Hi I need a little advise or encouragement from some female hippies.  I had an appointment with Phil Golnick Dr. Brooks assistant last week. He told me all about hip HR and how it would work.  He thought I would be a good candidate but needed to show my x-rays and MRI to Dr. Brooks. Phil said he would get back to me.  Well, he left me a message on Friday afternoon saying that I may be a good candidate but Dr. Brooks is concerned with my ball size and that I may have a shallow socket. He said that they could set up a CT for anteversion.  I was just wondering if this is typical of female patients in general or if Dr. brooks does this with all his female patients? And if this would preclude me from HR?  Phil said if my socket is too shallow then I may not be able to have the HR and I would have to go with the THR. Needless to say I am in a bit of a panic. I am 46 years young and do not what to stare at the future of maybe 4 hip replacements in my life time.  Both sides are bad.  The left is the worst and the one that I am hoping to have done. Thank you all in advance who answer and thank you Pat for this tremendous site.  I would be going crazy without it.

Lisa

Hi Lisa

The good surgeons are very careful.  Best to get input before worrying.  You can also get some more opinions be email from several others.  Always good to have input.

Look at my list and see surgeons like Dr. Gross, Pritchett, Rogerson etc  Send an email with x-rays attached in digital format.  The overseas surgeons like Dr DeSmet, Dr. Bose etc will too.

http://www.surfacehippy.info/listofdoctors.php

It is nice to know what others think.

Also people with THRs that are well placed do very well and don't have a lot of restrictions.

Don't spend your time worrying, spend it getting good info to make a good decision.  Some times even the top surgeons don't agree.

Pat

Lisa,
I'm sorry you are faced with hip issues.  I am not a female but I had my left hip done by Dr. Brooks a year ago and have become good friends with a woman who had both done by Dr. Brooks, one a year ago and the other approximately 8 months ago.  I will reach out to her and ask her to get in touch with you.  I know she had a CT scan done prior to surgery. 
I can tell you when she went in to surgery she did not know if she would have a BHR or a THR when she came out of recovery.  But she ended up with two BHR's. 
As Pat says, the good surgeons are very careful and they aren't going to set you up for failure by doing a procedure that is not right for you.  I guess, my opinion is, between Dr. Brooks and other good surgeons such as Pat names, if you end up with a THR you can rest assured that was the best option for you. 
I pray you find relief from your pain regardless of the procedure.  Dr. Brooks is an excellent, compassionate surgeon.  His record is impressive.
Good luck!
Nathan

For what it's worth, check with Dr. Gross.  He did mine when I was 62 and it will be 6 years in Feb.  I had a shallow hip (mild dysplasia) too, so hopefully you can still get yours resurfaced.  I have had fantastic success with it.  Wishing you the best!

I would also look into Dr. Pritchett and his Synovo resurfacing implant.

I'm not female, and not going to Dr Brooks, but Dr Pritchett told me I have shallow sockets on both sides and he expects to try to add some depth to them during the surgery (starting with right, 3 weeks from today).  I asked how much he could carve out without compromising the strength of the pelvis and he said that wouldn't be a concern, that he'd only be tweaking a bit, nothing drastic.  It could be that, as a man, I have more bone to work with than you, I just thought I'd share that shallow sockets are not an automatic disqualification for BHR.

Thanks to everyone for all your great advice and recommendations. I just talked to Phil and he is having the Clinic call me to set up my CT.  He still seemed confident that HR was still a good option for me.  I think you are right Pat, he is just being conservative and that I should calm down and not worry before I know anything.  However, if Dr. Brooks does not think I am a candidate I will definitely not give up on my quest for HR and will go see Dr. Gross or Dr. Su. 

Lisa,
Dr Brooks did my right hip resurfacing in February 2014.
Your story is identical to mine. And I too was in a panic!
I was 50 yo and my history included a hip arthroscope on each hip 1-1/2 years prior.

Dr Brooks told me it was "always possible, but very highly unlikely" that I would end up with a THR after reviewing the hip cat scan.  Of course it was the first question I asked when I woke up and was with it in the recovery room.

Feel free to message me. I am happy to talk with you if you'd like.
I have my one year appointment with Dr Brooks 3/5.
Good Luck!
Beth