Back to Tennis after 10 years

[John C]

At about 16 months post resurfacing, I decided to get back into playing tennis, after ten years off due to my hip. The reasons for giving  up tennis ten years ago were numerous; I could hardly tie my tennis shoes on, I could barely bend down enough to pick up a ball, running after a shot was more of a hopping limp, and if I dove for a shot on my bad hip, there was excruciating pain.
I should preface this by saying that I am not one of those people that is going around pain free. I think that the joint is good, but I do have lots of little soft tissue pains off and on since surgery; bursitis, tendinitis, etc. Having said that, tennis does not appear to be one of the things that makes them any worse, and maybe even a little better. In the "after picture"; I can easily tie my shoes, picking balls up off the court is easy (I make myself bend over and do this to keep the flexibility up), I don't limp when I run for the ball, I do not have pain if I dive for the ball, but I am definitely very cautious about how much I am willing to dive for a shot. I was never really a competitive player, and always preferred long rallies to games. I am now able to get back to this very enjoyably. If I were playing games, singles would be challenging due to my reluctance to make diving lunges for shots, so doubles would make more sense.
Bottom line; resurfacing has brought enjoyable recreational tennis back into my life :) :D ;D

[John C]

John here again, updating the original post, which was written at the end of the first summer after my resurfacing. The following summer, at two years post surgery, I really got back into tennis, and was playing at least five days a week. My hip seemed to love it, and often felt better and stronger after tennis than before, with the exception of a couple of minor bouts with bursitis.
This summer, I was really looking forward to getting back on the court most days, and have been able to, but my hip is not doing as well with tennis at this three year mark. Every day after I play, my hip wants to limp a little, is pretty sore going up the stairs to our condo afterwards, and will sometimes be sore for the rest of the day. I think that it is all soft tissue issues, and it is slightly sore to the touch after tennis. I am sure that the bursitis that has come and gone a few time is part of the problem.
If I don't play tennis, my hip is much happier. However, since I am happier if I keep playing, I will keep going for now. It is a little disappointing to have my three year old resurfaced hip starting to rebel at a sport that it was doing fine with at two years, but so far I am still able to play.

[newdog]

John,

Have you contacted Lee Webb or Nancy Smith about the discomfort you are experiencing? I'm sure that there is nothing seriously wrong, but maybe they could give you some advice on what you could do to help your hip. That's what I would do. Just a thought.

Steve

[John C]

I did contact Lee when I first had some of these problems about a year after surgery. She was great as always, and had Dr. Gross give me a call. It was at that time that he diagnosed the main problem as probably being bursitis. He suggested some exercises that do help sometimes, and said that if it got really bad, I could consider a cortisone shot, which is not something that I want to do. Since it feels fine if I ease off on the activity level, I think that the soft tissue in the surgery area is like any old injury that gets sore when pushed too hard. It is just surprising to me that it is not doing as well with tennis at year three as it was at year two.

[John C]

Final update on the tennis = bursitis issue. It got so bad this year, that I was limping all the time, walking was hitting about a 6 on the pain scale, and I had to use the elevator for the first time since getting off crutches. It became clear that the IT band was a big part of the problem, since it started burning all the way down to my knee, and I think that its tightness crossing over the bursa was a key to the problem.
I finally beat this episode with extensive use of a foam roller on the IT band, along with some great massage from my wife. This brought the walking pain down to a 3 in about three days, and after two weeks, I am back to minor to no pain, and playing tennis regularly.
Dr. Gross had told me that anytime we return to a sport after a layoff, we will need to do so gradually. At least for me, this appears to be very true for tennis at the three year mark.

[Dayton96]

John,

I'm a little unclear as to the cause of physical issues.  Do you think this is all a byproduct of your hip resurface, or is this just part of getting older?

Mac

[John C]

Hi Daytona,
No doubt that I have my share of aches and pains from getting older, but the hip bursitis issue definitely dates back to the day after surgery. Even when my old bone on bone hip was at its worst and I was needing crutches or a cane to get around, the bursa was never an issue. My very first steps down the hall the day after surgery were the first time that I was aware of a new pain there, and it continued to be a factor in my ability to get off of crutches during the first month. Since then it has gone away many times, but this last flare up when the summer tennis season started, shows that it continues to be a vulnerability. A year ago Dr. Gross and I had a long talk about it. He suggested conservative treatment of exercises as I have been doing, and which do really help. He also suggested possibly a cortisone shot if it ever stays bad. I cannot say for sure whether the IT band issue that accompanied this latest flare up is directly related to the resurfacing surgery, but there is no question about the bursitis flare ups. Usually the flare ups are not that often, and not that big of a deal; but they are the main reason that I am holding off on getting my other bone on bone hip done until it gets worse.
On the positive side, I did play two hours of tennis today, followed by four hours of high wind windsurfing, and not so much as a twinge.