I don't have a video take how I mounted it. imagine: walrus!
to sit is easy

I just came back from Shanghai. I met Dr. Brockwell for the 3 month consultation. everything is fine, he is happy and so I am happy. the highest risk for "bone breaking" is gone but I should be careful for the following 3 month also.
now I am allowed to change from crouches to the lighter hiking sticks.
I asked him about that funny, vibrating feeling I have had some weeks ago while tying my shoe laces. that was a dislocation and I must avoid it under all circumstances. if you need to reach your feet, approach them "through the knees", not over the outside of your legs   

I think for you it is good that you had a 3 month follow-up.

Particularly regarding the funny vibrating feeling you had a few weeks ago tying your shoe laces by bending over the outside of your legs. I haven´t heard anyone describe this sensation before.

If Dr Brockwell said the funny vibrating feeling equates to the beginning of the dislocation process then you have been fortunate.

As Dr Brockwell says this is to be avoided under all circumstances I am sure you will bend ´through the knees´to reach your feet from now on.

You are still early in your recovery so take care as you recover strength and mobility.

Have fun too of course.

That was a close one China Lady. Everyone requires different restrictions after surgery. Some weight bearing some not. Some have 90 rule and others don't. One that seems to apply to everyone after surgery is to not cross your operated leg over the other i.e. no internal rotation (crossing legs, etc.).

To reach your shoes from the outside certainly puts the hip on internal rotation with the force of your body weight too.

I think that motion levers the new ball against the freshly sutured capsule on the outside if I'm not mistaken. It's nice to see nothing bad happened.

After that restriction is removed you have to work to regain that internal rotation - something I did not know about. Not until I discovered it was causing problems with my knee did I work to regain that motion. Now walking and running are much smoother.

Chuckm

Chuckm,

How did you regain the internal rotation?

deb

Chuck, interesting that you mention knees. I've never felt anything in my knees until a couple of weeks ago when I went back to a full soccer game. Nothing major, but I did notice some pain on both sides. I attribute it to either the usual reason of being able to do things with your body that you haven't been able to do before, or maybe I'm just getting old. I'm also getting muscle tugs and pulls in both legs that I think you also experienced.
Probably worth starting a new conversation about this.

The internal rotation issue is something I think the hip resurfacing industry needs to talk about. After surgery, most if not all of us are told to avoid crossing legs (internal rotation). This is to let the repaired capsule heal. It is also to avoid dislocation which will tear the capsule while it is healing. But I was never told when that restriction was over or what to do to regain that lost motion. To see what I am talking about, sit straight up in a chair with feet shoulder width apart. Using your hands push only your knees together until they touch keeping feet apart. Gently bend forward at the waist bringing you chest and head down. You will feel that pinch in the hip. The farther apart your feet are will require more internal rotation to bend forward.

I had problems with my knee on my operated side once I became active again. A local surgeon looked at my knee and there was nothing wrong. I told him about my hip resurfacing and he said it is common for total hip replacement patients to have knee problems below the hip. He was very elusive about why or what I could do about it. My research about total hip replacement showed how lack of internal rotation motion caused those patients to have an abnormal gait. But internal is often a lifelong restriction for total hip patients. With hip resurfacing, at some point, we can reclaim that motion.

I know some patients take up yoga which will work that area. You test that motion when you put your leg up on something and try to cut your toe nails. For you Old Soccer Player it is drying between the toes. At first your knee splays way out to the side. As the internal rotation gets better you can bring that knee in under your chin. Now cross it over and do that and you are getting close to normal.

I've been working on it gently for about six months now and it has really helped with soccer and walking.

Chuckm

Both interesting and good info....thanks for sharing!

deb

thanks' for sharing, Chuckm
your descriptions are very clear and I was sitting here, smiling, when I read about toe nails cutting. yes, I can do that also since 3 weeks. for both of this events, (toes + laces), I use another technique: while sitting, I bring my right foot on my left knee, and the other way round, then I only need to bend my waist less. every movement I do in slow motion. if something feels not right I stop immediately.
there is something else I notice in this days; even when my hips are still stiff, I often forget that my knees, feet, waist are full functional. I mean, if you cannot bend the hip, bend the knees.   

That's great China Lady that you can get to your feet like that at three weeks.

Old Soccer Player, sorry about the nagging tweaks and pulls. In hindsight I can only recommend that you are well hydrated before you start and that you drink fluids every 15 minutes - and that you are patient for this process to work itself out. It's not always easy to stop in soccer for a drink. Regardless, you will probably still have muscle problems as you regain soccer conditioning. My theory is that the longer you were away from the game the longer it will be for your muscles to recondition themselves. It is a type of conditioning that is really difficult to prepare for without actually playing. The muscles are in motion for one to two hours and at any time may be required to be able to sprint (or at least go faster for short bursts). Even though you drink fluids, the muscles are just not prepared to replenish what they need, muscle firing gets out of sync and the result is an injury.

On the good side, all this subsided at the one year mark. Now I can play soccer as hard as I like for as long as I like without injury. Just this last Sunday I went 80 straight minutes without a drink and no problems.

Chuckm

Thanks for the great advice Chuck. If none of that works I'll just attribute it to my age :)

That's exactly what I was thinking too. But it is definitely NOT an age thing. You just have to wait it out. The muscles will slowly improve.

Chuckm

back on 2 wheels! I just came home from a short test ride. People have a smile on their face when they see me getting the hiking sticks out of my back pack

............. and yesterday I have had another "first"!
I was swimming and enjoyed it very much. because I felt a little bit unsecure I asked a friend to join me; swimming on the back or front and aqua gymnastic. after 30 minutes I noticed that the joints became more stiff and I ended the exercise. so, summer may come now!

That's great. Each of the things you left behind comes back to you.

I passed today the 4 month mark. it cannot be better! we went out for a bike ride to the country side. 28 degree C, blue sky and the air smells of flowers.
I have no pain, no muscle aches, nothing. it only feels sometimes a little stiff after long time sitting or when I rise in the morning. I am down to 1 crouch or hiking stick, but very often I walk now without anything.

You know, it is the mileposts that stick in my mind, the first time driving, walking without a stick, running or (in my case) kicking large punching bags.

But the thing that brought me real peace and wonderment was the day I realized I was walking free and easy, with no pain in the near past, in the present and no presentiment of future pain.

It was (and remains) glorious.

China Lady,
I'm one month ahead of you...we are both pain free.....isn't life grand!!
deb

we have a biker friend, he has terrible problems in his right knee. last year we both hardly could mount our bikes. last week he asked me: how do you feel? my answer: I even cannot remember the pain anymore!
he is suffering, but he not suffers enough to "walk the walk". yes, to make the decision, to go to surgery, is not an easy one; but for me: NO regrets!

a short update:
my 9 month anniversary I celebrated on a long distance motorbike ride through Zhejiang Province, China. most of the time I forget that I have new hips. life`s good!!!!!