Cold Therapy Devices

[MattJersey]

Whilst a fracture wouldn't normally be cause for celebration, this sounds positive Beth and must give you great hopes, and lift an awful lot of stress! Good news, fingers crossed for a positive outcome and a quick passage of these next six weeks.

[JHippy]

Wow was not expecting top hear that, Beth, especially after 1 year. Glad you have a diagnosis and that's great he thinks it will heal 100%. Obviously you want to baby that hip while you are healing.

Any idea what the cause might be? Did you have a fall or something?

Also might want to get a bone density test if you haven't lately, IMO.

[mmooney42]

Hi Beth,
Sorry, I guess I didn't read the entire post.  I didn't realize you had a fracture.  I was thinking the issue was tendititis.  Best wishes on recovery.
Matt

[hernanu]

I saw Dr Brooks today. We looked at the xrays I have had done the past few months and the MARS MRI I had a few days ago.
Dr Brooks feels that I have a hairline fracture in the femoral neck.  Dr Brooks showed my husband and I, in great detail, what he was seeing and comparing the area on the xray to the area on the MRI.
He told me he was going to speak to the radiologists regarding further followup and get back with me.
Until then I am back on crutches, touch toe weight bearing.
When I look up signs and symptoms of hairline or stress fracture of the femoral neck I have all the symptoms.
Good news... <sigh> I can deal with crutches.

Just talked to Dr Brooks. No weight bearing  for 6 weeks, repeat xrays and followup with him.
I am so grateful that this is not a pseudotumor or failure. He is not concerned with my metal ions at this point but will repeat it at some point in the future to assure they are not going up.
Dr Brooks thinks this will heal 100%. (fingers crossed)

Sounds positive and manageable. Great prognosis, make sure you follow his instructions and it seems like it will be good.

Congrats, good that you followed it up quickly.

[toby]

Hi Beth,
I'm really pleased that after such a long time and with your instinctive knowledge that previous diagnosis did not feel right, that you've finally had the appropriate tests, managed to see your specialist and now have a properly informed diagnosis. As I said before you ions are well within the normal range so I don't think you should worry about this. Hair line fractures heal well (particularly now that you are on minimal weight bearing)-so I feel relieved for you that you will be able to enjoy your hip resurfacing in the near future.
Best Wishes
Toby

[moe]

Hi Beth, I had a femoral head fracture last year from a bike crash and was touch toe weight bearing for 4 weeks. It took about 12 weeks before I felt healed but it is all good now. I used a walker instead of crutches for those 4 weeks, it felt more stable than crutches. Good luck in your recovery.

moe

[jss]

Pete, congratulations on emerging from the English winter and resurfacing surgery.  Good luck with the other hip.

[Beth]

Hi Beth, I had a femoral head fracture last year from a bike crash and was touch toe weight bearing for 4 weeks. It took about 12 weeks before I felt healed but it is all good now. I used a walker instead of crutches for those 4 weeks, it felt more stable than crutches. Good luck in your recovery.

moe

Moe...where was your fracture?
Mine is on the top of the femur neck, just under the resurfacing. I was just reading that stress fractures on the top don't heal as often as do compression or fractures on the bottom.

I've been non-weight bearing for only a  few days and I feel SOOOO much better. Of course I'm not walking on my leg/hip. My fingers are staying crossed. I've slept all night for the last few nights- I hadn't done that for over 2 months.

Thanks everyone. I will update here after my next set of xrays and visit with Dr Brooks mid May.
Beth

[moe]

Beth, my fracture was at the top right where the stem of the BHR is. It was a very serious injury, I couldn't walk at all or barely move my leg. The pain was off the chart. I really thought I would need more surgery or a revision. My doc said it would heal and he was right. I think you really need to stay off it and let the healing take place.


Good luck,

moe

[Jason0411]

Richard Villar Cambridge England.

I know it is very early days but I am impressed so far. Fingers crossed.

[petemeads]

Final consultation with my surgeon last night at 21 weeks, he was very pleased to see me in one piece and enjoying myself and has given me the OK to carry on what I have been doing (climbing, jogging, cycling) and just using common sense not to overdo things. My painful right hip will need doing eventually but not just yet - the left one was much worse on x-ray even though the pain could be similar at times. This will limit how much running I can do, which is probably a good thing! He reckoned he could use me as an example of just what is possible with a resurfacing. He also mentioned he had recently seen a 9-yeat post-op ASR recipient who was still doing well with very low metal ion levels, and it seems to come down to placement angles. My BHR is fixed at 42 degrees which is what he intended, he reckons that by the time you get to 30 degrees there could be edge-loading when cycling.

I mentioned that Sky News ran a small feature over the popularity of parkrun over Easter and that I got 10 seconds of fame being interviewed about running with a replaced hip, fortunately he had not seen the item but it did make him smile! Once we had finished I headed off to the climbing wall for another good session at 6a/+, practice for my first outdoor climbing post-op, tomorrow, on Stanage gritstone  :)

[kleary12]

Wow--what a saga!  Best of luck to you Beth!  Sounds like a lot of patience will be required, but just stick with the program and you will come out fine in the end.  How on earth did that hairline fracture occur? This is one of the problems with these things--when I had a somewhat similar issue (diagnosed as bursitis, possibly incorrectly) my big question was "why??"  I never had that before in my life.  Before posting this, I had started writing something different because I didn't get to the fracture part (I'll put it here in case it helps someone with the seemingly ubiquitous bursitis diagnosis; I'll also write something about crashing while cycling for Moe--or I can just say get POC VPD shorts! suggested in another thread--well worth it) :

"Had to laugh a little while reading your March 9 appointment and Phil pressing on your so-called bursitis spot.  It sounded like I wrote that!  This was also my 1-year follow-up appointment (for left BHR, after broken hip and arthritis).  I had been recovering really well until about 10.5 months in and started experiencing pain and numbness, but thank goodness none of the laxity you're describing. The cortisone injection I received didn't work at all and I was back to CCF about 3 weeks later, saw Dr. Brooks this time. Was supposed to get a "special" MRI, but he determined it was bursitis again and did another cortisone injection, and canceled the MRI.  BUT, this injection also did nothing.  Because I live 4 hours from Cleveland, they recommended I see my local ortho--who wouldn't see me because he doesn't do BHR--or do physical therapy.  My physical therapists specialized in sport medicine and dance injuries.  They believed my issues were caused by bound scar tissue--and indeed, I'd had 3 surgeries in the same spot and had a lot of tight scar tissue.  They did a lot of massaging, dry needling, and cupping and that whole area is completely different now.  I have stretching exercises, a "beastie ball" to work out tightness in my piriformis, and a roller stick to work over muscles and my always tight IT band.  I do feel much better and am doing BarAmped classes, cycling, and intend to eventually do Pilates, which was a big part of PT.  Both my hips are very tight, though they have never seen arthritis there, the right one now sometimes hurts as much as the left ever did (though not in the same activity limiting way).  I think I have to face facts that I will always be battling tight hips. I do still feel the clunking from time to time.  It seems your biggest concern should be the laxity--that sounds very troubling.  Despite my issue, my left hip always felt better and stronger than pre-surgery.  I wish you the best."

[kleary12]

While I did cycle some during recovery, I have started real road riding again (left BHR Sept 2013) and had concerns about falling on my hip. I read in one of these posts about POC VPD shorts and got some for peace of mind (there may be other brands, but the VPD technology sounded serious, so I went with them).  I wear them over my normal bike sorts because I don't want to interfere with the padding.  It looks mildly funky, but after the indignities of hip surgeries and crutches and all, who cares.

Now here's the thing--in 8 years of riding, I had never fallen--seriously, never, always successfully caught myself in time.  But this past weekend, I went straight over, smack onto my left hip (and apparently fell perfectly because I never let go of my handlebar grip; was avoiding very fast motorcycles that appeared out of nowhere while crossing a street; had a partly clipped in, strongly breaking thing occur so fast I didn't know what happened).  And, I had ZERO pain, none at all.  It was like nothing happened!  Well, actually, my left hand became really sore, but is now clearing up after some icing.  I was so relieved and I LOVE my VPD shorts. I highly recommend them.

[Pat Walter]

Congratulations on your Long Jump.  Thanks so much for sharing.  I am sure perspective patients will find it interesting.

Keep up the good work.

Good Luck.

Pat

[Beth]

Update: I had hip xrays and saw Dr Brooks today.
For the past 6 weeks I have been non-weight bearing in my right leg/hip.
My hip pain since that appointment has not gotten substantially better.
On a handful of occasions I have had some mild swelling in my leg down to my toes. I was glad that I took a picture of the swelling that recently occurred so that I could show Dr Brooks today.
I continue to have a good amount of “bone like” pain when I sit on hard surfaces and wake up to find myself lying on that side. (I am a really deep sleeper)
My other aches and pains come and go but are still present more than not.
I also have had strange piercing pains in my hip.
Today’s x-rays were a little grainy (Dr Brooks's words, not mine) and Dr Brooks said that he didn’t see anything new or really much different than the previous x-rays. He said he was concerned that I was developing “bone death” under the Birmingham implant. I believe he is suggesting I may be developing osteonecrosis. He wants me to stop all NSAIDs and take 2,000 mg calcium/Vit D a day and to slowly start to put weight on my leg/hip. If the pain gets worse I am to call him asap. If the pain stays the same or improves even slightly I am to see him in 6 weeks. 

[Tim Bratten]

Sorry to hear about your ongoing problems, Beth. Thanks for taking the time to keep us informed. I'm following your problems/progess with interest. Good luck!

[Debcoco]

Hi Beth,
I echo Tim's comment....so sorry about what you are going through.  We are all pulling for you!

deb

[Beth]

Last update:  I had put in > 6 weeks of non-weight bearing. Then very gradually, over 4 weeks, I became weight bearing. I was weight bearing for 4 days when I experienced an acute return of all my symptoms. Clunking, crunching, instability/laxity, pain and a sensation of swelling in the posterior hip laterally.

At my appointment this past week with Dr Brooks, he could elicit the clunking and crunching quite easily. He saw the pain that I was in and said he thought I had been through enough. He said it was time to acknowledge that my BHR had failed. We don’t really know why at this time. He did say he suspects that my metal ions will be elevated (My xrays show perfect placement).
I am scheduled for a second MARS MRI and had blood work the day of the office visit (in addition to the metal ion testing). Dr Brooks said he wanted to have as much information going into surgery as he can. Surgery has not been scheduled but he promised to work me in within a few weeks after we get the results of the MRI which is on 7/24. He is hoping to save the acetabular cup and will use a Dual Mobility hip replacement system. He feels the recovery will be easier if he can save the cup. If the cup is the problem, which he thinks is unlikely, he will not be able to replace it due to the recall of the BHR for women.

At this point I just want the pain to go away. I have let go of my desire to go back to running but I would like to be able to walk.

[DeviceGuy]

Beth,
So sorry to hear about all the problems and pain you've had to go through.  I can't imagine what it must be like.
Dr. Brooks is an excellent surgeon so you're in good hands as you know.  I have read up on the Dual Mobility system and it looks to be very good.
You will have a positive outcome and get through this.
Please let us know whatever you may find out after the revision.
All the best.....

[Beth]

Thanx Device Guy!
I'll post after my revision surgery.