Anyone return to playing basketball?

[ScubaDuck]

Einreb-

It seems like our new hips give us the idea that we have gotten younger.  Our bodies tell us differently.

Still it has to feel good to even be able to do that without excruciating pain.  Feeling muscle soreness is nothing compared to bone on bone.

Dan

[hernanu]

8 months and a day post resurfacing... just played 2 hours of hoops. 

Holy crap, I'm hurting today.  Hip is fine... everything else hurts.

Holy crap again,  I'm hurting again today.  Played last night for 2 hours straight.

Hip feels good, but I did an odd jump stop and tweaked my right knee and my left calf both at the same time early in the night.  That makes for an odd limp.

I spent the rest of the evening running up and down the court like an aging Kevin McHale.  It wasn't pretty.

Only thing I'd say is to be careful of overstressing other parts if your hip's not quite ready. I went out dancing, ater an hour of it, my hip felt fine, but my knee was sore. I think it took over some of the support and I definitely felt it afterwards. Not basketball, but you should see some of those Salsa moves  :o

[Pod417]

basketball is a tough one, I run and take a lot of high impact classes at the gym involving plyometrics and sprints. I played full court ball 3 months to the day after surgery , but of course that was too soon. If i had to do over again I would wait a full year before high impact, why chance an early revision. It's been almost 3 years now and am very happy with the results . I'm 46 and can do anything , just use common sense . Leave out the heavy squats or extreme load bearing activities and you will be fine.

[wesinator]

Hello Surface Hippy Hoopsters,
Wanted to give a 5 year update for the record:
Things are still going great.  My hip is none the worse for wear that I can tell. I am five years older (42 now) and can definitely feel that, but my hip is still good.
I have played 4-5 months a year (winter basketball season) each of the past 4 years and can report no major issues with the hip.  This will be the 5th season.
Minor problem I have had is that, at the beginnings of each season, if I come back too much, too soon and try to run too hard without working up to it, there is something that fatigues easily in the resurfaced side tendons / ligaments deep in the hip that I can really affect.  It comes on as a throbbing during playing, and then the hardass I am, I keep pushing, and it is really, really sore for a few days.  Actually excruciating for the first night.  The first time it happened, in the second year, I thought I really screwed something up.  Enough to make an appointment with Dr Gross and drive the 6 hrs to his office for an appointment. He took X-rays and could find no structural items.  It still happens once or twice at the beginnings of each season, before I get my body back in bball shape. 
Aside from not working my way back into shape, I more regularly than not forget there is a metal hip in there.  Me being old is more limiting than the hip. 
Recommendations from my 5 years of experience:
1. Stretch well before playing
2. Work yourself into shape slowly â€" try elliptical trainers / biking / stationary biking for a while (maybe 2-3 weeks) before all-out running as fast as you can.
3. If you get some pains in there, don’t panic, but stop and take it easy for a while.
4. Wear protective under-armour type hip protection â€" you can google the term “thudd shorts”.  These will add some small level of protection and mentally give you some piece of mind to not worry as much.
5. Have fun and keep hooping â€" its good exercise!

All the best,
Wes “wesinator”

[hernanu]

Great Post. I like the wesinator.

[Twins2013]

Great Post. I like the wesinator.

Almost 3 years after 2 hip resurfacing procedures, I am playing full court basketball 3 times a week. It's pretty competitive, and I am always the oldest guy on the court.  I am 56. This has been a new lease on life. I also referee high school basketball.  I get a full schedule, usually 3 times a week.  My surgeon was just magnificent.  Huge thank you and shout out to Dr. Drinkwater in Rochester, NY.

[Saf57]

I had my right hip resurfaced in early 2003, and played basketball regularly for at least 10 years thereafter, until my left hip gave out. I'm now 20 days out of a resurfacing of that hip, and fully intend to resume playing basketball again beginning in six months.

[hernanu]

Great Post. I like the wesinator.

Almost 3 years after 2 hip resurfacing procedures, I am playing full court basketball 3 times a week. It's pretty competitive, and I am always the oldest guy on the court.  I am 56. This has been a new lease on life. I also referee high school basketball.  I get a full schedule, usually 3 times a week.  My surgeon was just magnificent.  Huge thank you and shout out to Dr. Drinkwater in Rochester, NY.

Sounds great. Keep it up, this is a new life on bionic hips.

[duck4three]

Hey Fellow Long time and new Hoopers!  It's officially been over seven years since I had my right hip resurfaced by Dr. Pritchett in Seattle and I played hoops between 2-3 days/week since the 7 months of recovery following that surgery.  In the last year I began to notice my left hip going very bad and so I started Juicing Green veges and lost weight in order to preserved my OE for another year or more.  It worked for a while to delay what I knew was the inevitable.  This was also great because I learned a lot about nutrition and healthy eating habits for arthritic people during this time.  However, after a valiant battle my left hip waived the white flag and it was time to surrender :( .  I saw Dr. Pritchett again in Seattle at the Swedish Orthopedic Hospital to have my left hip resurfaced he agreed it was time.  So, I am recovering 4 days post op and all is well.  Dr. P is excellent!!! He has some new techniques that make the surgery so seamless, I was in and out same day!!! His staff was polite and knowledgeable, the anesthesiologist was a miracle worker and the surgery was shorter than expected and time in recovery was on 30 minutes!!!  I stayed in the hospital a few days 7 years ago although I felt great following that surgery.   :)  The pain is minimal and I am looking forward to getting back to a fun extended basketball career.  I was competing at a high level for 4 years following my first surgery then my left hip started to bother me.  It wasn't until it began to rapidly deteriorate mid 2016 that I began to slow down. 


A word to the wise, once you have the resurfacing done and begin feeling better and playing hoops or whatever your activity is, don't regress and settle!!! Stay active, eat healthy (eat to live, not the other way around) and remember don't use basketball to get in shape, it's meant to be a fun sport to enjoy, but you must do other exercises and workouts to play hoops!  I am confident that I'll be back on the courts this summer and will continue to update my progress on this site. I haven't posted in six years because things have gone so well!  I'm not even sure if anyone will read this post since this group (Anyone returning to basketball) is so old, but if anyone does read this from that group or is planning on returning to playing hoops keep lacing them up and getting up and down the court!  Stay Healthy My Fellow Hippies!

[duck4three]

Hey Fellow Long time and new Hoopers!  It's officially been over seven years since I had my right hip resurfaced by Dr. Pritchett in Seattle and I played hoops between 2-3 days/week since the 7 months of recovery following that surgery.  In the last year I began to notice my left hip going very bad and so I started Juicing Green veges and lost weight in order to preserved my OE for another year or more.  It worked for a while to delay what I knew was the inevitable.  This was also great because I learned a lot about nutrition and healthy eating habits for arthritic people during this time.  However, after a valiant battle my left hip waived the white flag and it was time to surrender :( .  I saw Dr. Pritchett again in Seattle at the Swedish Orthopedic Hospital to have my left hip resurfaced he agreed it was time.  So, I am recovering 4 days post op and all is well.  Dr. P is excellent!!! He has some new techniques that make the surgery so seamless, I was in and out same day!!! His staff was polite and knowledgeable, the anesthesiologist was a miracle worker and the surgery was shorter than expected and time in recovery was on 30 minutes!!!  I stayed in the hospital a few days 7 years ago although I felt great following that surgery.   :)  The pain is minimal and I am looking forward to getting back to a fun extended basketball career.  I was competing at a high level for 4 years following my first surgery then my left hip started to bother me.  It wasn't until it began to rapidly deteriorate mid 2016 that I began to slow down. 


A word to the wise, once you have the resurfacing done and begin feeling better and playing hoops or whatever your activity is, don't regress and settle!!! Stay active, eat healthy (eat to live, not the other way around) and remember don't use basketball to get in shape, it's meant to be a fun sport to enjoy, but you must do other exercises and workouts to play hoops!  I am confident that I'll be back on the courts this summer and will continue to update my progress on this site. I haven't posted in six years because things have gone so well!  I'm not even sure if anyone will read this post since this group (Anyone returning to basketball) is so old, but if anyone does read this from that group or is planning on returning to playing hoops keep lacing them up and getting up and down the court!  Stay Healthy My Fellow Hippies!

[AG]

It’s been 5 years since anyone has posted any updates from b-ballers.  Is it because you guys have had to quit playing?   Any updates on how your hips are holding up? 

[Seavey Hoops]

It’s been 5 years since anyone has posted any updates from b-ballers.  Is it because you guys have had to quit playing?   Any updates on how your hips are holding up?

Also wondering this... I'm 26 years old with stage 3 Bi-lateral arthritis. Hoping to get back to 2+ hours of basketball playing/training a day, plus 3-5 days of weight training/plyometrics a week (this is the pre-arthritis life that I lived). Anyone here get back to that high an activity level? Also wondering how people felt on the court after fully recovering from Resurfacing surgery - do you feel as good as new again? Wondering if I should expect a performance drop off

[BBhip]

This is a great thread. I did my first hip this month, hopefully I can also return to bball after the second hip is completed and healed.

[wesinator]

Comprehensive Experience of a 51 year old basketball player with 14 years of that on a re-surfaced hip.
Hello ballers,
Some would say 50+ year olds shouldn’t be playing basketball anymore.
Some would say 50+ year olds with a metal hip definitely shouldn’t be playing basketball anymore.
Lots would say 50+ year olds with TWO metal hips really, definitely, positively should hang it up.
Nope.
I am living proof that if you want, you can extend your bball career through hip resurfacing indefinitely.  That is, until something else gives out.  Because its not going to be your re-surfaced hip.

I’ve been playing at an advanced Y req league level for 14 years on a resurfaced hip.  The hip is stable and shows no signs off excess wear.  The metal ion level in my blood is normal.

Got my first “appliance” in 2009 at age 37.  At that time I was advised by a generalist orthopedic surgeon that this technology was unproven and not recommended.  Very glad I did not take his advice.  In my mind, the difference between the two technologies is extremely substantial and GLARINGLY OBVIOUS, with THR being fundamentally inferior!

Instead researched resurfacing industry leaders and decided Dr Gross and his thousands of positive outcomes was the best choice for me.  I have a lot of other posts on here if you would like to read the details, but suffice to say, Dr Gross’s skill and dedication has resulted in many, many athletes getting a second lease on their athletic life.  I am so grateful to him and his team. 

So my other hip has gotten bad and I had my second procedure this week.  Same kind of thing, as well as experience.  Now for the re-hab.  I will say, though, that for the 1st hip, I waited way, way too long.  I was a cripple with a cane and could barely walk 100 feet.  This time I think I may have err-ed on the early side, but its hard to get the timing exactly right.  You know, predicting when enough is enough, but not leaving useful mileage on your natural hip.  Especially when Dr Gross’s backlog requires a 3-4 month lag.  That is the only downside of his practice.  Ideally, you could wait until “you’ve had enough” and set up your procedure for next week.  No, you have to predict 4 months out when “you will have had enough”.  I know I was early (I played full court basketball with 20 year olds just last weekend), but its still better than being a cripple. 

So I’m laid up at the moment, but determined to make one last come back as soon as my recovery is complete.  It’ll be different with two appliances in there.  There won’t be a natural hip to jump off of.  I must say, over these last 14 years, I did favor explosive jumping off the natural side (which was a change from before when it was the opposite leg when I had two natural hips).  And my preferred jumping has been off of both feet.    Also for the 1st 10 or so years, I took approximately April to Oct off from basketball to focus on golf.  This had more to do with time management (golf takes a LOT of time) than body maintenance.  However, ever since COVID subsided, I’ve been playing year round.  Not sure if this accelerated my other hip going bad or not.  Its hard to know these things for sure.

So, in conclusion, fellow basketball junkies, know that you can successfully extend your playing years for a decade or more, with no limitations, if your hip(s) is going bad. Just make sure to partner up with an re-surfacing industry expert like Dr Gross, and follow their rehab instructions.