Fyi all: I am at month 15 of hip replacement nerve damage... So-called foot drop. Actually more like the whole leg :).. As everyone knows this is very painful. I now have some movement of the foot, down and sideways, with muscles cramping a lot, so it seems that the nerve is returning slowly. I can raise up on the ball of my foot now.
I wear an afo, or brace and this is very important to avoid stretching the ligaments/tendons in the foot too much.
Mostly I have conducted my own therapy program: acupuncture with electrical stimulation for 7 months to help muscles not atrophy; massage adn manipulation of foot very important and still doing now. Swimming, some weight training for maintain strength and walking as much as possilbe with the brace. I dont know if I will ever walk with use of ankle again, but keep trying. In my case it may be more like 3 years not 2.
By the way, neurotin did not work for me, painkillers only made me sleep. Pain now is almost part of life, but I would love to get up and run!
My thoughts are with everyone who suffers this, its hard to explain to people what's happening, and most doctors cannot help at all.