Couch 236: NY PS Langston Hughes

Welcome to the couch, old and new! A place to hang out - sometimes you get immediate feedback, sometimes you don't.

Shouting, "Cool Whip" tends to bring others out from between the cushions if you're feeling lonely.

This is a chatty thread. All are welcome. We're kind of psychologically oriented, sometimes. We try to be supportive. At times we discuss what that means.

It’s a place to plop down on the couch when you come home from work or wherever, or wake up in the middle of the night, or check in at lunch, rant a bit or not, and be among friends.

We advise you not to drink or drug and text your therapist ("T") - we speak from experience.

Sometimes the thread moves fast and you might get overlooked; sometimes it moves slowly and all you hear are crickets. Sometimes you get hugged or thanked pages later. So if it's a bigger question, you might want to start a new thread.

Grab a cushion, a spot on the floor, or an armchair in the corner and make yourselves comfy.

Shoutout to PS 236 Langston Hughes in the Bronx!

ATAT, I tried acupuncture at some point for some skin issues, my dad has done it multiple times for hip issues. It really helps my dad. For me, it didn't do too much, but I also didn't really enjoy or like it.

Hope everyone is well!

I’m hoping to be more involved in the couch this time around! I always think that but then always get distracted haha

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No worries, Summer. The Couch is always here.

There are a range of acupuncture practitioners just like with physical therapists. Some work in a more clinical setting and others are more private. I prefer the private ones and for acupuncture - I have found the woowoo-er ones to be more holistic and incorporate other things into as well.

My mom had acupuncture years ago, but if i remember right it was for migraines, and she found it somewhat helpful. She was trying to find something besides taking medication for it, as she doesn't like to take any medication if she can help it.

With acupuncture, I haven't tried it, but it's been recommended to me before for a couple different issues. I tend to have a vasovagal reaction to needles though, like vaccines or getting blood drawn, where I feel shaky and lightheaded and a bit nauseated. I know the acupuncture needles are really thin, but I worry I'd have that reaction, too, which would completely negate whatever they're supposed to help. So for anyone who has tried it and normally has that reaction to needles, was it an issue?

While I'm asking health-related questions, just found out my H will need arthroscopic hip surgery to repair a torn labrum. Anyone know of someone who's had that done? They said the surgery should only take 45 minutes and is outpatient.

I personally don't know anyone whose had that done. I know it's hard not to worry but it's good that it's being done as minimally invasively as possible so hopefully recovery time will be better.

Thanks, Lemon. It sounds like he can resume light activity fairly quickly and things like running in 4 months or so. Also, he will be able to manage stairs (carefully) right in the beginning, which is something that had concerned me because we're in a split-level townhouse that has an excessive amount of stairs. I'd been concerned he would have had to stay elsewhere for the first week.

Probably stupid question but, does acupuncture leave scars? It’s been recommended to me for fertility issues.

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No -acupuncture does not normally leave any marks at all. Sometimes it can leave a small bruise but, at least on me, it was not often or usual. And I have had a lot of acupuncture for things like bicycle and motorcycle crashes.

I had a whole hip replaced outpatient. I was not a candidate for hip revision. I despised my interactions with the medical people but I am okay. Stairs were fine from the first day -going up was easier than going down but down was doable. I was in an opiate haze for about the first 4 days then only took them before pt because pt people are sadists -but at least they are useful sadists. They are also, or at least the ones I have hired, extremely extroverted and exuberant go-getter types.

Different joint, different surgery (knee, torn meniscus), but I was also told relatively quick surgery, outpatient, "you'll walk out of here". Ha! I barely hobbled out of there with crutches and some help from my ex. It wasn't quite as easy-peasy as they portrayed it. His surgery/recovery may go as expected, but be prepared for it to be more difficult than you expect and that he might need more help getting around than you expect. I had more swelling, more pain than expected and I tried to return to work several days too soon.

I think knees are harder than hips. My cabal of friends have almost all had at least one knee done - they had a much harder time than I did with my hip. My only advice would be not to over-do it just because the pain is not bad anymore. I went a little overboard the third week and set healing back a bit = I am okay now but it did make pt more painful than it needed to be. I really recommend pt -it helped me a lot. I am still working to get range of motion back but I had been compensating for a number of years

Thanks, SD, that helps to know. If you could do stairs with a whole hip replaced, then I imagine they should be fine for a more minor surgery for H.


And I like the term "useful sadists." The one I saw for a bit for my neck didn't seem particularly extroverted, but maybe he's an outlier. Or perhaps I was just sending off "don't talk to me" vibes, because H saw the same guy for a couple different injuries and said he was quite chatty. Then again, H is pretty extroverted, so perhaps he was the initiator of the conversation.

Thanks, NP, I'm sorry it was so difficult for you. My mother-in-law has had a couple knee replacements (had to have one redone due to a complication) and definitely struggled with them, but she's not an active person at all, plus has some other health issues.

I'm figuring we'll prepare for him to be really struggling, in terms of me taking over most of the around-the-house and D care stuff, then if it's not as bad, at least we'd be prepared. Well, H tends to be overly optimistic, so it may be mostly me who's doing the preparing, but still....

This is one thing I'm concerned about with H--the overdoing it too soon. I mean, he ran a marathon a few years ago on an injury (the opposite hip--well, groin really, I forget the name of the actual muscle or whatever it was). He said with PT, he'd start that 2 weeks after surgery for basic range-of-motion sort of stuff, then at 6 weeks would start on the elliptical (in PT, not on his own) to work his way back to things like running.

My caretaker really was needed mostly for the dogs and cats. It was useful for the first few days to have someone bring me hot beverages and food because I was using a walker. But really after the first 4-5 days I was able to take care of it all myself and I was back to using a cane except if I was doing my outside extremely pathetic walks. The first day I went outside -probably 3 days post surgery- it took me an hour to walk up a block and back down. It was an exciting day when I did around the block in under 30 min. If he is not supposed to bend over - get him a couple of cheap grabber things and a sock putter onner thingy - the sock thing was the one piece of extra equipment that was used all the time because I wear socks and could not put them on without help. Everyone on the hip forums goes a little crazy with happiness when they can put their socks on by themselves again. My dad is a giant fan of the grabber sticks. His wife had her hip replaced about 15 yrs ago and my dad ended up hoarding her grabber sticks -he loves to pick things up with them -I think they have a couple in every room now

That's what I was trying to say, but you said it better. Prepare for the worst and if you get the best, yay!

I was wondering if hips were somehow easier than knees, but I'm not sure why they would be. They're both weight-bearing. Maybe knees are more bendy?