeon said he’d have general when I asked him what he would choose.