BHR going bad - pain after 12 months

[kvny]

I thought I would post my experience so far.
Had BHR Nov2009 with Dr. Drinkwater at Highland Hospital in Rochester, NY.
Recovery was much more painful than expected.  After 6 months I felt good enough to begin excercising for first time in 25 years.  Did elliptical machine for 20 minutes 4 times a week plus Nautilus equip.  After a month went to Dr. for pain in hip/leg. Diagnosed as bursitis.  Stopped excercising for a month and then started again but no leg nautilus.  Fine for 4 months then started to lose range of motion a bit and had some minor pain.  My Range of motion never improved much.  One goal of surgery in addition to pain relief was to be able to tie my shoe.  Never accomplished that.  Mid-December I fell on my porch.  No real pain at the time and I continued to work out that week.  Then I started getting much more pain.  Went to Nurse Practitioner.  X-Rays show no obvious fracturing.  I suspect the components have become loose.  Pain is about 75% of that I had prior to BHR. 

For anyone considering BHR - keep in mind whatever they say - do not think you can go back to normal activities without concern for the hip.  Be very careful.  Pain can return.

[Dayton96]

KV,

Let me state the obvious.  You need to send your latest digital x-rays to a more experienced surgeon to see what is really going on.

Mac

[Lopsided]

I am sorry for your predicament and hope in time it is all corrected.

For anyone considering BHR - keep in mind whatever they say - do not think you can go back to normal activities ...

I certainly do think, and have, returned to normal activities. Maybe resurfaced patients should not do extreme sports, and should recognise that we can degenerate in other respects. But the whole idea of resurfacing is that we can lead normal lives.

I wish you well.

[Gino]

KV,

Let me state the obvious.  You need to send your latest digital x-rays to a more experienced surgeon to see what is really going on.

Mac

Dr. Drinkwater is an outstanding surgeon and very experienced. He did both of mine. KVNY stated he went to a nurse practitioner last with xrays. Perhaps a followup with the surgeon with those xrays would be more effective. And certainly explore a second opinion by one of the other top surgeons. 

[resurface]

Kvny

Sorry to read about your story as we all can appreciate your situation in some way, but this brings up a great subject on two fronts.  First, we all need to be realistic.  You said that you had not exercised in 25 years.  What did you expect?  Relief from the past pain post surgery has nothing to do with an ability to get ones ROM back after 25 years of not exercising.  I am 7 months post op and back to skiing, biking, lifting weights, etc., but I remain cautious.  We are never the same as before even with the best results.  I also think that one's rehab never stops once you have a procedure like this. Just my opinion.

Second, this procedure is not for everyone. It was intended for active persons, in good health and in-shape who wanted to resume a higher level of activity.  I don't know your specific situation, but it seems that there are a good number of people talking their surgeons into this procedure or finding one who will say yes.  I happen to be in the device business and talk to surgeons who perform this procedure around the world.  Most are refining their patient selection criteria from what is was just a few years back.  Further, newer total joints are so good that it is a viable selection for most candidates.

Best wishes to you.  It would be great if you can continue to provide an update.

[andybc]

Kvny,

Firstly, sorry to hear of your troubles.

As regards loosening - usually that will be apparent on the xray. Important to get it looked at by a radiologist or the surgeon who put it in.

Andy

[Pat Walter]

Sorry to hear about your problems.  Falls are difficult on the body whether there are artificial parts or not.  I feel twice, really hard, last year on my BHR hip.  I was bruised and sore, but fortunately nothing happened.  One fall was off my bike, the other a trip where I did not see a step.  Just having a BHR does not mean a fall is worse than without it and it also does not mean you have to live your life worrying about it all the time.  I think little about mine from 2006, but did think about it when I was laying on the ground after my fall.

If you continue to have problems, I would try to get some input from the top experinced surgeons like Dr. De Smet, Dr. Gross, Dr. Su, etc.  De Smet and Gross will give you a free consultation if you send them an email with a copy of your recent x-rays attached digitally.  Sometimes the most expeirnced surgeons can see things less expeirnced don't.  When surgeons like De Smet have done 3000+ surgeries, they are use to seeing problems. Especially since he is often doing revisions of other surgeons errors.

Good Luck.

Pat

[littleb]

I had hip problems for 2 1/2 years prior to HR. I also had a herniated disk so even with PT I'm not running around like I did before both issues began yet. Still I felt my recovery was going reasonably well, ups and downs, but still slowly going forward. At 4 months I fell badly. Boy did I stress all the muscles that had been so recently sewn together and those that haven't yet gotten all their strength back to pre injury status. That happened 6 weeks ago and I am still getting twinges in the capsule.

That is not to say that there is nothing wrong in your case. There could be. There is nothing wrong with getting a second opinion if you are worried, even if your doctor is very experienced.
Prior to my surgery I did not agree with something my surgeon, Dr. Su, told me. I wrote to Dr. DeSmet for his opinion. When I went back to Dr. Su with Dr. DeSmet's take on the matter there was a good natured grin from Dr. Su that I had taken the issue up (or sideways) the chain for more information and it changed my surgical plan. I've also discussed an article with him by Dr. Gross for his opinion of how it might relate to me.

I am not a 29 year old sports star but the work I do is just as hard on the body. My new hip doesn't mean I suddenly have a desire to become equal to that sports star. I haven't trained for it. I also do not expect to wrap my legs around the back of my neck anymore which I was still able to do prior to injury. It won't lessen my quality of life. My hip pain did. What I fully expect to be able to do is work, rock scrabble, dance, run and play fully with my grandson and boyfriend. My other issues and rate of recovery may make me wait longer to do all these things but I am going to do them.

[obxpelican]

What you are experiencing is not always an outlier where you end up needing a revision.

Like others had explained, get 2nd opinions and see what they see, you could possibly have some sort of tendon/muscle issue.


Chuck

I thought I would post my experience so far.
Had BHR Nov2009 with Dr. Drinkwater at Highland Hospital in Rochester, NY.
Recovery was much more painful than expected.  After 6 months I felt good enough to begin excercising for first time in 25 years.  Did elliptical machine for 20 minutes 4 times a week plus Nautilus equip.  After a month went to Dr. for pain in hip/leg. Diagnosed as bursitis.  Stopped excercising for a month and then started again but no leg nautilus.  Fine for 4 months then started to lose range of motion a bit and had some minor pain.  My Range of motion never improved much.  One goal of surgery in addition to pain relief was to be able to tie my shoe.  Never accomplished that.  Mid-December I fell on my porch.  No real pain at the time and I continued to work out that week.  Then I started getting much more pain.  Went to Nurse Practitioner.  X-Rays show no obvious fracturing.  I suspect the components have become loose.  Pain is about 75% of that I had prior to BHR. 

For anyone considering BHR - keep in mind whatever they say - do not think you can go back to normal activities without concern for the hip.  Be very careful.  Pain can return.

[stano]

KVNY,

Sorry to here about your problem, I AM 16 MONTHS POST BHR , sore yes, feel different yes, 16 again no, Im 54 trying to be the runner I never was, I ran 11 miles at 11 months, have not seen that since. At 15 months everything hurt, doctor did a three phase bone scan to determine if the components were loose, everything good.  I think that I have asked to much out of my body not to mention the new hip, Hope is and will always be there but we need a good look within to what our body is capable of doing at this time. Good luck and keep us posted.

Stano

[kvny]

Ok - thanks for the replies.
Here is the latest = I had another appointment with Nurse Practioner yesterday (Thursday Jan 13).   I was overjoyed when Dr. Drinkwater arrived with her.  We went over all the X-Rays in detail.  Dr. Drinkwater put my hip through range of motion and asked me to do some tests.  The X-Rays show no signs of fracture, stress fracture or loosening of the components.  That does not mean I don't have these but that if they were obvious then that would confirm the worst.  Blood test showed no sign of infection nor any sign of high metal ions (excessive wear).  All good results.  However the pain is remains.  Dr. feels that perhaps I may have strained muscles or sores from my fall.  These (especially back issues) may cause pain in hip and legs.  Not sure why only on side of new hip.  Dr. wants me to wait three weeks and to baby the hip. No exercise other than some minor stretching for 3 weeks.  Another appointment in 3 weeks and then a new set of X-Rays and then perhaps a bone scan.   While I am depressed about the pain I still have full confidence in Dr. Drinkwater.  I will seek 2cnd opinion if needed if it appears pain does not go away in a few months.  I will certainly never rush into another operation.    Thanks for everyone's replies and concern.  I'll pray for y'all too!

[Pat Walter]

That's a good sign that there are no elevated metal ion levels and everything looks good on the x-ray.  Sounds like a good approach to take it easy for a few weeks and see if things get better.

Pat

[tm40]

need advice. here goes. left hip resurfaced july 2010. 6 months later pain is dif but still bad.have knee pain and flexability and ROM loss in knee that i never had before in my life! my dr sent me for illio psoas injections 3 months ago but insurance has been a real cat and mouse game.still no injection. work was done @ hospital special surgery NYC dr checked out to be very well respected in the industry. now thinks i may be having reaction to cobalt, a pos switch to standard THR seem likely.  i'm mid 40's great shape had ultra active life. how long should you wait before you pop the hood and change out the new for newer?  dr mayman is my surgeon and a really dedicated, solid, and a leader in his field. after doing PT 3X/week week in week out for 6 months with ultra dedicated diet, and a 100% commitment to getting my life back i'm still back at square one. anyone out there with sim situation i would love to here your thaughts.  groin, cup, and knee pain getting better of me.  thanks for listening.

[obxpelican]

I would send your x-rays to another experienced doctor for a 2nd opinion.  Sometimes another eye looking at a case can help.


Chuck

[andybc]

tm40

Well I certainly wouldn't rush into more surgery. Especially if it's more of a knee than hip problem.

I'd suggest getting X Rayed, if you haven't already done so. Then maybe MRI plus or minus CT would help.

You could also get your cobalt level measures but it's debatable whether that correlates with allergy.

Also sounds like it wouldn't hurt to get another clinical opinion.

Sorry you're having problems.

Andy

[tm40]

kvny, sorry for posting my problem at your information outlet. new to this site and dont know how to "not step" on someone elses hot line for help. will look for another way to properly "post".