Thread: Losing Mobility

Rod

Sorry to hear of these physical ailments. Much of what has already been posted is good information. Exercise is most important, but one of the hardest aspects is to balance that with discomfort. The exercise should be gentle, certainly to begin with, and be targeted at your particular problem. Build up the exercise over time and keep at it. Unfortunately one problem area will impact on another. Also we must not expect exercise to completely remedy the issue: Only to alleviate it. None of this is going to make you twenty again: Shame about that.

If you require hip/knee replacements down the track, exercise now will help and assist recovery when that time comes. Just to relate my own experiences in this regard, I have known you for quite a while now and I would guess (hope maybe) that you would not be aware I have had both hips replaced (coming up for thirteen years now) as it was fairly successful. From time to time I still perform the original exercises given to me following surgery and I always feel better when I do them over long periods. Even this morning I realised I had to get back into it.

I thought I needed knee surgery too, but that requirement disappeared once the bionic hips went in: Hence my earlier comment about one problem impacting on other parts of the body. I also have to tell that I too am not twenty again: In a number of areas, but that's ok.

If you would like any other info feel free to drop me a PM.

I will share one little episode following my first replacement. It was the following day and the surgeon visited me to ask how it was going. I said that "It still hurt." He looked at me in disbelief and said "You realise that we took to you with a chainsaw." Well, after that I was reassured, thinking it must have been a Husqvarna or a Stihl they used.

Regards
Paul

Can I say at this point how grateful I am for all your care and concerns. It means a lot to me.
I have a mate a couple of years younger than me who has one hip done and will get the other new one early next month. He also has trouble with both knees. He put off seeing about his hips until he had a bad fall which led him to getting something done. His discomfort is affecting his life style. I have been ferrying around to appointments and grocery shopping (he lives alone) so I have seen just how this type of condition can affect everything.

I think I have a long (well I hope) time before replacements are necessary but I am aware that anything could happen. It seems illogical to exercise while "nursing" an ailment, but I also know exercising the right way can keep me mobile

I will keep you posted as to my progress

Chambezio,

May I suggest that you deal with your hip(s)/knee(s) earlier rather than later. At our age, 3-4 years can make a lot of difference in terms of post-op recovery.
More importantly though is the fact that you will enjoy you bionic joints for longer !!!

All the best,
Yvan

As the son of someone who's mobility is now critically impaired - keep on top of it. Physio and get some kind of exercise program in place and stick with it. Once mobility goes, it's hard ,if not impossible to get it back. In our case the last fall resulted in (so far) 5 weeks hospital/rehab stay. Maybe home in a week or two, but who knows? Our fear is the next time might be a permanent placement if they deem not safe to send back home. So yeah. Get on it.

Bit late, but definitely +1 for a good sports physio; keeping people moving is what they do best.

X-rays are pretty low-res compared to the other available options, if it's not a bone problem, they don't really tell you much; CT and MRI are much more detailed and can show cartilage and other soft tissue damage that an X-ray would miss. Maybe ask your GP if those are worth investigating; some places bulk bill CT scans, I needed a referral from a specialist to have a shoulder MRI covered (otherwise is was $300 out of pocket), YMMV.

Originally Posted by chambezio

I think I have a long (well I hope) time before replacements are necessary but I am aware that anything could happen. It seems illogical to exercise while "nursing" an ailment, but I also know exercising the right way can keep me mobile

Not any more - look how quickly they get patients moving after hip and knee replacements.

A few years ago I had a biopsy of lymph nodes around my heart - this involved sending a bunch of probes sent down in between my windpipe and sternum plus a micro ultrasound camera sent down inside my mouth to my lungs. It was a relatively quick procedure and within hours they had me walking for a few minutes each hour around the hospital towing a pain stop drip stand - one of those ones you control yourself. I asked what the walking was for and they said it would help move the anaesthetic etc through my system. I asked "would it help if I walked more?' and they said yes,. Going on how long it had taken me to get over previous general anaesthetics I made myself a sort of a figure 8 racetrack and shuffled that track I don't know how many times well into the evening.

At ~9pm I was no longer using the pain stop drips they removed it and I tried to sleep but the other patient in the room had a rasping breath plus terrible sleep apnea. He'd rasp - rasp - rasp for a few minutes and then NOTHING - it sounded like he stopped breathing for maybe 30s - then he'd make making very loud coughing and spluttering noises. Several times his monitor would go off and nurses came running. I asked to be moved but there were no spare beds.

So I ended up spending most of the night on my race track. Every now and then I would pass others doing the same thing. Some of them had drips, others had bloody drain bottles attached, some were clearly very ill with gaunt grey faces. We must have looked a bit like nodding zombies 'as we shuffled past each other. In teh early morning one of the nurses suggested I had had enough and should stop and get some rest and when I explained about the other patient she offered me ear plugs ! I was allowed to go home the next day , no pain at all, although somewhat sleepy.

Latest development....on Friday afternoon we arrived home after being in town most of the day. It looked as if we were going to get rain. I wanted to move an entertainment unit from under the carport to inside the house. The thing is only 1200 long X 600 high X 450 deep. My daughter wanted a "chunky look" so I made the thing with 48mm thick MDF carcass. Yep 48mm and yep heavy. I gut bustered it off the stools I used to paint it on then 2 wheeled trolley from carport to inside the house. The move went OK but I knew it was heavy. One piece, when I was getting it off the trolley and onto the floor, has now made my left shoulder/arm very painful.

This same arm 20 years ago when I was taking a 2400 X 1200 X 16 mm MDF further into the shed to the bench saw did the same thing. The sheet was vertical so I bent down to get a hand under it to lift up and then walk it in. My left arm felt like an electric shock had been administered to it. What I had done was stretched tendons that hold the bicep in place. I went to the Dr straight away. He gave it a long Latin name for it and that was that. I think it took about a week to stop hurting and the bicep muscle is only half as long as it used to be. At the time I did this damage Shane Warn did the same thing while bowling and he was in for surgery to correct it in a couple of days. I had no opportunity for surgery

Well I think I have done the same damage again. The arm is limited in its travel due to the pain. There is no visible bruising just soreness and limited pain free movement. I am annoyed with myself for not being more careful moving the unit. The bicep usually tells me something is heavy before I overload it but not this time.

And no I haven't taken myself to a Dr about it this time. I would appreciate any thoughts on this injury and hope that it will heal OK

I'd be seeing the Dr about this.

Originally Posted by BobL

I'd be seeing the Dr about this.

Having had one misdiagnosis by a sports physio and a couple of months of painful treatment which exacerbated the condition (whiplash), one of my medical relatives referred me to an orthopaedic surgeon who ordered an MRI. The evidence of the injury was clear in the scan and the treatment was effective.

Physiotherapists are not trained diagnosticians however much many might think they are. Their job is rehabilitation. Doctors first, orthopods second if needed, and physios later if ordered.

mick

Thankyou Chaps

Never be afraid to get a second opinion - whether it be a GP, specialist or physio.

My wife had both knees replaced five years ago and each time she was up and out of bed the next morning.
Good rehab is the key to success.

my two cents Ron go to your GP and tell them the full story. Repeat the full story. If he/ she remains disinterested as you've said previously is there another practice in town ? talk to friends etc is there a preferred person that people go to.

It's good that your aiming to sort yourself out before it's too late.

Originally Posted by Glider

Physiotherapists are not trained diagnosticians however much many might think they are. Their job is rehabilitation. Doctors first, orthopods second if needed, and physios later if ordered.

In general I agree but all my doctor and a second doctor opinion wanted to do was replace my knee which I refused to do.

Was just about to go for a 3rd opinion when I found a specialist sports knee physio and decided to try her out. She did a 3D camera gait analysis and told me I had to learn to walk properly again and after ~ 3 sessions I noted some improvement. A month later I was back at my GP for another reason and walked into his surgery without hobbling and he asked me ? I TOLD him what the phsio did and he took her contact details because he was going to refer other similar patients to her. He also wrote me out a referral so I could get more physio sessions through medicare. About 8 sessions later I was walking normally - went from <50m hobbling with pain to walking ~2km with less pain - now can walk 6km with just mild pain. I'm not saying this is a general case - its more about looking around to find some one that will work with you instead of just sending you to the knife.

Originally Posted by Glider

Having had one misdiagnosis by a sports physio and a couple of months of painful treatment which exacerbated the condition (whiplash), one of my medical relatives referred me to an orthopaedic surgeon who ordered an MRI. The evidence of the injury was clear in the scan and the treatment was effective.

Physiotherapists are not trained diagnosticians however much many might think they are. Their job is rehabilitation. Doctors first, orthopods second if needed, and physios later if ordered.

mick

All medical professionals are trained diagnosticians in their area of practise; you can't treat what you can't diagnose. You had a bad one, there's plenty of doctors and surgeons who also misdiagnose conditions.