The Physical Therapy/Gentle Movement Accountability & Resources Thread

[Dollar Slice]

Glad you are recovering well, sonofsven!

The hip surgery went well, although the amount of bruising on my thigh and lower torso was disconcerting, especially the finger and thumb prints on my hip/glutes; someone really had a hold of me!

I dunno about the thumb prints - eek! - but I think bruising generally around a surgery like that is pretty normal, when my mom had a knee replacement there was tons of bruising all around.

I just started back in PT a few weeks ago as well. I'm trying out a new place and it's the first one I've ever been do that doesn't give "homework" exercises. Which is kind of nice but probably counterproductive? I also just got half a dozen injections that were supposed to be for my neck (severe arthritis = my neck has gotten super stiff and sore) but mysteriously made a huge difference to my frozen shoulder which has been very resistant to treatment and PT. I got two injections in my actual shoulder last year that did basically nothing, but injections in my neck/uppermost traps got immediate inches of movement back to my shoulder which has been a mess for 20 months... like I couldn't lift my arm in a sideways direction above my shoulder and now I have almost full movement straight upwards (though it's a bit sore/stiff). I'm so confused. I feel like I should tell my shoulder doctor about this for her other patients.

[FrugalShrew]

Thanks for bringing this thread back, @sonofsven! Congrats on a successful hip surgery, and good luck with your PT! Hope it does end up helping with your back pain, too.

@Dollar Slice, that's awesome news about the neck injections helping with your shoulder!! If there was an issue in your neck/cervical spine affecting your shoulder, you'd think they would have figured that out before...But either way, glad to hear it helped. That shoulder issue sounded awful, and it's great you finally have some relief on that front.

[Dollar Slice]

@Dollar Slice, that's awesome news about the neck injections helping with your shoulder!! If there was an issue in your neck/cervical spine affecting your shoulder, you'd think they would have figured that out before...But either way, glad to hear it helped. That shoulder issue sounded awful, and it's great you finally have some relief on that front.

Yeah, it is great news. I don't think the neck stuff *caused* the shoulder problems... but maybe the neck being kind of locked up was complicating the shoulder recovery somehow? Or a vicious cycle... the neck has gotten worse and worse while the shoulder has failed to improve. I dunno. The type of injection I just got is supposed to be a temporary fix (hoping to aid the 6 weeks I'm in PT) and not a permanent thing so we'll see if the improvement sticks around. I'm making sure to fully extend the shoulder every day to make sure it's not 're-freezing'. If it goes back to how it was, I think I'll make an appointment with the shoulder doctor and talk to her about it since I have some new insight, at least. It also makes me think about how you could unlock that trap muscle in ways other than injections... the PT exercises they gave me (which were aimed at stretching it and pushing it to move further) really seemed to just cause pain and aggravation and no progress for many months. Maybe I'll ask the neck doctor (sorry "spine specialist") what they think. I have a followup with them.

[Metalcat]

Today I was back in the pool for the first time in 9 weeks, which was nice. Just a few laps and a sit in the jacuzzi.
I had a PT appointment before the pool visit that made me sore. My therapist is working me harder now that I have had a hip replacement. My lower back has had chronic pain for a long time, but it was hard to isolate it in PT because my hip wouldn't cooperate.

The hip surgery went well, although the amount of bruising on my thigh and lower torso was disconcerting, especially the finger and thumb prints on my hip/glutes; someone really had a hold of me!

I was using a walker for almost two weeks, then crutches for a few more weeks. Then  I was able to take short walks without crutches. Now, the limiting factor to walking further is the lower back SI joint pain. I really miss going on hikes and doing other physical work. I still have some swelling around the incision, I guess I have a lot of scar tissue there.

I didn't think that my back pain would disappear post hip replacement, but I guess I hoped it would. I have to put the work into PT I guess, arrrgh.

I made an appointment with a physiatrist for December, mainly just to get another idea on rehab. I'm happy with my current PT, but it takes so long to get an appointment you need to be preemptive. Besides, I've definitely filled my $1,900 max OOP for the year, so it won't cost anything.
It was September of '23 when my doctor told me I needed a hip, and it wasn't until August of '24 that I had the surgery. I also held out for one of the top surgeons in Portland.

I hike after my hip/leg surgery by using walking crutches with suspension. I can't even walk up a small incline very well, but I can tackle even advanced hiking trails with my Ergobaum walking crutches.