physio exercises

Before my hip surgeries I found walking every day was best for me to keep my muscles working, it was painful but used a stick for the last few weeks. I’m not sure what results can be seen in your circumstances apart from preventing further weakening I’d probably keep up with them if I were you. Good luck with your surgery.

You need to get back in touch with your physio and tell them this. Although it is probably more complex, it comes down to:
-you may be doing the exercises wrongly (this is a constant problem of mine as I am quite 'dyspraxic'
-the exercises may just be intended to be 'maintenance' to keep you in as good a place as possible until your op
-the physio may need to consider some other exercises

Personally I have found water exercises the very best for keeping my muscles as fit as possible before operations. If you have somewhere you can do these, then ask the physio about them.

Good luck

I discussed my physio on another thread I had this then acupuncture massage injections and three ops on my hands. Neck and shoulder a waste of time for me the only thing that cured my hip was THR. All courtesy of NHS. I was told swimming is good but I lost my nerve so couldn’t do that anymore.
I was told my knee needs replacing again because of osteoarthritis but I am not volunteering for surgery again.

Travelsofar, having worked as a Physio Assistant for many years I can say with authority that there was/is a marked difference between people who did exercises and those who didn’t. So yes, do continue they really are worthwhile.

I would assume that the exercises won’t actually help now but will be beneficial when you have the replacement. Because my arthritic knee is getting worse and there’s no possibility of a replacement I have started doing pre op exercises in the hope that it will strengthen the muscles around my knee. On one of the utube exercise blogs I read they said that certain ligaments and stuff has to be cut through and the exercises need to be done to get other things to compensate for that. (I might have got ligaments, muscles etc mixed up though). I’m annoyed with myself for not continuing with knee exercises I did when my knee was first bad but up until last year I was doing strengthening exercises at the gym. Given that I think some of my mobility problem is coming from my hip I’m going to check out exercises for that area too.

Hello travelsafar. I agree with the others that say keep doing them. I did the physio's exercises and found they were so similar to what I did at my Pilates classes. My hip replacement consultant said that it had stood me in good stead and recovery should be quite quick. I was off crutches completely after four weeks and pain free.

That's a very good point about dyspraxia Nannarose. I taught a 10 year old for a year who had been diagnosed with that. I tailored the PE lessons quite a lot to make them manageable and enjoyable and also arranged for him to have a laptop for all his writing.

Good luck with the replacement travelsafar. The exercises will also strengthen your core muscles too. Keep going?.

I have been doing at least 30 mins of Pilates every day for six months - an hour if I can. I still feel every stretch, struggle with some exercises and I am only doing beginners ones for bad backs. I do feel a little more supple but my back still hurts and the physio keeps saying exercise is the only way to go but it is a struggle every day. Perhaps I would be worse if I didn’t do them.

I suppose we have to trust the experts.

Thanks Muse, I am not so bad - my writing is good, but my large motor skills are quite poor.
I find that I 'forget' easily what I have been shown, so I have to re-check with the physio / pilates teacher. I also say that you have to practice a lot to begin with so that your body gets some memory of what it should be doing.

It was a physio assistant, explaining severe dyspraxia about a child that helped me realise. I was always the child 'in trouble' at school for 'not trying' in sport / PE and last to be picked for a team. I still remember being quite unable to understand how you can vault over the vaulting horse, when others made it look easy!
My salvation was swimming, where I seemed to be able to co-ordinate (huge thanks to my parents for finding a sport I could do) and which has stood me in good stead over the years. I still remember how I felt when we did swimming at school, and suddenly girls who had been unsympathetic to my sports efforts were the ones who 'didn't get it'.

That is why I always advice those who don't 'get' physio exercises to ask for more help.

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I am in a similar position Travels, and can hardly walk, but havnt started physio yet. First one next week. Not entirely sure it will help but am on max pain meds now and not happy to keep doing this for too long.
Goodness knows how long the hip (h)op will be, you are in front of me so assume I am patient no. 6 million and two!

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Keep going, the exercises do begin to work. I feel much better than I did three months ago.

I had osteoarthritis in both knees. I used to get sort of 'flare ups' from time to time and no amount of excercise could help those. Theoretically it's a good idea to build up the muscles above and below the knees but in the end I did have to have both knees replaced. I found Aquafit the ideal way to exercise. I was well supported by the water which also offered resistance. We worked through all the muscles groups. Great exercise and good fun. Can't wait to get back to it.

Ultimately I think the problem is if your hip has got to the stage where it needs replacing, then that’s the only thing which will get rid of the pain.
I’m not saying the muscle strengthening exercises are useless- far from it as they will certainly aid your recovery after the surgery.

I had a total hip replacement operation just over two weeks ago and am now virtually pain free. The arthritic hip pain went instantly, but of course there was pain from the incision itself which is only to be expected, but the pain relief I was given in hospital and which I took once I was home helped a lot.

Prior to the operation I walked and exercised as much as I could, but of course the painful hip prevented me from doing as much as I would have liked.

I feel very grateful that I’ve finally had the operation as of course it is classified as non urgent surgery so isn’t a priority.

I remember the day after my hip replacement standing in the shower not holding on to the rail and marvelling that there was no pain. It was wonderful.

It is isn’t it Aveline ?
You did extraordinarily well to stand without holding on the day after your operation ?
I certainly wasn’t doing that, and even now I sit on a stool in the shower, mainly from a safety perspective.

I was terrified but a very kind nursing assistant encouraged me and she was right there. I really appreciated the experienced nursing care I received. Not so much from the young hi tech ones but the kind old hand ones.

Yes I agree. The older nurses, as well as having more experience, seemed a bit more patient than the younger ones.
Of course that’s a generalisation, some younger nurses were fine.
The physiotherapist in hospital had been doing it for thirty years she told me, and the one I’m seeing now (I’m entitled to four sessions apparently) is also very experienced.

The operation is fantastic isn’t it, with a success rate well up in the 90% mark.
I find it incredible also that folk well into their 90s make a good recovery.

Like I said I feel very fortunate to have had it with all the talk of horrendously long waits for some poor souls.

I would advise anyone in pain to get referred to a surgeon and get on the waiting list as soon possible. I was quite shocked at how quickly my hip deteriorated
in a relatively short period of time.

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