Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy to hear you're doing well at 7 months. I just got discharged from home PT, looking forward to outpatient PT and definitely looking forward to the summer. Happy Holidays.

Figured i'd check in. I'm in my 6th week post right hip resurfacing, with my left at the 20 week point. Both are doing well, with my left very strong and flexible. I had my post-op appointment, everything looked good and was cleared to return to work.

I just went back to outpatient PT for my right (and left), am walking most of the time without a crutch, still have one more week with one crutch and then I am done with that. I have to focus when walking not to have a slight limp, or when I'm very tired.

In PT, I am doing bike riding, strength exercises (leg lifts to all directions, with weights, stomach exercises and back exercises), stair practice (step up and down), flexibility (stretches both with the leg extended and bent). Overall, feeling tired but good when finished. Just a little sore afterwards.

I set some goals with the PT this time, to achieve enough flexibility to support doing low level martial arts (punching bag, further stretching, stances) after PT is done, and to identify the amount of weight lifting to do right away and in the future. Really excited to get this going.

Can't you swap the crutch for a stick? I used sticks from the outset and found it much more natural, I'm sure crutch would have held me back.

I would, but I only have one more day assisted, then I am done with it. I still get a bit of a limp at the end of long walks, fixed if I stop and smell the roses a bit while my hip rests.

Hernaunu

As a Snyder alum, stay patient.  If I might make a suggestion based upon what my PT person told me at the time, stay with the stick until you do not walk with a limp.  She did not want me to be in a position of getting into a bad habit.  I am assuming that you had an anterior-lateral incision and the glutes still take time to recover from the atrophy.  You are obviously rehabing religiously so it is only a matter of time.  One other thing that helped during my PT was to have the therapist do (1) laser therapy on the site, as well as (2) deep tissue message to break down any adhesions.  You may notice that the skin over the incision "tents" initially but with the above mentioned therapy it will go away and support increase range of motion.

Good luck....

Thanks for the tips, I had been  thinking of getting a stick anyways. Patience is a virtue that I need to work on. I did have that type of incision, and my PT has been massaging that area every visit, just like she did last time.

I have to say the whole process has been really good, from Dr. Snyder, his team, the hospital, the home care and PT(Milford Visiting Nurses for both) and the outpatient PT (Bay State Physical Therapy). I'm not doing laser therapy, what is that?

The laser penetrates the surface and heats the deep tissues.  I am told that it works much deeper than the warm blankets that you may get prior to your PT session.   I am not much for the patience stuff myself!  I do think that it is worth every extra day or so... rather than rushing.  As I mentioned before, I started skiing again two weeks ago (8 months post op) so not bad.  Trying to decide if I want to get on the tread mill... stares at me everyday when I am on the bike! 

I'm keeping the stick handy until I get my round kick working ;)

And you can get get a stick that makes you look debonair, so, as I need all of the help I can get in that direction.... I'll have to ask about the laser, sounds like it would help.

I got on the treadmill after about two months into my previous hip experience, not running, but fast walking. It seemed fine, although when I tried to run by mistake when my daughter and I were rushing to a movie, I was quickly notified by my hip that I wasn't quite ready yet.

I finally got a stick at my local drugstore (CVS), and have to admit, I was amazed at the variety available; some are very fun... some psychedelic, others with different visual themes, and one was camouflage (if you don't want people to know you're using a stick  ;D ).  I settled on one that folds up and is extensible, black with a copper ring just below the handle. Very cool.

Walking with the stick (my first experience with this) is fine once you're used to it, and it seems to be just the amount of support I need with longer walks. Thanks for the advice, will keep it for a bit.

The physio told me to be careful with the fold up ones as they start to get a bit wobbly after a while. Hopefully, you won't have to use it for that long!
Andy

Thanks Andy, I think I'll only need it for a few weeks at most.

A bit bummed. The hips are going great, I will probably be discharged from PT after next week, I'm doing a ton of exercises, leg lifts galore with 5 pound weights on the ankles at all angles, other step and leg lifts (30) with 205 pounds. All good.

Somehow I've injured the top of my left foot. I think either stretching, doing some of the step exercises, or smacked it on something. My regular doctor looked at it and didn't look worried, so probably something that will go away, just annoying that the only limp I have now is completely unassociated with the hips.

I can still walk fine, just gingerly when pushing off the left leg. Oh, well, I can still work out.

I'd think that it would be reassuring to have some pain in your leg and realize that it doesn't come from your hips.

Congrats on your successful surgeries and recovery.  I'm a few months behind you and hoping to follow a similar path.

I know - I was feeling a bit self indulgent, but it is true that it's kind of reassuring to have a normal twinge kind of injury instead of what we've dealt with. Overall really excited to walk around with no pain and only a bit of stiffness left in the hip.

I've noticed that despite the leg healing quicker than the last, the actual walking has taken a bit longer. I attribute that to the really heavy snowstorms we've had in the Boston area, which has forced me to do my walking in my apartment building instead of doing it outdoors as I did for my other leg (August, September). Still, the recovery has been great.

Wow, glad to hear so many successful outcomes.  I just had my 4 year checkup with Dr. Snyder; RBHR.  I still have the same complaints since the surgery in January 2007.  Whenever I do something physical, I feel a tightness around my upper thigh and a sharp pain when I do lunge type exercises.  I can't run, bicycle or even do my elliptical workout without constant pain.  At the checkup he had me do the blood tests for excessive metal ions, because he said something must be going on.  Said he would call in one week, the PA called and said the metal ions are normal.  I asked him how his other patients were making out, especially the ones he performed the Ganz procedure on...and he said that made no difference and maybe you should not get a BHR done on your left side when needed.  He told me he did the Ganz on me because of my large muscle mass, this would incur less damage. 
Pat, I think it is time I get my xrays and get a second opinion on my operation.  How do I go about that again?  Also, isn't it true the bursa could have been damaged badly when the screw holding my trocanter together became loose?  Currently, I am only doing Yoga exercises and skipping cardio all together.  It is really killing me to be so inactive sports wise...workwise I am very active with a lot of manual labor.  Please don't tell me to swim...I can't...my legs sink horribly...must be my large muscle mass.  I am trying to decide on a surgeon for my left hip, as it probably has one year left, but I don't know what road to take or if it even matters.
Anybody else out there experiencing similar results?

Sorry to hear about your pain; I still have some tightness in my hip, but it doesn't prevent me from working out, so it is not the same as yours.

I asked Dr. Snyders' office for my X-Rays, just to have them, and they are going to mail me a disk. If you are having these issues, definitely have someone else look at them. I've had good luck with Dr. Snyder, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't look for another informed opinion in your shoes.

Can you tell me something?  How did your PT go when you only had the one hip done and your other hip was not at 100%?  Did you feel that this limited progress on the done hip?  Sometimes I think, if I just get my other hip done, then everything will come together and get stronger, because I am definitely limited due to the pain in my left; undone hip.

Definitely was limited. I think I've talked about it earlier. Especially in the outpatiend PT, which was much more aggressive. One example was on the stationary bike, in the beginning, my operated leg and my butt (for lack of a better word) hurt a bit because of the weakness of the muscles. Those, and the lack of conditioning due to my decrease in activity in the years leading up to it, went away with number of visits to PT.

The stronger the left leg got, the more smoothly it would move, the faster I could bike. The right side tended to turn in wards and would sometimes clip the pedaling mechanism, or it would just get sore at the hip; there was also some muscle impingement on the bone spurs that I had there, I could feel that. So the more robust the left leg got, towards the end of PT, the more issues I started to have on the right. I got to the point that I was looking forward to the second HR, since I knew (optimism here) that it would feel much better. Thankfully the optimism was rewarded, since now the bike riding is so smooth that both legs feel really good after riding. I didn't have much time between the two surgeries (3 months), so I could deal with the pain from the unoperated leg for the two or three weeks from the time it really started acting up to when the second HR was done.

One thing I have to say: the physical therapists spotted something that I would never have considered. I've always thought of myself as a physically strong person, and in many ways through weight lifting, and other athletics, I am, but I got the shock of my life when the therapist tested me after my first procedure and found my lower abdomen to be very weak. They promptly got about fixing that, to the point that now they are satisfied. The point of this is that I had no idea that my hip problems had brought on that kind of issue. The strengthening they did was IMO a huge part of making the recovery from the second HR easier. I just felt stronger. I don't know why people who will have one of these procedures are not encouraged to have PT for at least a month before the surgery. Just my opinion.

Quote from: hernanu on February 17, 2011, 01:24:52 PM

One thing I have to say: the physical therapists spotted something that I would never have considered. I've always thought of myself as a physically strong person, and in many ways through weight lifting, and other athletics, I am, but I got the shock of my life when the therapist tested me after my first procedure and found my lower abdomen to be very weak. They promptly got about fixing that, to the point that now they are satisfied. The point of this is that I had no idea that my hip problems had brought on that kind of issue. The strengthening they did was IMO a huge part of making the recovery from the second HR easier. I just felt stronger. I don't know why people who will have one of these procedures are not encouraged to have PT for at least a month before the surgery. Just my opinion.

I agree hernanu.  I am on a much stronger recovery track than first time around, and I'm sure that my pre-op state has much to do with this.  Last year I did a lot of pilates (before hip pain stopped me) and my "core strength" was much better going into my most recent op.  Of course, the hip problems put significant limitations on many prospective hippies, but I agree that "pre-hab" PT is well worth considering pre-op.