Tell me about hip replacements

A snowHead

Its looking highly likely that I'll need a hip replacement.
My hip was broken just over a year. An operation to screw the ball joint went o.k. A recent x-ray shows that some of the bone has slipped.
Dr says no more mtbiking, hill walking (we live in a hilly area) or skiing.
I'm gutted!
Fitness is dwindling fast and I need exercise for well being.

Can I hear some experiences and any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

A snowHead

A work colleague had a hip replacement about 8 or 9 years ago. He fell on ice and broke his hip. He was then aged about 56 or 57. He is now aged 65 and skiing every year. His experience has been very positive. At the time the surgeons were talking about possible repair but in the end went for replacement.
As I remember it, he was not able to drive for a few weeks and was quite "down" about the situation for a few weeks but he seems to have made a good recovery.
My wife is due a hip replacement in October and the work colleague has been very very positive about his experience.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Mrs NBT, Why don't you believe your doctor ?

I have a friend aged 69 who still does ski racing with two replacement hips. I gather he gets some sponsorship from the manufacturer and I would expect that he gets asked to talk to potential patients in return. Not being female he probably doesn't have bone density problems though.

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@Mrs NBT, what does your doctor recommend? Have you seen a specialist? People I know have some very different experiences of hip replacement.

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@Mrs NBT, I can only sympathise, you must be gutted. I've known people ski with hip replacements, knee replacements and fused ankles, so anything is possible. As you are usually fit, healthy and relatively young, you need to find something to keep the fitness up.

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Everyone is different. I've just had a resurfacing and back skiing on it within 4 months. More to the point I have a friend who is in his late 70s had the replacement done about 5 years ago. He had to take a season off, but was then back skiing 5 days a week for he whole season and he is still at it in his 80th year.

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Had an interesting discussion with a senior Austrian orthopod a few years ago. He was quite rude about UK hip replacements - claiming that here we use steel/plastic replacements, and surgeons drill a sodding great hole and glue the pin in. In Austria, he asserted, they use ceramic joints, which have a fraction of the wear per annum of steel and plastic, and they use interference fit (a hole drilled to a very close tolerance to the pin) so no glue is required. This also leaves more bone should any future intervention be required. Ceramic joints are, however, rather more expensive.

After all it is free

Mrs Basil had hip replaced April 2014 (femur was fractured during surgery too) and she skied on it last season. Dr agreed it was ok to ski on it if she felt she could. She was a bit tentative at first as you might imagine but once she gained confidence she skied pretty much as normal but got tired very quickly which was basically down to a lack of strength and the delayed recovery by three months due to the fractured femur. Mrs B is not a strong athletic type and skis very soft so she/we had a good week with no residual effects.

She still found loads of other things to moan about though.

I know a lad that had a replacement 2 years ago, fell playing 5 a side 6 months ago, had to have it replaced again and has been told that they can't do anything for him if he has another problem. He is 48. I am presuming that this will not last his lifetime soo I wonder what happens when it wears out.

Incidents like that make me think that once you have had a replacement at a youngish age then it may well be a good idea to avoid activities with a greater risk of fracture or dislocation. The rule I have come across is that if it keeps you awake at night then get it done.

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Yep, in a younger person these joints have to last a long time.

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@Mrs NBT, I do sympathise with your need to find exercise which is sufficiently challenging but you can do despite your hip problem. I get to feel really dreggy if I don't get enough exercise. I have a knee which might not allow me to do much more than fairly gentle skiing in future, and which definitely needs nurturing. Having fractured my pelvis in a not-too-serious collision skiing a couple of years ago I need to be realistic (I take calcium/vit D and am trying to up my load bearing exercise, but that's not great for the knee. rolling eyes

) One exercise which provides a fantastic core workout is kayaking - or SUPing, also good for balance. Maybe rowing, too. But unless you're seriously gnarly those are not winter sports in the UK.

Take a look at Wayne Watson .... he runs Alpine Experience guides in Val D'Isere and I sure there is detail on that site of his hip replacement .... He's skied for 15 years on it 150 days a season ..... not bad ....
Here it is ....
http://www.mcminncentre.co.uk/blog/?p=17

You know it makes sense.

@rjs, I do believe the doctor. This is why I'm not doing any activities.

@deerman, that's the very thing that worries me. These operations are so common in Britain, that it just seems like a conveyor belt of people that need replacements. Are the nhs just doing them as quickly and cheaply as possible?

I will know more when I see the hip specialist. Physiotherapist said this morning its when not if.

Thanks for all the positive comments.
Missing last season and now this season is something I'm finding hard to accept.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Mrs NBT,

. I'd find it very difficult too.

A snowHead

@Mrs NBT, my situation is that I have not skied since March 2012. My hip is not up to it BUT I don't yet NEED a replacement. I miss skiing hugely but will not get it done until I NEED it doing. I thought it would be unbearable to see friends go skiing, but life has gone on and is still awesome fun.

A snowHead

@Frosty the Snowman, but we do miss you

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Frosty the Snowman, Sad to hear that Frosty.
I found it really bad because it was hubby and 18 close friends.

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A friend I ski with had one a few years ago in his late 40s. He skis very well again now, I think he may be due to have the other done too.

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@Mrs NBT,

The family can't bring themselves to go without me Crying or Very sad

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I suppose something you will need to look at is why you fractured in the first place and why the bone has not healed properly. If you are at high risk of fracture due to osteoporosis for example, that may be more of a barrier to returning to skiing than the new hip.

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I was diagnosed with osteopenia (bone loss but not full blown osteoporosis) which no doubt contributed to the fact that my pelvis fractured in two places in the kind of fall I've had fairly frequently off a snowboard in the past - slamming onto quite hard snow). I couldn't tolerate the once-weekly medicine - the first time I've ever had a bad reaction to a drug, but it gave me seriously painful and swollen wrists - I couldn't even take the lid of a shampoo bottle. So am trying to do some more load bearing exercise and taking the calcium/Vit D trying to ward off further deterioration.

A male friend who broke his pelvis in a cycling accident a couple of weeks ago was having bone scans - he's incredibly skinny - probably suffering bone loss, too. It's not only women. His impact was with the road, rather than a vehicle (a careless driver knocked him with his wing mirror) so again, not a high-trauma fracture, really.

Ultimately we can't hold back the clock, can we..... Sad

After all it is free

A snowboarder I ski with a lot a 60 year old male has osteoporosis. Last winter he broke his wrist then 3 vertebrae in his back Shocked

@Frosty the Snowman, we'd already booked the trip before Mrs NBT broke her hip: I was initially going to cancel but knowing how much I love skiing (we met on a ski trip, in Heavenly) Mrs NBT insisted I should go as I'd spent an awful lot of time planning and researching and pulling it all together.

We were both really convinced that Mrs NBT would be skiing again this season, so the news has come as a hell of a shock.

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@PBJ, thanks for that Mr Mcminn site. We're going to do some research on him.

@pam w, I too have been diagnosedwith osteopenia. However my break did heal properly. Also its good that you talked of kayaking, as its something I mentioned to nbt last week.

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MrsNBT We love our snowboarding, sail high performance dinghies (RS800 AND 29er) but are really enjoying our kayaking more and more. I highly recommend it.

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@Mrs NBT, I think there are two states here.
Now: you have a failing situation and have been advised to take it easy to stop making it worse.
Later: to treat your problem a hip replacement has been suggested. If done properly you should get your life back.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18591603
I play squash with a bloke in his late sixties who has had both hips replaced.

You know it makes sense.

Mrs Gaza had both her hips replaced when she was 38. She had had undiagnosed hip dysplasia as a child and as a result developed severe arthritis. She was getting to the stage that she could barely walk and with a new born baby that wasn't much fun. The consultant was reluctant to operate on her because of her age but eventually agreed. He offered her a range of options (we were going through BUPA) and he recommended the "titanium sports hip" (I do not jest Very Happy

). The first hip to be replaced turned out to be a complex operation. Her socket was so badly damaged that they had to put additional pins in through her pelvis to secure the new socket. She was in theatre for much longer than normal. Her recovery from this was quite slow and it didn't help that I was working away a few days a week and she had a 6 month old to look after. She had the second hip done about 6 months later. This was more straightforward an operation.

Almost 8 years on from the first op the hips are fine. She has never been a skier and is unlikely to ever be one. She is very nervous in slippy conditions despite her consultant saying that she is at no more risk of a dislocation than anyone else. She can run normally although a consultant has said that too much running may shorten the life of the hip. She is resigned to needing to have them replaced at least one more time in her life but we hope that as medical science advances the lifespan of the joints will continue to improve.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I have nothing useful to add having come across this thread but just want to say good luck and hope that it all works out well.

A snowHead

@Mrs NBT, I had my right hip replaced 3 years ago at 54. I went from a fairly fit, active 10k runner to not being able to walk for more than a few minutes in 6 months! I thought I had a groin muscle problem, turned ouI had severe osteoarthritis, which was quite a shock.

Replacement went well, I have ceramic and titanium combination - no screws or glue either, just a big mallet I understand Toofy Grin

I was up walking with a frame the day after the op and on crutches, partial weight bearing, the next day. Went from strength to strength gradually increasing walking distance every day to get the muscles built up again. 6 weeks was the big milestone, in that I was allowed to cross my legs and sleep without fear of dislocation.

I had to give up running as the consultant advised any impact sport is a no no, but skiing is allowed and I have replaced running with cycling.

Hope it all goes as well for you.

A snowHead

@CP, That's a great story thanks for sharing.
I am on the road to full left hip replacement.
Although not looking forward to the recovery period and am fed up with people telling me the horror stories of how they know people where it's failed, or the many dislocations and how painful they are.
Will try and be positive and look forward to getting my life back. It's all been a bit of a shock and my head is not always in a good place atm as I can't do any form of exercise or activity.
Although a kind friend has offered to take me out in her canoe on Sunday. Let's hope I can actually get in and out of it - hee hee.

Thanks for all the tips and happy endings after surgery - very confidence inspiring and cheering.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Mrs NBT, I fully understand your desire to get out and do something active - 3 weeks before I had my op I was skiing with my Son in the Dolomite. I was not going to cancel the trip and was really worried about the potential consequences. I could hardly walk but I found that I could still slide about and join in ski days with people we met in the chalet - walking with ski boots on was hell but worth the effort. Oh the Ibuprofen and paracetamol cocktail helped too Toofy Grin

Speaking of meds: After the op don't try and be a hero by not taking the pain relief offered - they are your friend believe me.

Also there is a knee and hip replacement forum http://bonesmart.org/forum/categories/hip-replacement.3/?gclid=CJLunvnHj8gCFUHnwgodL3gCiQ that I found really quite useful and full of supportive people.

Hope it all goes well for you

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@Mrs NBT,
Not all hip replacements are equal, the prostheses used vary considerably and have differing advantages.
My wife needed a replacement due to the debilitating pain caused osteoarthritis and the surgeon recommended a resurfacing because of her desire to continue skiing. There were several advantages at the time, one being that the resurfacing featured a larger ball which was much less prone to dislocation than the standard THR. This was a success and she was back skiing some six months later.

Wind forward some 6 years and due to well publicised reasons, especially for women, with resurfaced hips she needed the resurfacing replaced. This time she has been fitted with a "mini-hip" which involves much less bone loss than a standard THR and has the larger ball. Although the recovery period was longer this time, mainly due to the muscles being cut a second time, she was back skiing 6 months later.

As for pain, yes, she had some pain after the operations but it was much less than the she had before and disappeared as she healed.

She also was skiing a few weeks before her first operation but added vin chaud to the pain killer cocktail

There are quite a few hip replacement forums with threads dealing with sporting activity where I am sure you will find pretty much all the information you need.

Good Luck

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I skied 6 months after mine. If you get it done soon there's still a possibility of a late week this season. Don't stress. I did, and it did me no good. The only thing I don't do now is run, to extend the time before I need a revision.

Oh, and I completed a 100km charity walk over the South Downs Way this year, in 26 hours. You'll never be perfect again, but hell - it ain't bad! Happy

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After all it is free

I had my right hip resurfaced 14 years ago it's been tremendous so when my left hip went 3 years ago I went back to the same surgeon to have it resurfaced unfortunately he was putting in his own hip which failed in 18 months I have had a ceramic and polyethylene revision. My background is Basi 2 I am 64 and I am skiing as well as ever taking age into consideration. My advice would be to get as fit as possible before the operation to reduce muscle loss and regular light excerse after the op and build back muscle before skiing it's all possible. Good luck

@strolz, Thanks for the advice.
I was fit before I was told not to do anything 7 weeks ago . So I'm in the silly position of having had muscles and now they are disappearing fast due to being told not to do anything. It's so frustrating.

@t40ora, Yes I am stressed, it's in my nature and can't seem to control it. Not good I know.

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@Mrs NBT, would there be any reason not to do an indoor load exercise, e.g. _indoor_ cycling, cross-training, rowing (or does that aggravate the hip). serious cardio workout possible on those. otherwise, a gym with weight machines should allow you to isolate/reduce load on hip joint, and do low weight/high rep exercises on the legs. Swimming also good for low-load and reasonable cardio (especially if you're not a good swimmer!)

You'll soon discover that 'combinations' of symptoms are often beyond the standard medical advice - e.g. if you need to do 'load bearing' exercise but you have a bad hip- it's really your call and your risk assessment.
best wishes, regardless.

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Tell me about hip replacements

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