HI I am three weeks post op and was wondering if any one had just had their bones resurfaced , but did not have metals or caps in ? Does the heeling time take longer i am still in a bit of pain and have not to weight bear till my hospital visit on the 23 april and have to have to use crutches until then many thanks Jakee.
Hi Jakee
I don't know about any type of resurfacing that does not involve Metal on Metal - both a cap on the femur bone and a cup in the acetabulum. The old fashioned hemi-resurfacing was using only a metal cap on the femur bone and none in the acetabulum for a bearing surface. Many of those required revision because metal on bone is not a good solution. The metal is much harder than the bone.
All of the modern hip resurfacing devices - BHR, ASR, Biomet, Wright C+, Cormet, etc are all metal on metal which is a cobalt/chrome alloy.
There are total hip replacement that are ceramic on ceramic - but those also have a titanium stem.
So I don't know about any type of hip resurfacing that does not use metal.
Normally, regular hip resurfacing with metal components allow you to be 100% weight bearing immediately. I was on one crutch at 4 days and none at 4 weeks.
Did you have some type of osteotomy instead of a hip resurfacing? That is where they use a piece of your leg bone to help cure the AVN. http://www.hipsforyou.com/hiposteotomy.php (http://www.hipsforyou.com/hiposteotomy.php) That type of procedure does not use any metal hip device and takes a long time to heal. People are on crutches for months while the hip heals.
Pat