Hi, This is my first post.
I have bilateral bone on bone hip arthritis resulting in a very severe limp. Hip resurfacing, if I qualify, seems like an ideal solution, but I have never heard of anyone doing it who does not report pain as a symptom in addition to a faulty gait and limited range of motion. Have you?
I am a 5'2, 115 pound, 68 year old woman who walks (actually limps) about 4 miles per day and swims about 5 miles per week. My range of motion is limited so that I can not lift my leg to get on a bicycle or crouch and get up easily with bended knees unless I am in water. I take a few Advil per week to lessen the limp. If I don't, it is even more pronounced.
I wonder how long it will take me to do what I now do, post op, without pain, if I do have hip resurfacing? Eleven years ago I was about 70 pounds heavier. I have stayed in a normal range since 2000. It takes the exercise I now do to maintain my current weight along with a healthy low fat diet. Any ideas about how long that should be if all goes well?
Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge. This website is a great gift.
(Thanks for the post, please keep external web site links off of the site though)
-Obxpelican
Hi Roberta, welcome! I did read somewhere on here of a guy who had bone on bone and not much pain. From what I remember he was recommended an HR by Mr McMinn over here in the UK. I think it was about may this year. ( I remember feeling pretty envious because I was the opposite, pain without much visible OA )
I am absolutely no expert and there are more guys on here with much more knowledge who will undoubtably chime in, but I would imagine that having lost the protective cartiledge layer and rubbing the bones together would, if left unchecked, cause you a lot of problems in years to come. My instinct would be that you would damage the blood supply to the femoral head putting you at risk of AVN avascuar necrosis ( please correct me if I'm wrong someone) and then you would only have the option of a full replacement. You sound pretty active, despite the limitations. I reckon that you should be back walking up to 4 miles per day sometime after 10 or 12 weeks, again, please chime in someone who is there now. I was caring full time unaided for my toddler and baby by 10 weeks. After 4-6 months I think you'd be better than you are now, limp gone and with some work rom returned.
I hope you find some good answers, you'll find a lot of knowledge from all the other hippies but I'd also follow the consistent advice and email those X-rays to the surgeons for a free consult. They're the true experts. Glad you are not in too much pain. I look forward to keeping up with your story.
Sal
I waited so long the femur bone wore a half inch or so into the hip bone. I was not a candidate for hr and they almost could not do a total hip replacement it was so bad. I am almost 8 months out and my life is 100%better.
Smaller women tend to suffer from a higher than average femoral neck fractures, especially with the more inexperienced doctors.
I cannot stress this more, find the most experienced surgeon for your HR if you go that direction.
Chuck
Quote from: Roberta on August 21, 2012, 12:05:16 PM
Hi, This is my first post.
I have bilateral bone on bone hip arthritis resulting in a very severe limp. Hip resurfacing, if I qualify, seems like an ideal solution, but I have never heard of anyone doing it who does not report pain as a symptom in addition to a faulty gait and limited range of motion. Have you?
I am a 5'2, 115 pound, 68 year old woman who walks (actually limps) about 4 miles per day and swims about 5 miles per week. My range of motion is limited so that I can not lift my leg to get on a bicycle or crouch and get up easily with bended knees unless I am in water. I take a few Advil per week to lessen the limp. If I don't, it is even more pronounced.
I wonder how long it will take me to do what I now do, post op, without pain, if I do have hip resurfacing? Eleven years ago I was about 70 pounds heavier. I have stayed in a normal range since 2000. It takes the exercise I now do to maintain my current weight along with a healthy low fat diet. Any ideas about how long that should be if all goes well?
Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge. This website is a great gift.
(Thanks for the post, please keep external web site links off of the site though)
-Obxpelican
Roberta,
There are some factors other than the extent of OA that determine whether you are a candidate for HR, like bone density. Age is cited at times, but I think that's related to bone density.
As for returning to activity, I was fairly fit going into surgery, and at 7 months I can do about 80% of everything I want to. At six weeks, I could walk/hike for five miles with no pain. I think it depends on what activities you want to get back to doing. If walking is your thing, that is often the first to return to normal. I cannot yet run normally without pain/tightness, but I can walk forever. And the pain is simply gone.
Everyone is different, and recovery depends as much on the skill of the surgeon as it does anything else. Do your research on surgeons, and pick one with a LOT of experience.
I believe the key here is the fact that you walk 4 miles per day. I was quite active like that pre surgery, but I couldn't ride a bike. I could hobble around faster than most the people I worked with and they didn't have OA. Being 68, it may take a little longer to recover, but if you're active and focused on getting a straight gait, I think it shouldn't take more than a few months. Plus once the pain is gone, even if it were minor, I think you'll gain a lot of energy and motivation to become even more active.
The pain wasn't too bad, but at 42, I wasn't planning on not riding a bike forever, or always asking someone to help me tie my shoes. That just wasn't what I wanted to do the rest of my life.
Agreed on the bone density stuff. Most certainly check with an experienced HR surgeon. I think it's worthwhile to look into.
Thank you all for your information and advice. I sent my xray off today for a consult. I hope I am a candidate for hip resurfacing. I expect I will know more within the next 2 weeks.
I had very little pain really. I was bone on bone. I had a bad limp and the rom in the joint was horrific!
Find the best surgeon you can and use a proven device and chances are heavily stacked in your favour.
Excellent Roberta. Sounds like you're well on your way to getting some good info!
Hope you get encouraging answers, please let us know how you get on. Sal
Hi Roberta, I had no pain at all, then suddenly one day, agony. When I saw a surgeon was told I had no cartilage in both hips. So, my advice would be don`t wait til that happens. Mr Mcminn does operate before it gets to that stage. Bone density is important as others have mentioned.
Also, you don`t want to put too much strain on the "good" side, which compensates. Walking is the best recovery too, so am sure you`ll be fine.
Look forward to reading your update:)