hip problem and crooked leg after surgery

[SusanS]

Hi all,

Has anyone else experienced post-surgical changes in their hip alignment causing hip and leg pain? The right side of my pelvis is about a half inch or more higher than the left (it was slightly higher before surgery too). The angle of my sacrum was reduced quite a bit after surgery. It is more straight up and down now instead of angled which I suspect affects the angle of the pelvis and consequently the angle of the hip joint. I'm guessing that change is the reason my right hip has been so painful and swollen ever since my first surgery (the posterior portion). I'm a little over four months out now from that surgery (I've had posterior, then anterior, then one revision) but my body still hasn't adapted to it. I now have an obvious leg deformity-- my right leg is no longer straight, but instead angles inward significantly and I am now extremely knock-kneed on the right leg. I've been in sweats pretty much ever since surgery and I put on a pair of jeans yesterday and was really taken back by the change in how my leg looks. It's awful!

Anyway, has anyone else experienced a new leg/hip joint angle after surgery? Hopefully the pain, numbness and swelling will subside eventually, but I really don't want to have to accept a permanent leg deformity. BTW, some of the swelling is actually fluid coming off the joint, same with the knee.

Any thoughts or similar experiences? It would be most appreciated!

Sue

[loves to skate]

Hi Sue,
I don't know if I had the same thing, but I had a lot of muscle spasms in my right hip after my surgery. Once I became more and more active and had some physical therapy, the spasms stopped and everything seems to be in proper alignment. My right leg appeared to be one inch longer than the left, but after surgery they were equal. I believe my pelvis was twisted with the left hip higher before surgery.
I hope you can get this problem resolved. Have you had PT yet? I didn't have PT until six months post-op.
Sally

[SusanS]

Hi Sally,
Thanks so much for the reply and encouragement. I've been doing some physical therapy exercises that I got from the hospital and home health, and have my first regular PT session next week. I am encouraged to hear that you got good results from PT and I'll just be believing I will have the same good result once I get to work with someone long-term.

This has been an issue ever since my first surgery in late January, and my doctor's advice was to just let my body adapt over time. When I saw my leg in jeans I got a little alarmed at how it looked, it isn't improving at all, but my gait has definitely improved. Hopefully the bone structure will correct itself as my gait has. I sure hope so. My gait isn't wobbly anymore, but the hip and leg issues are affecting my walking ability.

I was hoping someone would say they'd had their leg go crooked for a while too and it all straightened itself out! Or even that they'd had the same thing happen... hearing from voices of experience is always so reassuring!

Was everyone still walking pretty slow at five months out? Maybe that's just normal too and unrelated to my leg alignment.

Susan