Tag Archives: hip replacement rehabilitation

Return to Tango: Week 5 after Anterior Hip Replacement

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The Sidewalk Tango class this week was on Open and Closed Embrace.. I would really have liked to do that class to help me refine what I know already. At least this week, I felt strong enough to stand in the lounge and do some of the steps which don’t involve twisting. 

I enjoyed the regular Wednesday night after-class Practica. My legs and feet felt quite strong and springy as they walked and I relished the changes of pace and direction that Nick led me into. I can now go into the cross and step out backwards and even follow the lead to step over my partner’s leg. This is very encouraging as it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to cross my right leg over towards the left side of my body. I even tried an ocho on my new right hip joint. I did take care to set myself up on my axis and engage every muscle I could think of before moving into the step. It worked and felt alright but at the same time, I was aware that it wouldn’t be a good idea to do many more of them. It was encouraging to be able to complete a whole Tanda.

Background.

Thigh muscles are still tight and complaining but less so.However, I can loosen them more quickly now with stretches.  My upper thigh is still a little bit swollen.

Exercises: I’m increasing the the intensity of these now. It’s odd, but  during the last few weeks most of my energy has been spent managing daily life and I didn’t seem to have the energy for doing a lot of exercises.  Now I have and it’s good to do them and start feeling specifically stronger. My poor old left leg needs as much attention as the right.

Backache: still there and I’m a bit sick of it. But it is ‘just’ muscular for which I am grateful.

Walking: much better around the block now. I can walk quite steadily and at a sensible speed but still find it hard to maintain the enrgy for sustained walking.

Pain relief: down to Targin10 twice a day for a week. Time to step down further.

Return to Tango After a Total Hip Replacement. Day 7.

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My Right Total Hip Replacement-Anterior Muscle Sparing Approach operation was performed a week ago (I’ve only posted this now)

What a triumph of medical technology and surgical skill that has been. This is Mr Phong Tran’s demonstration ceramic and titanium hip joint – the stem and the socket. I like the grooves on the unpolished shaft (see the cutaway image) which encourage the new bone growth to attach to..

It’s a strange thought to think of that new inert shaft being inserted and cemented into my living femur. My femur is now truncated, neatly sawn off, and the slim, shiny titanium stem extends and holds the polished ceramic ball. I meant to ask if it really is pink. I try to imagine how my body’s muscles, blood vessels, tendons and  nerves, adjust to the different proportions, edges and angles.They must have to fold in and around the new structure. I’d like to see a real colour 3D image of that.

I can’t tell by feel. I don’t feel anything in my hip – it’s not numb- but there is no glute pain, no inner ache. Nothing. Is that what normal is like? I’ve forgotten. Of course, I don’t really know what I might be feeling in there because I’m on 12 hourly Targin tablets which I’m presuming are suppressing any pain. Do you have pain if you don’t feel it?

This new hip is working very well. The Anterior approach, a 10 cm incision on the thigh, starting from the crease between the body and the thigh, has eliminated most of the restrictons which follow Lateral or Posterior approaches. The only real restriction is to not lunge or step back too strongly with the new hip. This puts pressure on the incision and the weakened, settling muscles.

This move is actually alarmingly like the lady’s walking step backwards in tango. I’m going to have to be very careful with that for about 6 weeks.

In fact, my new hip is thinking Tango! Today I put some tango music on while I was doing my exercises. I was practising walking tall and evenly with my crutches and found myself walking in tango rhythm. What a happy unanticipated moment it was to feel the spontaneous movement after all the post-op careful, controlled  and on the edge of pain walking up.

Let’s see what happens next!