I had a left hip BHR, cemented (Smith & Nephew) in July '08. Prior to that, I was a +25 year regular runner and mountain climber, until the arthritis pain got to be too much. So, I was in fairly physical condition at op time.
Surgeon was Dr. Pritchett, at Swedish Hosp, Seattle. He'd done at least 1200 of these by then. Recovery was slow at first, but then proceeded normally. I was brisk walking and then biking within 1 and 2 months resp. post op. All arthritis pain is gone. Beginning at 10 months post op, I started back to running, slowly......9.5-10 minute miles, for up to 4 miles, 2 - 3 times a week. Hiking and mountain climbing (up to 5000' elev gain), four outings this past summer.
At about 3 months post op i began to notice a thumping effect in some situations. This is difficult to describe, but is is somewhat like a knocking sensation, or similar to the feeling in a finger joint if you crack your knuckle. Usually not painful, although there have been a couple of times when it did hurt, but mostly just uncomfortable.
My hip now does this all the time. Lying in bed when i wake up, if i stretch out my legs, in an outward extension motion, my left hip joint will "pop". Same during excercise, walking, etc. I had thought this was a tendon on muscle, or tendon on tendon thing going on in there, until i had my 1 year follow up, July '09, with Dr. Pritchett.
After I described this to him, he knew exactly what I meant. He said that about 28% of his BHR patients have this symptom. He then described it as a slight dislocation, follwoed by realignment. At least, that is what I think he meant. He told me that there is something about an "equatorial alignment" of the joint, related to the relative position of the two components. By "slight" he said he is describing only millimeters out. He did say that my x-rays showed everything is completely normal with the new joint. I was so taken aback by this explanation that i didn't have the presence to ask intelligent questions of what I had heard.
My concerns are as follows: What is going on in the joint, metal on metal? To my mind, this is an unusual wear opportunity and I wonder if metal is being worn away, since the smooth surfaces of the ball and cup are not always in complete contact. Will this shorten the life of the components? Is the joint more likely to "pop out" because of this? Is it going to continue like this indefinitely? Should I be doing the PT exercises again that I did when I had post op PT? It seems like the thumping/knocking in this joint is more pronounced after a period of weight-bearing excercise.
I need to schedule another appointment and ask these questions in detail. However it is over an hour of driving to get up there, plus the cost of the appointment. I would like to get any feedback possible from the group, before I pose these questions to the doctor again. Or, maybe it is quite normal, and I don't need to.
Any ideas on this? Thanks!
Pete