Hip Resurface Revision

[BKB41]

Tim, Do you have any updates for us?!?!
Thanks in advance!

[tohandley]

Hi,
My apologies for not updating this sooner.   I have been rehabbing and and it has been going as well as I could have imagined.   

I am now 8 months post op from my revision surgery.   So far I really could not be more pleased with the decision to have the doctor go back in.   After my first surgery in October of 2018 I never was able to run a mile without a deep throbbing pain on the outside of my right (operated) hip.
Since the second surgery, January 2020, I have had no such issues and continue to see improvements.   
One day each week a group of friends and I have been doing an informal Sprint Triathlon.  Swim 800-1500 yards, Bike 12-14 miles, Run 5k.  Whenever I had tried that after the first surgery I would have to walk after a half mile of the run and never was able to finish the whole 3.2 miles.  This year I have finished every time and even have taken to doing the run on the beach. 

I have been kind of following the running program posted on Dr. Su's site.  This program calls for a staggered Run/Walk and progresses each week.  To be conservative I decided to stretch the intervals out a bit longer than week to week.  I am currently Running 8 minutes on then 2 minutes walking.

I also came a cross a great video online from another hip resurfacing patient named Peter.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97XaI-ZIVSM
Starting in April I used this as a base and slowly added additional exercises to this program so once i week I jog 1 mile to the turf field near my house, spend about 1 1/2 to 2 hours doing my hip routine and then I run the mile home.   Once a month I try to go a little faster.  My first time I averaged 14.22 per mile on the way home.  This past week I ran it in 6:50.      At 55 years old I was pretty happy.  I probably hadn't run sub 7's in the last 5 years!     

I'm basically back to full activity.  Running, biking or swimming at least 5 days a week.   I have not yet tried basketball.  I think I am ready but will probably hold off for a few more months as I continue to work on the lateral stability.

I'm also still working on my flexibility.  My goal is to get my right knee to be able to touch my nose.  I'm still about 7-8 inches away form that.   My plan is to keep moving forward and see where I can get to.

If anyone has any questions or would like more details on what I have done please feel free to ask.  This site has been such a great source of knowledge and inspiration for me.  I'm eternally grateful for having found it and to Pat who created it. 

Best wishes to everyone who is going through this.

Sincerely,
Tim

[imgetinold]

Hi Tim.  I had my right hip done by Dr. Gross in 2012, and am about to have my other one done in two days (10-28-2020).

You may have already made your decision, but if not.......

I tried to get back to running about a year after my surgery.  I ran into the EXACT same problem.  A very deep ache way inside the hip at 3/4 mile.  If I "pushed through", I also would limp for a few days.  I'm not joking.


I went to PT until I couldn't afford it, which didn't help.  I asked my surgeon (Dr. Gross) about it.  He said that he found that about 10% of people end up there, and he did not know the cause.  And he analyzes EVERYTHING.....just go to his website and read his studies.  He is very scientific. 


Now, there was one positive thing:  After I started at this boot camp gym, I ended up doing more legwork than ever in my life (box jumps, 1000 types of squats, etc).  I recall at one point trying to run and making it 2 1/2 miles before the tell-tail pain started.  That was awesome.  It COULD be that there is a small muscle that just never recovered from surgery that got enough strength from new workouts to start working again.  Or, maybe there was some scar tissue that got broken up that was impeding range of motion and causing the issue.  Who knows.


So, while I cannot consistently run much distance (it varies), my pain-free life and broad range of activities outweighs the downtime and subsequent recovery from a revision surgery, particularly since there's no proof that will even be the fix.  Plus there's always some risk for surgery.


So, even IF a revision could help me I wouldn't bother.  But, if running is that important to you, maybe it's worth the risk.  Good luck.

[tohandley]

Hi Andy,

I could not agree more with you on the need to do the lower body exercises.  I have a routine of lunges, squats, steps up, box jumps etc. that I do pretty religiously once a week.   I think as you mentioned, that helped strengthen up the surrounding muscles and help break up scar tissue.     I'm also doing yoga twice a week.

It's almost 10 months out for me now.  I can't yet get my right knee to touch my nose (getting closer though) but other than that things are really good.

I started swimming after my first surgery.  I picked it back up after the revision and am in the water at least 3 days a week.  I'm running once or twice a week.  So far I've gotten up to a 10k.   I'm still doing a walk run to be safe but there's no pain and the run portions are sub 8 and feeling easier to do each week.

I feel very fortunate to have given it a second try and to have found this terrific forum!

Best wishes,
Tim