Hey everyone! I’ve got my resurfacing scheduled at the end of the month and had a question I’ve been curious about. I’ve had arthritis in my hip for a few years now and the surrounding muscles feel like they’ve shortened and stiffened. I’ve also got a bit of a pelvic tilt. I was wondering if this affects the acetabular cup placement during surgery? I’m wondering if after surgery when I start to rehab and hopefully strengthen and lengthen muscles and hopefully work on my pelvic tilt if this will possibly shit the cup or affect the positioning of the implant?
Rcur-
Not sure anyone other than your surgeon can answer that and you should probably discuss that with them. I can tell you I had the same symptoms prior to my bilateral HR surgeries, tried for years to stretch out the shortened muscles and correct the pelvic tilt with exercises that only ever resulted in short term relief. It took a few months of recovery after surgery to get those muscles working properly through PT and regular daily stretching, walking and gym work but all of the symptoms resolved themselves positively including the pelvic tilt and being about to enjoy my 3rd year anniversary there is no indication of reverting to any kind of a problem. My sense of it is there would be no concern of cup shifting as the muscles re-lengthen but your surgeon should be able to explain the reasons or concerns to you more specifically. It's a life saving/changing surgery the vast majority of OA sufferers find give the relief from the chronic pain and restrictions and offers a tremendous improvement to the quality of life. Best of luck.
That’s great to hear that you were able to correct your muscles and tilt after the surgery! That is my hope...thanks for sharing...
When I found out about my hip dysplasia I was told I also have a tilted pelvis. I had been unaware of this (I didn't know about the dysplasia, either). If the tilted pelvis caused an issue with either of my successful resurfacings it was never mentioned. I think pretty much everybody with arthritis who has surgery can vouch for their muscles being messed up before surgery. It's your body trying to compensate for that failing joint. The surgery will fix the joint. After the surgery you work during your rehab to get your muscles back to "normal". That's the tough part. It takes work and time, but it will happen.
Is your surgery still scheduled for this month? Saw your other post where you still had questions. Thought to inquire and offer support.
I actually pushed it out to August. Wanted to meet with my Dr. in person, which I hadn't been able to do because of Covid. Thanks anyways!