ANOTHER MILESTONE

After another long hiatus from the blog, I'm back, and I've made it past another milestone.  On Thursday December 3rd, I hit the 6 week post-op mark!  I know it doesn't sound like much, and I've only been walking now for 2 weeks (2.5 as of today), but 6 weeks marked another hurdle!  I'm now able to perform a whole host of additional exercises for my hip, and the great thing is that these additional exercises involve movement (I still have to do my isometric exercises though).  Also, I am no longer restricted on my range of motion (ROM)!  I can progress as far as my hip will allow...which means I can do whatever I want so long as it doesn't hurt!

For example, ever since my first rehab appointment, I have only been able to perform 3 exercises:  squeezing a ball between my knees, pulling my knees apart with a belt wrapped around them, and an "ankle-slide" which is basically a leg curl with only the friction between my sock and the floor (in other words, no friction) as the resistance.

Now, however, I can actually add in some strengthening exercises for my hip musculature.  I can work (lightly) my hip flexors, hip rotators, and hip extensors, so basically all of the muscles in each plane of movement.  They aren't terribly strenuous, but that's OK.  Eventually I'll add resistance bands around my knees or perform some of the hip extension movements with one leg at a time to increase the load.  I also perform a couple of balancing exercises on one leg to work on stabilization around each of my joints.

This also means that I can now do things like pushups, reverse pushups, and planks which require the body to be extremely rigid through the hips.

I started swimming a couple of weeks ago as well, although I was using a pull buoy to isolate my arm action.  It's basically just a flotation device that you stick between your legs to keep your legs from moving and also to keep them from sinking.  This morning though Lauren and I went to the pool to swim some laps and I was able to do some kicking!

I think that's about it for now!  I've got a couple more blogs lined up, so for the next couple of days there will be some activity here.  Be sure to check back.