John’s Hip Resurfacing Dr. Pritchett 2008
John’s Hip Resurfacing Dr. Pritchett 2008
May 2, 2012
Going on 4 years post BHR right side and I still get bone pain when walking too far on hard surfaces on that side. Yet I can put hiking boots and a pack on do 16 miles on mountain trails and even alpine climbing no problem. Likewise with long bicycling. I just have a hard time walking on cement or similar in walking shoes. I’ve even tried those toe shoes which kind of helps but not sufficiently. It can get super painful radiating even to my lower leg and forces me to stop for a while.
But I might have found a solution. After getting laid off I got a lot better at hitting the gym every day( for for two months now) and put leg presses back on the menu…got up to 2x my weight right now plus other leg work. Strangely, I have lately gotten much much better at walking on cement. Definitely upped my walking miles round town. I wonder if that has stimulated bone changes? I know its difficult to separate referred pain issues but this really did feel like bone pain inside the femur rather than sciatica, muscle, or similar.
My doc Prichette gave me good advice. "take it easy the first 3 months but do whatever you want." adding "You won’t be able to do what you shouldn’t because it will hurt." That was true. I had a fairly painful start, probably worse than usual, but once off the meds I got to the gym. I was careful about the 90degree thing for the 6 weeks but still did stuff. After that I started officially training as best my body could stand it which was more gradual than i wanted but…. <6 months later I did a couple of hilly century bike rides and then the 200mile Portland to Seattle (STP) bike ride easily. That same summer I made some alpine climbing attempts which showed me I had some work to do but was having fun. Got into yoga etc and kept at it. It did take my body and hip a year to get truely solid but thats not to say I wasn’t out there having fun with biking and climbing, even cyclocross racing in the mean time. You’re not taking a whole year off dude. Just modifying. Be sensible. I had gained some weight which makes a difference and takes time to get rid of. And I had some adaptations to make due to illio-psoas pain and external rotator issues post op that I still work on. Then there’s the usual old man issues to fight. So I continue to improve now even on my 4th year and keep going beyond what I thought possible for me Pre-OP.