Dan posted a very detailed story about his first hip resurfacing in 2011at – https://fullmetalhip.wordpress.com/

August 13, 2011

The report is everything is going great. The surgeon reiterated that the surgery was perfect. We looked at the x-ray and the acetabular cup is at about 39 degree angle. He said the bruising and pain that I have is normal. And he said that it was only the piriformis muscle that was cut and reattached.

I can discontinue the aspirin that he prescribed to prevent clots. I can get in a pool in the next few days after the holes where the sutures were close up. And I can even use a stationary cycle as long as I don’t break the 90 degree rule. He also confirmed that the hip flexion restrictions will be removed at 6 weeks.

I celebrated all this good news by wandering with my girlfriend around Pike Place Market for 1.5 hours with two crutches. I have been down to one crutch but I thought with the longer distance I should have the extra support. I also figured it would be a bit of defense against the people that crowd the Market.

August 16, 2011

I am currently post op day 15 from a left hip resurfacing by Dr. Pritchett in
Seattle.

I dealt with reducing range of motion and pain that sometimes bordered on excruciating. I went from running a marathon to not being able to walk around the block without pain. Of course I gave up the running 13 years ago. But when I could no longer bike, walk, or even swim comfortably I knew it was more than being out of shape.

As newdog said, we all went through tough times. When I was finally diagnosed with OA in the left hip I at least knew what I was dealing with. When the first surgeon suggested I wait for years and then come for a THR, I was devastated. Then I found out about hip resurfacing.

As I learned on this website, you need to pick the right time, one of the most experienced surgeon, and the best device. I scheduled my August 1st surgery in March I believe. Then I followed the ups and downs of participants on this site. I read the horrible article in the NY
Times. And I second guessed my decision.

For me I realized that my hip is going to deteriorate. There is nothing I can do to reverse it. It was affecting my quality of life. And this was a perfect opportunity. I reread the data and decided that the revision rate taking into account picking the best are incredibly small.

I am still dealing with the post op restrictions, pain, night sweats, swelling. But I can already tell that my hip pain is gone. I have no regrets.

August 22, 2011

I am at 3 weeks and pain free except for the muscles I am stretching and working. The funny thing is the pain moves around. It started mostly on the outside of the quadriceps, moved to the knee, and now is worse in the groin and abductor.

September 12, 2011

I am at six weeks today. The big news is that the 90 degree restriction is removed. I have been waiting for this for some time now.

The problem is that my muscles are so tight that I can’t reach my left foot. I was hoping to be able to put my sock and tie my shoes. I am frustrated because I didn’t expect to be this tight!

I have started stretching.

October 3, 2011

I had my nine week followup with Dr. Pritchett today. I asked him about NSAIDs and recovery. I told him that there seems to be some conflicting information out there.

He said he prefers that patients not take NSAIDs since it is not recommended for spine and other bone surgeries. He thinks that there may be some issues with bone growth around the HR. He says there isn’t any studies showing this though. He said that he has had many patients take NSAIDs without problems.

Fortunately I haven’t had the need. I have been taking an occasional (maybe one per week) acetaminophen for pain. Ice has really been the big pain reliever for me.

November 8, 2011

Now that I am 15 weeks post op I have had no knee pain in weeks. It was all due to the compensation I was making to avoid the pain in my hip.

December 19, 2011

I would say it was around the 3 month mark when I could go through all my daily activities without thinking about the hip and not having to ice regularly.

My leg is still not as strong as the right one though. I notice it mostly when I do one leg squats. The leg extensions show a little weakness but similar to right before surgery. The hamstring is actually stronger on the left than the right. I still get really sore with abductor movements. I am still working those alot.

It will be interesting to see how things progress once I get clearance to run.

January 19, 2012

At one month I did the following:

A mile walk on a hilly course in the morning.
At lunch I went to the pull and swam 1200 yards with pull buoy and then aqua jogged for 33 minutes.
A mile walk in the evening on the same course.
Did my exercises and Triggerpoint at night.

I worked all day and iced off and on.

January 21, 2012

I think it was about four weeks out that I was able to elevate my heart rate and start to actually consider it a workout. Swimming was the first exercise that I could elevate the heart rate. I could also get a good long burn going with aqua jogging. I also did shallow water walking later. I think I got on the exercise bike around the time my 90 degree restriction was removed. I kept that to spinning with low resistance for more ROM work than aerobic exercise.

February 14, 2012

I have had clunking feeling off and on during recovery. I even had some yesterday during some aggressive stretching. I think that is just the muscles slipping over the implant.

You may have overstretched the muscles to allow the implant to move around more than usual. As long as there isn’t any severe pain I would say that it will heal fine.

As always lots of rest, ice, and elevation will help.

I think we all tend to be a bit protective with our hips. I just keep reminding myself that they had to drill my bone to attach the femoral component and had to pound my acetabular cup in place. It would take some severe torque and impact to cause problems with that. It is more the soft tissue healing that is the issue with minor concerns with the bone issues.

March 5, 2012

This is my fifth week of running after waiting six months. (Okay I cheated by a few days) I have taken it slow and steady in building up. Even though I feel like I could do more. I have had some hip socket soreness but nothing bad. Rolling and self massage seems to take care of any aches.

I did overdo it a bit last week when I ran on a track without looking at the time. I was running 9 minute miles when I had been between 10 and 10.5. It is hard to hold back because my cardio is way ahead of my legs and hip.

April 23, 2012

I am now at about nine months from surgery and concur with most of John C’s points! I forget about my hip most of the time and no longer limp around. The stabbing pain is gone which is HUGE! I no longer get woken up at night or have to stop walking/hiking because of pain.

I have soreness around the hip capsule and some in the groin. I attribute this to the workouts I am able to do with the change in movement. Because my leg now moves normally during biking and running my muscles have to be retrained and strengthened.

I believe that if I keep working out and doing specific exercises that my hip will feel very close, if not completely normal some day.

May 7, 2012

I found that pace is as big a contributor as distance/time for me. Granted I wasn’t been able to run for over ten years prior to surgery so I suspect I have more muscle work to do than most.

I have been following a very conservative build up. After three months I am now at 36 min three times a week with a 20 min. thrown in. I was feeling good and started to push the pace since I was sticking with the shorter times. That is when I really started to experience some pain in the IT band, groin, and hip capsule.

I have found that I can comfortably run 9:00 minute pace as I build up. Yesterday I ran 3K at about just under 10 min. pace with my girlfriend and then turned around and finished with 8:40 pace which stressed my muscles so I was limping for a short time after. I do recover quickly though and I quit limping within an hour of stopping.

July 11, 2012

I did a sprint tri just before 9 month mark. It went well but I had definite soreness in the hip area during the second half of the run.

I have been slowly working back into running shape. I have had a few setbacks but nothing major. Some calf tightness and hip/IT/gluteous soreness. But I can feel myself getting there.

July 29, 2013

I haven’t posted in a long time because I have been busy living my new life. I rarely think about my hip now 1.5 years after replacement.

I was a very active runner up until a car accident ten years before my BHR. After six months I started running. I did a sprint triathlon at about nine months.

I have had soreness in the hip flexor area, groin, and IT band. Backing off, stretching, and strengthening have helped. I would highly recommend strengthening all the small supporting muscles in the hip area. Balancing exercises and lateral exercises will help a lot.

I also concur on the massage and aggressive rolling of the muscles.

December 10, 2022

Well I am 4 days out from my second hip resurfacing with Dr. Pritchett. The first was the Birmingham device in 2011 at age 50. This time it was the EndoTech titanium-ceramic device.

I was surprised also that it was outpatient. Last time I only spent one night in the hospital which I thought was quick. Well I can tell you that after an afternoon surgery this time, I was fine to head back to the hotel by 8:30pm. I did have to get some fentanyl and toradol after pain became a bit much. I have to say the spinal block and sedation was much easier to recover from. I think the procedure has gotten much better to allow for quick discharge.

So far the recovery has gone much easier and quicker than I recall from 11 years ago. Neither time did I need the oxycodone past 24 hours. Today I went for a longer walk with one crutch. Pain has been much less and mobility have been much better this time.

December 15, 2022

My left hip replacement was 11 years ago with MoM Birmingham device. It has been great, giving me back my active lifestyle. I did hear that those devices were not as successful in women or smaller individuals.

Earlier this year I had to address the right hip which they told me was going to need one. This time Dr. Pritchett (Seattle) told me that he recommends a new device which works much better, especially in smaller men and women. He did say he can still get the MoM to match my other hip. After some research I decided to go with this ceramic-titanium device with polyethylene liner.

I had the surgery last week and the recovery has been much quicker. I am not sure how much of that is the device and how much are other changes in the procedure.

December 23, 2022

Recovery is going well. Today, Day 17, I am able to walk around without a crutch. I definitely backed off the Tylenol and Advil too soon early but have gotten a good balance now. Finally had decent sleep the last three nights.

April 16, 2023

I am at four months and I am still dealing with soreness in the hip flexor area. I go to physical therapy every other week and each time the exercises get ratcheted up. Then I am more sore and it progressively gets better until the exercises get changed again. I am able to walk 7-8 km easily and I am swimming but can only handle 500 meters kicking. Today I was able to cycle for 45 minutes with minimal soreness, at least for today.

Stretching is really important! I can tell that I didn’t do as much with my left side after getting it resurfaced 12 years ago. I am doing the stretches I am doing for my right side on the left as well.