Good luck on your recovery. I recently had hip replacement surgery on 1-08 and would be very grateful if any serious lifters could share their experiences on hip recovery.
I’ve been lifting some 30 odd yrs. and have been suffering with this hip for about 4-5 yrs. (no running,squating, limping like quasimoti, not even stationary bike at the end!!) and finally bit the bullet and had 2 have this surgery. Wondering how long before I can lift relitively heavy, etc. Any advice anyone can give I’ll be grateful. I also have a bum shoulder so your surgery comments are very good.
Well I had surgery on 1.10.2007. Pain was pretty bad when I woke up and it was all I could think about- has gotten better as of late. Turns out I have a rare tear in my rotator cuff. When the doc got in there, he noticed that my tendon did not tear away from the bone, it tore from itself in different locations within the length of the tendon. He said that kind of tear was more rare but he has seen it. It is longer to heal and has limited blood supply because it wasnt getting reattached to the bone. Ace, I cant imagine what pain you are in if you had ALL those procedures you listed.Ayway, passive exercises until next fri when I get to see the doc.Once I get the pictures explainded to me, I’ll post a few of the surgery. I am tired of being dopey on these meds. I will be looking for a good glucosamine/chrondritin supplement in the meantime. Happy healing.
25 days post surgery… Now doing passive range of motion 3 to 4 times a day on my own and seeing the PT twice weekly. I’m taking extra strength tylenol usually only before a PT appointment. I can honestly say the pressure in the shoulder is about the same as a week after the surgery. The surgery was never really painful but the pressure is constant. To Bigpull and weldergirl, if you are having any problems sleeping after you get off the pain pills have the doctor prescribe Ambien or something like it, this has truly helped my recovery by getting a good nights sleep. The PT says my range of motion is right where it should be at this time. I will see the surgeon on the 25th of January for a complete evaluation. I’m still in the brace for most of the day and all of the night except when I’m doing my exercises. This has been a very slow process, but believing that this will allow me to do chin ups, dips and bench press keeps me going. If there is anything I can do to help your recovery or answer your questions let me know.
Ace
Ok just had my stitches removed and first post-op appointment with the doc.He told me some interesting things about my surgery. First off he said that I had a prior tear that he repaired but it was very unusual. Basically, the tendon is approx 11 mm thick.
Somewhere in the middle of that thickness my tendon previously tore(possibly up to over a year ago). It tore from one point(in the middle) and rolled back, kind of coiled up. He removed some scar tissue and sutured and anchored up that repair.
The second or “new” tear was not at the inerstion point of the bone, which is about 99% of tears. It was a little off the bone, in a “V” shape at the top of the tendon. So he sutured that one and anchored it in as well. Apparently tendon to tendon healing is a little more risky because unlike tendon to bone, there is little blood supply to the tissue to heal.
However I apparently have a lot of “blood spots” on my tendons so I should be ok.Basically on a tendon to tendon repair, you just tie the loose ends so they hold together and pray that those loose ends find themeselves, grow together, and dont ever tear in the future.
Question for Ace: did you have a hard time coming off the ambien? I am sleeping like shit( ibuprofin only now) and have heard that it is hard to come off the ambien, thats why I am tryin to tuff it out. Woke up last night and found my sling was undone sometime in the night.Ooops! Anyway, hope everyone is healing ok.
Bigpull, now currently 39 days post surgery and still on Ambien. Today is the first day i have been allowed out of my sling at all times. Tonight will be the first time sleeping without the brace. I can’t say whether or not coming off of the Ambien is tough yet because the few nights i haven’t used it i have slept terrible. I have about 7 pills of 10mg Ambien left, so i will try to spread it out throughout the next couple of weeks. I will let you know more on sleeping habits as the time comes.
Ace
Now 39 days out and all is going well according to the surgeon and therapist. Range of motion at approximately 155%. Now moving from passive range of motion to active range of motion exercises with scapula strengthening. I see the PT two times a week for one hour periods while doing PT on my own several times a day.
The pressure in my shoulder is very small with occasional pain after PT or after using it a lot. I’m not using any OTC or prescribed pain medication but still taking 10mg of Ambien everynight. Today is the first day i’m completely out of my brace, normally the doc says 6 weeks in the brace, but he ok’d me after this weekend. I have noticed a loss of muscle strength, but the doctor said it will come back in time considering this is a 6-8 month healing process. I see the doctor again Feb 28th and he expects 180%ROM. All is going well in a very long recovery process.
Ace