Loading ...A bad hip can mess up your back and knees from trying to avoid the hip pain. I was afraid I was going to lose my knees to arthritis as well as the hip. Since I got the hip replaced my knees have straightened out with ‘normal’ walking now and no longer pain me. My back has always been ‘iffy’ but I have learned to take care of it.
Get your hip done, ASAP! Some minor stretching muscles for preparation, but it is a major muscle insult. Recovery is three types of pain: Damaged bone, damaged nerves, and damaged muscles. I got celecoxib (Celebrex) for the bone pain. Gabapentin for the nerve pain. Those two were eased in about two weeks post-Op. Muscles got tylenol and icing packs for weeks. Major stretching bruising, and some muscle tearing that takes 10 weeks to fully mend with rehab work. But it is absolutely worth it!! My brother took a video of me just walking… he said he had not seen me walk straight like that in three or more years!
My ‘new’ leg is about 1 cm longer now… just enough to be annoying with a ‘step up’ feel and my hips are not level. I compensating by gluing another sole onto my everyday slippers here in Hawaii. Found some ‘Lift’ inserts for my shoes that are rarely worn here. Ortho doc was impressed with my homebrew slipper sole, and it works perfectly! I’ve walked a mile with it and no back pain.