My husband has bilateral resurfacing and rides

[tofu55]

Dec. 2005 my husband had bilateral resurfacing with Dr. Gross. He was 61 years old and had ridden a lot over the years. We ride(English) a lot in the fall and winter and early spring. It got to the point where he could barely get on or off the horse, put dmso on his hips before he mounted and also took a pain pill if he had one(which was not often). He did not get on a horse until around September of 2006 and then took it very easy until the one year mark had passed. His initial recovery from the bilateral operation was much harder than we expected, the first two weeks were very tough on him not from pain but from a general lack of energy and feeling just awful whenever he tried to stand or move. He did not really feel human until around the three week mark, which apparently is quite a bit longer than most bilateral patients. He rides now for 3-4 hours at a time and has no pain from his hips. He no longer jumps, tho, as he is just taking it easier and does not want any possibility of damaging his new hips.

Nancy 

[snoots]

Hi Nancy,
welcome to this great site. It's nice to hear from you and that your husband is doing so well after four years.
I had my left hip resurfaced last April at 52 years of age. As an avid rider and trainer of horses I was very worried over the possibility of being sidelined from my passion. fortunately only 4 months were spent out of the saddle but prior to January of '07 it was difficult to mount and dismount without painfully dragging my foot over my horses' croups. Thank god they are such good boys and just stood there for me.
Luckily my recovery was swift, although I wonder if a bilateral might have been a different story for me. I haven't come across anyone else in the horse realm of these parts that share the hip resurface experience.
Riding feels better than I ever dared to hope it would, like a new lease on life. At one point I even pondered trying a few fences but my husband adamantly declared "NO JUMPING!!!!!" Oh well dressage is lots of fun too.
I wish the best for you and your husband and many more years of happy trails.
 

Terry

[tofu55]

Hello Terry,
  My husband will jump small things. he can't resisit. But no more three foot jumps+ as he used to do.
  Years ago he had a bad fall over a big jump and the horse landed on him, upside down. Among other injuries, his acl was torn. He had it fixed 1 1/2 years later and said to me, "I can't wait to go skiing again". I looked at him, said nothing for a while, then slowly said, "Well, you can go skiing if you'd like, bit, IF you fall and hurt your leg, you'd better be prepared to hire a nurse and housekeeper because I will not be your nurse". He has not been skiing. As for recoveries, the bilateral resurfacing was the hardest, tho now we both say it was worth it having both hips done at one time, so he really only had one long time-off.

Nancy   

[Pat Walter]

Nancy

Glad to hear your husband is doing well and riding again.  Dr. Gross is a great surgeon.

Many prospective patients ask if they can ride after a hip resurfacing.  Thanks for posting his story so people know what is possible.

Good Luck.

Pat

[woodway2]

All concerns aside re: my cup angle and high metal ions......I'm moving on and back in the saddle.
Hope this pic comes through! Hi Pat and B.I.L.L.
The other Nancy

[Pat Walter]

Hi Nancy

Looking Good!!!!   Have fun!

Pat

[Horse rider]

I am scheduled for Bilateral surgery with Dr. Gross and am a 54 year old woman. I ride dressage and am hoping to hear from other riders that their hips are still doing well after resurfacing.  10 Years ago I had impingement surgery on my right hip and  it has lasted this long. It is getting pretty painful  when I ride now so I know its time. The left one is starting to have problems now too so that is why I am doing bilateral. I just want one recovery time.  I am hoping that I will be able to get back  in the saddle lightly at about 3 or 4 months and then back to riding in 6 months. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?

[LMS]

Good luck with your surgery! :)


My recommendation would be to take it slow & not feel like you need to be back in the saddle too quickly.  6 months sounds like a very good plan.  Remember to keep up with your physio for a year at least (don't stop actually, I did after the 4th month & I regret it).


When you get to the 4 th month, you can start using a folded, thick pillow between your knees & squeeze (you're on your back with knees bent, feet off the ground), also sit on one of the big exercise balls (
straddle it) & slowly find your balance, then practice the forward/backward movement, then posting.  Later on, sit in your saddle (not on the horse) & do the same exercises.  By the 6th month, I then moved onto sitting bareback on my horse & did stretching exercises (at the halt first) & later on added the saddle.