THE HEALING JOURNEY CONTINUES — HIP REPLACEMENT
Photos above show movements that cause strain on the new hip by rotating it inward or by decreasing the angle between the torso and the legs. Using a thick cushion, as shown below, offers a more comfortable seated position by elevating the body and increasing the distance between torso and legs. Photo credit: Richard Merle
I am now 5 weeks post-surgery and elated that I am feeling so much progress. I can walk without a cane (although I have found it handy to carry on occasion*). I walk to the park and back (about 1.5 miles) but must stop and rest for at least a 10-20 minute break. My husband and I enjoy wonderful walks together!
Bringing along a folding chair, we find a sweet spot under a beautiful park tree to sit and read to each other, something which we rarely if ever did together before. And now with my urgent desire to get outside the apartment, we have been gifted a deeply absorbing and enjoyable endeavor that opens a door for us to discuss writing, and often way more.
Once we start reading, I am able to forget about my hip. Over the summer I’ve read: The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by the wonderful Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk and now Disgrace by J. Coetzee. Honestly, more books than I’ve read in years! Another advantage to taking some downtime healing is grabbing the opportunity to read great books!
* Carrying the cane is handy to alert people that you have a walking challenge. This is most useful on the street, as many people in general tend to walk right in to you or just barely miss you as they whiz by. When you carry a cane, people actively avoid you and trust me – that is what you want-- as it is far better than being knocked or bumped by unaware walkers who with their head in their phones, or not, often don’t even see you.
My quadriceps (the 4 muscles on the front of the thigh connected at the top of the hip) are still extremely tight. Honestly, they’ve always been tight and now this surgery has given them good reason to turn up the tightness level. Tightness means pain at the top of my thigh when walking and most particularly when walking up the long 2 block slope to the park.
Important “no-no’s” to remember: (see above pics)
Don’t bend toward your torso toward your legs closer than a 90 degree angle. A difficult rule to follow! Drop something on the floor? Too bad, you can’t get it. Tie your left shoe? Forget it, ask someone else – a friend, partner - to do it or use those longarmed shoe horns or rety your shoes with elastic laces so they don’t need tying, or better yet, get a slip on shoe! Luckily, one of my PT pracititioners gave me a great cheat on this —if you lift your leg straight to the back behind you, you will no longer risk a 90 degree angle. Be careful of your balance here and make sure you’re holding on to a sturdy piece of furniture before attempting this!
Don’t twist the hips side to side; Twist your waist but not your hips
Don’t roll over on either side unless you have a pillow between your legs. (This has been extremely difficult rule when it comes to sleep positions. I am a tosser/turner in bed and this rule has kept me on my back all night which has most certainly disrupted my sleep patterns
Don’t rotate the (operated) leg internally and don’t cross your legs either when sitting or standing.
So—what IS RECOMMENDED?.
Diane’s A-list: BEST ACTIVITIES FOR A REJUVENATING HOLISTIC HEALING
REST, REST, REST! And plenty of it. Your body has been through major trauma, and one of the best ways to heal will be to rest your body. And I mean FULLY REST, as in laying down completely flat on your back in bed. If there is still swelling at this point, use ICE or HEATING PAD but no longer than 20 minutes at a time. We need to truly respect the trauma our body has gone through. Realize - this is not the same body you had before surgery, it has been through ALOT, and we need to treat it gently and kindly. For this, the body will thank you.
MEDITATION of any kind will calm the mind. As we know the mind can play all kinds of distracting negative games. Your mind plays an important part of the healing process, and you want to ease and clear out the negativity that can so easily creep in when you’re not feeling well. A favorite go-to of mine are audio YOGA NIDRA meditations designed to take place LYING ON YOUR BACK on bed with your legs lengthened and splayed apart (Savasana).. These meditations are perfect for relaxing both your mind and body when in pain and will help you SLEEP (even though the yogis encourage you to stay awake). I recommend the INSIGHT TIMER app (https://insighttimer.com) which has an impressive selection of meditations each lasting from 20 -60 minutes. Playing this at night takes your mind off your pain, gets you to breathe and experience gratitude for being alive..By helping clear your mind, these meditations can help induce a peaceful sleep, and even if you still struggle with sleep, they will still deeply relax your mind and body, a crucial state for deeper healing.
POSITIVE MINDSET If all the above are important steps, this is the electric current fueling your healing journey and can not be overlooked. EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique or Tapping) is a wonderful technique that lowers the cortisol level in the brain and helps you refocus challenges toward a positive outcome. I have been tapping for years and it has had an impressively positive affect on my life.. I have beentapping daily on hip pain which has helped not only to relieve stress but to relieve pain in that area. There are a few tapping meditations that you will find on this site. I also recommend the Tapping Solution.com which offers both an app for tapping meditations only and The Tapping Insiders Club which offers a huge directory of sessions on every topic imaginable with discussion and tapping meditations included. There is a membership fee, but it is worth every penny and cheaper than therapy!
NUTRITION This is a huge and important area that cannot properly be addressed here. Needless to say - what you eat and the supplements that you take have an enormous effect on your healing. I eat a mostly vegetarian diet with some fish, like salmon, that has omega3 nutrients in it. But whatever your diet is, remember that your body is working hard to help you heal and your nutrition plays an important role in that journey, so being mindful that you eat balanced meals with plenty of green leafy vegetables, a variety of fruit, lots of water, and your choice of healthy proteins is key!
ESSENTRICS: COMMITTING TO A 20-30 MINUTE WORKOUT EVERY DAY! The key takeaway is that you will not just be targeting the area of concern, but all 650 muscles, all the joints, connective tissue and every part of the body. You may have had your hip removed, but the best way to heal is not to laser focus only on the body part where the surgery took place-- but by energizing and moving your WHOLE BODY and all its parts, you will feel much better and heal faster. Essentrics offers these quick and deep healing when exercises are performed with body awareness: Here are some important tips: Focus on increasing blood flow to the entire body; Don’t push to the end of a movement, work in a relaxed ‘lazy’ way when feeling pain, Do a full body workout (making certain to work all the muscles without overly targeting the injured area. Move slowly and breathe fully through the workout, listening and sensing your body’s needs as you move! As soon as I start to move my whole body gently and safely, I immediately experience a complete body change. By focusing on moving in a relaxed manner, you’re breathing consciously and aware of your body connections as you move. This is the opposite of rigourous mindless, jumping jacks, push ups, situps or any exercise where you are pushing or forcing the body without breath and conscious awareness of how you’re feeling. These are a few hints that I hope will make your healing journey easier, more nourishing to your well-being and offer an opportunity to deepen or explore areas that you don’t normally give yourself time to explore. I’m well on my way to healing and am delighted to announce that I will be teaching again (!) in October. I invite you will join me as I will be starting gently and we can deepen our mind body connection and get in shape together.
Video above demonstrates a full body side lunge sequence which effectively engages the upper and lower body muscles and lengthens the body and creates space around the hips.. The legs lunge from side to side, lengthening and strengthening muscles on the front, sides and back of the legs, as well as the hips! Stretching the full length of the arms above the head engages core/ abdominal muscles, the spine.sides of the torso, arms and shoulders! By overextending the arm behind the body, and moving to the end of the stretch, we are able to effectively stretch from the feet up to our fingers.
