straight from the hip...

[hernanu]

.
.
But now I am hearing different and when I emailed my doctor he did confirm that there are no limitations and that the only limitation would be due to body structure and muscle strength and my own flexibility.

Honestly, if that was what I was told before I would have been on the operating table long before he finished that sentence. I even saw the look on his assistant's face because she originally told me the same thing that I am hearing now about no limitations. But when the doctor told me that I have to modify my movements and that I could not lift my leg above my waist the assistant looked embarrassed. I did not say anything because I thought she just made a mistake and I did not want to cause her further embarrassment. Besides, after hearing the bad news from the doctor I was really depressed and wanted to think about what to do.

I don't know what to think about that whole thing. I just want to get rid of this pain and get my life back.

I don't know if you saw this, but check this story out: http://www.surfacehippy.info/jimroxburgh.php and you can see the lack of restrictions once you've healed.

Now I was not this limber before all of this hit, but close enough. You definitely can lift your knee above your hip, as I've started to do some front kicks and some very slow stretches above the hip while standing. I'm at 6 months on my second hip, so I am taking it slow and easy, getting the lay of the land. Stretches while sitting down, though I can lean forward and touch my chest to my knees now and can do the palms on the floor while standing.

Like Gary said, your body will tell you what's good and what's not, just follow the advice I'm sure we all got - never stretch into pain.

[chris finn]

and can do the palms on the floor while standing.

Oh...now Im jealous....I can only touch the floor with my fingertips :o :o :'( :'(

[hernanu]

No need, Chris - I think you got to the bag way before me.

[chris finn]

lol......maybe a little too early  ;) ;D Infact I still cant kick with my op leg, as the jarring hurts like hell.

[kajubones]

Yeah, I am jealous also, that is some nice flexibility. It is sad because just before my hip started hurting I just bought a really nice book on stretching. Being able to have nice kicks was one of my goals, now walking without a limp and sleeping without pain is my goal. I hope if I ever get this thing fixed I can get half that flexible.

[gary2010]

Ultimate flexibility is limited by the geometry of the pelvis and especially the angle of the femoral neck, which varies considerably between people. Stretching enables you to get the optimum performance out of your skeleton.

I see that Fabian Cuenco has a Finsbury Adept same as me, and he's got a full range of movement, looking at his x ray though, his femoral neck looks quite steep (compared to mine) and doesn't flare out immediately below the prosthesis. This is me:

[Lopsided]

Don't know Gary, my x-ray does not look like yours either.

[chris finn]

At the moment my flexability seems to be restricted by the rather large stomach that seems to have appeared from nowhere  :'( :'(

....but Im stepping up the cardio sessions..so hopefully it will be gone soon  :o :o

[hernanu]

lopsided - hope you don't have hammer toes  ;D

[kajubones]

Hi guys,

I wanted to ask you another question. When I saw some photos of some hip resurfacing I noticed screws in the x-ray on some folks. I read somewhere that it may cause chronic pain if there are screws in the pelvic bone. Do you know if this is true or not? Most x-rays that I have seen does not have any screws in it.

[gary2010]

Screws are used in cases of hip dysplacia which is a congenital deformity; to correct it the acetabular cup has to be moved from its natural position, so they screw it to the pelvis.

[Lori Cee]

I have one screw on each side to hold each cup in place.  It was required due to the bone quality and basically the damage done to the joint - there was also protrusio (longer term OA damage more often found in women).  If there weren't screws, they wouldn't stay in the right place for me. 

I have no aches or pains at all in or around the joint.  If you have a look at my pic which shows the right side - you can see the screw (I've also got one on the left).  From what I heard today, the size of the screw required to affix the cup in place also depends on bone quality.

I think it is one of those things though - you have to weigh up what kind of pain we are talking here and could it be worse than what the pre-op pain is?

[Lopsided]

I read somewhere that it may cause chronic pain ...

If you get any of the good devices done by one of the top surgeons, there should be no pain.

[kajubones]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies. Can you tell that this thing really has me worried? I set up another appointment to see another doctor in August, he is fully booked  >:(. I was hoping to have the surgery during the summer while my son was off from school. I am so glad to hear from so many people and once I have mine's done I want to help others like myself, Hippy forever yay!

[Lopsided]

K Bones,

It is the other way around. You should be worried that you have arthritis, and glad there is a real treatment for it.

D.

[Dayton96]

What is the name of your insurance company?  Where are you located (i.e. California, Ohio, etc)?

Mac

[kajubones]

Amen to that, D. Your optimism is hard to argue with and is a much needed change of attitude for me.

Mac, I am in San Francisco, California. My insurance is Healthnet Hills Physician Blue and Gold. Not sure if it is a PPO or HMO. I am covered under my wife because the insurance at my work is way expensive.

[ScubaDuck]

I have no idea if they are related but I have Healthnet in Oregon.  They have Dr. Pritchett in Seattle in their network.  May be worth a call.

Dan

[kajubones]

Hey Dan,

Yeah the insurance might not be exactly the same. It seems that Healthnet also has brown and tolen and some others. I also have an appointment already but not until August to see another doctor. I have been calling them everyday to see if there are any cancellations so that I can get an even earlier appointment. Thanks for the info though :)

[ScubaDuck]

Good luck with the appointment.  I was lucky and got one three weeks out.  And I could have had my surgery within a month.  Sounds like most people on here had to wait much longer.

Dan