90 Minutes

[chuckm]

Finally I was kept on the pitch for the full 90 minutes - and notched another goal striking a volley with my bionic hip. I am eleven months post op and I had returned to playing soccer at 6 months. I might have reached full match fitness sooner if not for a spate of pulled hamstrings that sidelined me for weeks here and there. I'm not kidding when I tell you I am sore in just about every joint but not my newly resurfaced hip.

At the cooler after the match some of my teammates were beginning to doubt that I had this major surgery and demanded to see the scar.

Chuckm

[woldaudio]

AWESOME!!!

[hernanu]

So naturally you showed'em, right?

Great stuff, chuck. Been a road back, but you're at a good place. I can tell you that I got much better at different athletic endeavors (got to use that word, psyched) on the second and even see improvements on the third.

You're going to improve on this too.

[oldsoccerplayer]

The main reason I went for HR over THR was so I could get back to my weekly soccer game. It's a pickup game with ages ranging from mid-teens to over 60's. The veterans among us have been coming for 20+ years so it's a social event as much as a sporting one. We have written and unwritten rules in place to stop it from getting too rough; we play Sunday morning and all have to get up for work the next day. We play on a field that is almost literally in my back yard so I walk over every Sunday to hang out and bond. I take great pride in showing off my scar (I'll leave it to your imagination to conjure up how I do that) and xray, so no questions asked about it in that group.
Chuck, reading your post brought tears to my eyes. I can start back in late January / early February and can't wait to see how it will turn out. In the meantime I've been working on building up muscle strength and stamina, 90 minutes can be a long time when you're puffing and panting!

[chuckm]

oldsoccerplayer, once you pass the six month mark, keep in mind the BHR is fine! It's everything else around it that needs many months to reconfigure. Everything from the hip down has been changing over the years. Something I would do differently is at six months would be to get to a gym and really work on all the leg muscles with heavier loads. I did all my exercises at home but I think I could have avoided many strains and pulls along the way if I had really put some heavier loads on the calves, hamstrings, and quads. 

My physical therapist noted on the first evaluation at one month that my new BHR leg actually had more strength in certain ways than my non op side and of course some terrible weakness too. Just shows how the body turns on and off different muscles to accommodate the OA in the hip. To get that balance back is a long journey.

Hernanu went back to soccer and he is bilateral so if you have any questions he can help too.

Chuckm

[oldsoccerplayer]

Thanks for the advice. The soccer field is part of a larger facility that also has a state of the art gym, so I can get there in under 5 minutes walk or drive. (That's great but also means I have no excuses not to go.) I've been going regularly since my 7 week checkup doing a variety of leg curls, stretches and other exercises on stamina and upper body so I think I'm in reasonably good shape. I'm not allowed to do any impact exercises until the 6 month mark so I go on exercise bike, elliptical and stair-climber for aerobic workouts.
The only problem I see is that all these machines have stable surfaces and smooth movements that are very unlike running on grass  and probably use different muscles, or the same muscles in different ways. Not to mention all the twisting and jerky movements that come with soccer and the occasional tumble or collision.
Once I'm allowed to run I plan on doing a few laps around the field with cleats on and some practice kicking before I get back to playing, I'll keep you posted.
(By the way, I play defense and rarely get a chance to shoot on goal, but who knows?)

[hernanu]

One thing that helped me strengthen things was using a slide board.

It simulates ice skating, so you get that sideways movement where you have to stabilize an unstable gliding movement. It also works on that sideways push that is needed in soccer to intercept those darned fast guys.

They can be expensive, but I found one online that worked for me:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Slide-Board-6ft-x-2ft-NEW-Ultimate-Skating-Trainer-/150511428458?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230b2e236a#ht_1835wt_1050

This is just an example, and you can find them online or at sporting supply stores.

It only takes up about six feet and rolls up into a bag to be put away. You do have to overcome the feeling of goofiness that comes from wearing nylon booties over your sneakers.
This is what gives the sliding motion.

You also have to have enough self confidence to withstand the ridicule of looking goofy to your significant other should he/she see you doing this. To really make a statement, get the pink booties.

I think it's a very good workout for hippies on the later stage of recuperation. It does not slip from the surface it's on and has edges that stop you sliding; you use them to push off in the other direction.

Very good, smooth, challenging and initially (I started at five months) terrifying, since you're sliding using your new hip(s).  It's exhilarating after though, since you see that you can control a sliding motion.

[chuckm]

Something else to watch out for. I had built up good endurance and my PT measured good strength in my op leg. But I had to see a doctor when I had problems with my op side knee and Achilles. What the doctor discovered was that the circumference of my thigh and my calf (just above the heel) were not equal with my non op leg. He literally put a measuring tape right around to see. While I showed good strength, I had not built up enough bulk to bring the legs equal in muscle mass. During soccer I would be fine and feel strong but sure enough after 40 to 60 minutes or so was when I kept getting strains. I think it was that I simply had not completely recovered the muscle mass lost over the years due to OA.
You would never know from my strength and speed.


No one had ever thought to measure the circumference of the muscles to compare my legs and I think that would have helped me focus my rehab differently. It's not the worst thing but it was a bit frustrating trying to figure out why these pesky injuries kept happening.

chuckm

[hernanu]

really good point, Chuck - we tend to focus on the affected leg / hip, but the pernicious impact of OA is body wide. 

My PT insisted on doing everything in a balanced fashion, and I still came out of it a bit off (not running quite right).

The best you can do is to address as many things as possible, and be on the lookout for any outliers.

[oldsoccerplayer]

Thanks for the tips guys.
The gym has an elliptical where you can set the width of your stride as well as height and resistance so I think that gives me some of  the side to side motion you suggested, Hern. It also has handles that you can grip then crouch which causes pain in places I didn't even know I had.
Regarding the leg comparison; I fell and broke my leg in '95 (guess what I was doing at the time) and my right (non-op side) leg set crooked so the two sides don't look the same anyway 
Among other things I discovered a Bosu ball and I spend some time balancing on that which I think helps. Standing on the round side isn't too bad but the flat side is a challenge.
Fortunately our game is such that you can come in and out if needed so I'll be looking out for things that don't feel right. I appreciate the 'heads-up' about what to expect.