People who have had hip replacements~ how long did you wait between “diagnosis” and procedure?
If you had an accident how long did you put off the surgery? If you were diagnosed with arthritis, etc., how long did you wait before you decided it was time to go under the knife? Was the pain unbearable and ,if so, how did you cope? Which medicines worked best for you? Did you do any kind of at home treatments that helped? Thanks in advance!
My official doctor-delivered diagnosis of osteoarthritis came about 4 years before I had hip replacements in both of my hips. The unofficial diagnosis (made by me!) came about 8 years before THR! I waited about 3 years too long to have them replaced. I coped (if you want to call it that) by taking double the OTC dose of Aleve daily, curbing my walking because that’s what really hurt, avoiding stairs, parking as close to things as I could, finally resorting to a cane for the last year (although I really needed to use one even sooner than that, I was too proud to get one until I absolutely couldn’t take a step without it) and the last straw – quitting my job because I couldn’t handle being on my feet all day & getting a handicapped parking tag. Other things I tried that may or may not have helped a little include taking glucosamine (IMHO a waste of $$$) and doing physical therapy exercises (not a waste because at least I felt pretty good for a few minutes after doing the exercises).
The Aleve (a.k.a. naproxen) worked pretty good for me for awhile but eventually it wasn’t enough. I was lucky and didn’t develop any major GI side effects from it despite taking it for 4 years. I always took it with food and lots of water and absolutely didn’t drink alcohol and only occasionally had heartburn or indigestion which I treated with Mylanta when it occurred. Others are not so lucky and this drug (and other NSAIDS such as aspirin or ibuprofen) should be taken at high doses only under a doctor’s guidance. My desire to be able to stop taking it was just one of my motivations for finally getting my hips fixed.
As I read what I just wrote above, I see that it is quite obvious that I waited a little too long to get myself to the ortho surgeon and I lost a chunk of living because of it. My world became smaller and smaller as I pretty much stayed home as much as possible for the last couple of years and believe it was only a matter of time before I would be wheel-chair bound. I guess it takes some people longer than others to make that inevitable commitment to have surgery.
I am happy to report that my life has changed dramatically as a result of the THRs that I had 5 years ago. I can walk miles, take no pain meds, have no limp, use no walking aids, and pretty much have a normal life back.
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