PT at 6 weeks

[Philbrd]

Hi All,
I am 6 weeks post op with Dr. Gross.  I have been following his phase 1 routine closely.  Now I am moving onto his phase 2 exercises.   Things appear to be going very well.   I am walking more than 1.5 miles per day and swimming every other day.  I don't really have much pain, mostly just stiffness after I have been sitting for periods of time. Still a bit of a challenge getting up off the floor.

My question is about formal PT.  know Dr. Gross does not advocate it, but I would like to do both formal PT and his plan.  I feel there is more stretching/strengthening that could be done that does not compromise any of the restrictions.  I think PT could be used to complement his guidelines.  I have a follow up with him in 2 weeks and will be asking if he would endorse this.

Does anyone have thoughts/experience with PT and Dr. Gross rehab?
thanks,
Dan

[catfriend]

I was not a patient of Dr. Gross, but of Dr. Pritchett. This is my recommendation. Six weeks is still very early for physical therapy, and it sounds like you are doing well now. I would wait a bit longer until you know what deficits you have that a physical therapist can help with. Once you know what you need help with seek out somebody to help you with that. Without specific deficits and goals just going to a PT to go to a PT is kind of a waste.

[John C]

I have had both hips done by Dr Gross; one ten years ago, and one ten months ago.
Before the first hip, Dr Gross explained to me the nightmare incidences he has seen as a result of overly aggressive PTs that did not understand the rehab differences between a THR and a resurfacing. I did not go to a PT at all for therapy that first time, and did extensive hours of PT every day on my own, including gym, pool, hiking, etc. I have had to rehab from a lot of sports injuries over the years, so I have some confidence in structuring my own program. The only time I saw a PT was for the six week evaluation. That PT insisted on pushing the flexion further than I thought was safe that early in the femoral neck fracture risk period, and I had to tell him to back off or he was going to end up flat on the floor.
For this second one, I decided to try PT and found a fellow with a doctorate in PT (which is unusual), who I had a lot of faith in. We had a long talk about the difference  between rehabbing a THR and a resurfacing, went over the surgical procedure and x-rays together so that he was up to speed on resurfacings, and he agreed to adhere strictly to Dr Gross's protocols. I explained all of this to Dr Gross before my surgery, and with those assurances, he agreed to prescribe PT for me, starting at six weeks after surgery, and continuing for 8 weeks. Because it was so soon after surgery, there was not a lot of aggressive work that we could do in the PTs office, but I did get some great ideas that I could ad to my walks and to my own workouts. I would not say that the input was invaluable, but I would say that it was useful.
My only advice would be to assure yourself that any PT you work with is thoroughly knowledgable about resurfacing, and the reasons for a different rehab protocol than with a THR. From my experience, this would limit you to a very small percentage of PTs nationwide, since most have never worked with a resurfacing patient.
Hope that helps.

[Philbrd]

Thanks for the great insights!
Dan

[rag33]

I'll chime in here. Dr. De Smet also doesn't advocate for PT. Walk walk walk was his advice. I followed Dr. Gross' exercises and also have PT from the 1st week after surgery. Most of the exercises I was doing at the beginning were the same as Dr. Gross'. The advantage to having a PT was that he helped me 1) not be scared to do stuff like bending or walking down the stairs and 2)help me with my gait because I was walking like a duck. At 2 weeks, he had me doing strengthening exercises using my body weight and riding the bike/elliptical machine 10 minutes. And at 6 weeks, I was using the leg press. Like John C said, you need to trust the person and they need to know about resurfacing. Good luck !