What's it like to sit on the incision or scar after BHR surgery?

[Bioguy501]

I have two bad arthritic hips. I am considering BHR surgery with Dr. Callander (San Francisco)... or getting a THR with Dr. Andrew Yun (Santa Monica).

I have always been a tall thin man, 6'4" 174 pounds, age 56, that has to sit a lot at work. I am moderately active, play golf 1-2 times a week and workout out the gym to stay fit. I think both types of surgeries are good choices. However, I am genuinely concerned about the incision and substantial scar from BHR surgery. From what I understand, for a guy my size, it might be 8-10 inches long... on each side. Dr. Yun does the THR with the anterior approach and the incision will be about 5-6 inches in the upper thigh area.

If I go with the BHR on both sides... I am not sure my skinny ass won't be in pain as I sit on long car rides or in the bleachers at games, etc.

My questions are:
1) Are you BHR folks sitting directly on the incision/scar mark(s) of your surgery?

2) Does the incision/scar mark bother you at all on car rides... or any other time?

3) How long does the incision/scar tissue bother you after surgery? (and does it still bother you at times)

4) What about sitting on the toilet??? (It seems to me that a hard plastic toilet seat would press right into the area that has been cut open)

5) If you are tall like me, how long is your scar?

I sincerely thank you if you take the time to answer these important questions to me. Gary

[Pat Walter]

The way the scar is for a BHR is more from the mid higher part of your butt towards your hip. I never had problem sitting sue to the scar. The whole area is very tender. But remember, eve with a mini incision, they are doing all the work thru a much smaller  area.  My surgeon, Dr. De Smet, makes a large incision, so he gets better access to the femur andacetabulum.He does the surgery faster and easier that way with what he feels is less damage.He makes large incisions and I never had a problem.A THR is the same major surgery, so you have the same amount of placing components along with them cutting off part your femur bone. All of this being done thru a smaller incision means they are pushing and pulling stuff to get exposure.So it is not the incision size, but what happens to the hip joint underneath the scar. So the scar or your size is not your problem, but what surgery you want. THR or hip resurfacing. You are very young to want a THR, but many people with THRs are still active with the new large ball THRs. Be sure to ask your surgeon what restrictions you will have and when you can run and do weight bearing activities.I wish you the best.

Pat

[MarvinB]

Hi, Gary!

I’m 6’ and 200 lbs.  The incision for my right hip resurface is about where the outside edge of your back pocket would be, maybe a little towards the trailing edge of your front pocket and runs north/south. It’s 5 inches long with a 1/2 inch incision about 2 inches up from it where they put what’s called a k-wire.  It’s a temporary static point to measure leg length to get proper placement of the implant(s).

1.  Not sitting directly on the incision.  I sat in a recliner for most of my 2 week recovery before returning to work in an IT job.  Lots of sitting.  I force myself to get up and walk every 30 minutes and still do.  Never was painful to sit, walk, or climb stairs immediately after surgery.  Weird trying to get the muscles to move the way I had been used to moving them for the past 50+ years.  Trying to sleep on my right side?  Different story!  That’s much better now and not an issue anymore.
2.  No problem on the one hour car ride home from surgery, or at all.  Have taken a couple of long road trips since surgery on Jan 4 of this year.  No problemos.  Get out and stretch!
3.  Doesn’t bother at all.  Amazed at how fast the lumps and bumps underneath the skin from the sutures and folds are disappearing.  Currently looks like someone drew a 5 inch brown magic marker line on the side of my right cheek!
4.  Toilet was tough at first, not because of local pain at the incision site, but getting close to breaking the 90 rule sitting down.  Invest in a raised toilet seat!  I wish I did.  I installed grab rails during my recovery.  Should’ve done that sooner.
5.  6 foot.  5 inch plus the little 1/2 incher.

Definitely look at Resurfacing and keep total hip in your “back pocket”!  Best of luck!

[catfriend]

I'm a 5'5'' woman, so height is not an issue for me with scars. Vanity, yes. Height, no. Regarding your other questions: 1) the scar is on my side, so I would have to be sitting in a weird position to actually sit on either of my scars. I do sit a lot, however, and the scars have had no effect on that. For sure you will not want to roll over onto your incision in the immediate surgical aftermath! That would hurt. You will have to sleep on your back for a while. I'm a back sleeper normally, so not a problem for me, but there are posters her who have a problem with that. As the incision heals this will no longer be a problem and you can sleep on your side pain free. Any pain at the incision is temporary. 2) Not at all. I can feel both of mine right now without pain. 3) This depends on how your body heals. I had my right hr nearly 5 1/2 years ago, and I don't remember how long the scar took to become pain free. I had my left hr on March 1. I don't feel any "everyday" pain in the incision area now. I'm sure if I took a big book and slammed it against my left hip I could induce pain, but I'll pass on that experiment. 4) Ah, the toilet. Yes, buy a toilet seat riser no matter which procedure you have. Grab bars are helpful, too. As noted above, it's not the sitting, it's the getting up and down.

The way I'm reading your post I'm wondering if you think the posterior approach means they slice open your ass cheeks, or, excuse me, the buttocks. No, they don't. It's really more along your sides. You might want to discuss specifics with your surgeon.

Initially the scar is all red and ugly and bumpy. Yeah, it's ugly, but the initial THR scar won't be pretty, either. Over the course of several months it all smooths out and the scar fades to white. It will lose that ugly quality and be far less noticeable at that point.

I would be less concerned with the scar from the HR than I would with the likelihood that your will need a second THR in 15 years or so when the first THR wears out. You're relatively young and active, so that's an expectation you may want to discuss with your doctor as well. Since I've had both of my hips resurfaced it will come as no surprise that I would recommend resurfacing for you over THR.

[imgetinold]

I've had it done twice, one nine years ago and one 7 months ago.


From what I've read over the years, the incision varies greatly from surgeon to surgeon.  I've heard of 10"-12" incisions, and mine are roughly 4". 

Ask any potential surgeon how long the scar will be......they should know if they've done enough of them.  Dr. Gross in South Carolina (who did mine) is approaching 7,000 resurfacings.  I HIGHLY recommend him, and it's worth the trip.  He has a paper on minimally invasive surgery that is worth the read.  You can find it here:  https://www.grossortho.com/patient-education/scientific-publications


Like others have said, it's more on the lower side of the glute, not the back.  You wouldn't be sitting on it.  However, after my first surgery I went back to work at 6 weeks.  For a time, it liken the feeling to having a softball in your back pocket when you sit.  Weird and uncomfortable, but not painful.  That was basically gone by 12 weeks.  For my second, I was driving by 2 weeks and back to work part-time at 3 weeks.  It's still difficult at that point to either sit or stand for very long, so taking short breaks to stand and walk around are recommended.  But again, within 12 weeks or so you won't even notice it.

[dannythebeerman]

i had no problems sitting or driving with the incision, but your DR and staff should be able to give a better answer.  advise a toilet riser donut for awhile.  Post surgery I stayed at the Residence Inn, a handicapped room wasn't available, I didn't bring a toilet donut, and they didn't have one.  the donuts come in shapes to fit the toilet, a round one is unsafe to use with an elongated toilet.  Good Luck with your surgery.