Both hips at once?

[bri]

I am thinking of getting both hips resurfaced at the same time. Is there anything I need to be concerned about in doing this? I spoke with a doctor and he told me you have to limit the amount of beer you drink once you have a hip implant. He said it will limit the amount of blood supply to the bone and it will die. My brother talked to his doctor which is going to preform a total hip replacement on him. His doctor told him you can drink all you want?

[Lopsided]

You have to limit the amount you fall over in a drunken stupor. (I am not a drinking man, so do not have much sympathy.)

There seems to be a misapprehension by many doctors and surgeons that don't and can't do resurfacing, that for some reason, the bone dies afterwards.

[FlbrkMike]

I cut my beer consumption quite a bit, but I'm also drinking more wine.

[newdog]

You have to limit the amount you fall over in a drunken stupor.
 

  Lop, only you! 

Sorry bri, we like to have fun here.

Alcohol will not cause the bone to die. Don't waste your time speaking with doctors who don't do or who know nothing about hip resurfacing. They are very misinformed about HR and have a prejudice against it. Look around this site and keep coming back with your questions. You'll get lots of help here.

[hernanu]

I'm doing my own research on this and will get back to the group on my results. 

[Eitan]

Boy weren't those the days when we could come home in the evening, drink a 12 pack with our best buds, watch the hockey game, pass out on the couch, and sleep in till 2 the next afternoon?  But I digress.

This IS somewhat of an unusual, (but nonetheless interesting) question on this forum because so many people here are active athletes who don't drink alot.  From your name (bri) and the fact that you spelled it with all small letters I am guessing you are a woman.  (Hope I am not being chauvenist here.)  Anyway, if you are a woman you probably don't drink that much to begin with so I don't know that I would worry about this issue.  But supposing that, irregardless of your gender, (and if you are a man, no insult intended, but bri??  Makes me think of Bridgette.  NOT that there's anything wrong with that,) you really like to throw them back.  You know like 12 beers/day or more.  I don't think that there is any good evidence to suggest that the "bone will die" from drinking too much beer after a resurf surgery.  I believe that what the good doctor was referring to was a bone illness that is called "avascular necrosis" of the femoral head.  This is seen more often in chronic users/abusers of alcohol than in non-users/abusers, but here we are talking about patients who have not been resurfaced.  There is a small percentage of resurfaced patients who do seem to go on to develop a variant of avascular necrosis in their resurfaced femoral heads, with sometimes dire consequences such as fractures in the  femoral neck or collapse and failure of the head.  The exact cause of this rare complication is currently unknown, but may be due to extrinsic factors such as the surgeon being overly aggressive in his operative dissection or being overly slow in performing the surgery.  You probably do not have to worry about this if you are being operated upon by an experienced surgeon. 

Having said all the above, the usual potential serious consequences of alcohol use/abuse (ie, other health issues, familial dysfunction, job loss etc) will still apply to you in the post resurf period just as they do in the pre resurf period.

Anyone up for a few Corona's tonight?

[FlbrkMike]

Anyone up for a few Corona's tonight?

I'm heading to a jazz concert right after work, and I may not be able to avoid it.
 

[Anniee]

I don't really like beer, so not sure what it does to the hips (except perhaps make them fatter and probably more prone to falling and breaking something if you have too much).  I love wine, and usually have a glass or two with my dinner.  Does not seem to have had any effect on my healing.

Hernan, when can we expect your report on your research?

[hernanu]

Still in the formative stages, working on the abstract, but like all good research, I intend to cover all statistical possibilites. Have decided to work following the alphabet, am up to 'C'.

[newdog]

See bri, there are others on here who will give you all kinds of attention and information. And they are smarter than me!     Looking forward to the research results.

[Lopsided]

Eitan, I have got to take you up on this one.

From your name (bri) and the fact that you spelled it with all small letters I am guessing you are a woman.

Usually your posts are well informed and include useful technical details. But what's all this? I don't know why bri should be female, and I really don't think you do either. I can think of both boys' and girls' names that begin with b-r-i, and it might stand for anything else. And as for the small letters ..! Have you not considered, that after having been told by his doctor to limit his beer, his choice of name on this form was influenced by his state of intoxication?

I believe you have a history of wrestling, Eitan. I don't. But I am glad that I have slammed you down now.

D.

[ScubaDuck]

Hernanu-

I look forward to your results too.  Because you know all good research should be able to be duplicated.  And I will offer to verify your results.

Good beer or good wine, it doesn't matter.

Dan

[Eitan]

Slammed so many times on my head I no longer think straight.

I still think bri is a woman until she/he proves me otherwise.

Now, back to the research.

[maxi]

in my thinking, the original question can be answered with ....   "whats your body used tooo .."   

its not as if the blood supply has been withdrawn from the op site ..

i backed off in the first 6 weeks or so but at 7.5 mths out im enjoying a beer again ... as amost aussies do ..

cheers   Maxi

[bri]

Not so concerned about the drinking part, I usually just drink on weekends. More concerned about getting both hips done at the same time.Complications,discomfort,may not be able to roll to one side while sleeping,recovery slower,ect? I just have not heard much info on this.Is it wise to do this? I would have to wait a year to get the other one done do to the amount of vacation time I have at work.By the way, I am a man.

[Lori Cee]

How you recover after surgery has a lot to do with attitude, condition of the hips pre-op, your general health, how well your surgeon does the job and many other factors.  You will also need to consider what type of work you are going back to as to how quickly you will be able to get back to it as well. There are quite a few people here who have had their surgeries a couple of days apart and less that have had them done on the same day and there are a lot of differences on the length of recovery but I think that the common consensus is that we were all glad to have done it this way for various different reasons. 

I don't think my rehab was twice as hard as one side at a time and even though I did have some minor complications that held this up, I would have had these had I just had one done and I would have had major pain on the un-operated leg trying to be the support for the other. Discomfort sleeping seems to be pretty common for one or two - it's just something that you have to get through.  I could tolerate sleeping on my side at about 4 or 5 weeks.  I did need to have the pillow between them to make sure that I didn't cross the midline but I had slept that way for almost 20 years as it was the only way that I was comfortable so it wasn't a big deal.  In the grand scheme of things, I don't think the sleeping discomfort was enough to make me say don't do it. 

If you are aiming for a fast recovery, I'd be doing as much as you can to get as fit and healthy as you can pre-op to set yourself up for the best possible outcomes.  This is one factor that you at least have some control of going in.

[moe]

Corona? Corona? CORONA?!?!

[ScubaDuck]

I have to say I definitely looked forward to ending the Oxycontin so I could have a glass of wine.

Dan

[Anniee]

Bri, I knew when I had my right hip done that my left one would need resurfacing also.  Because it was not hurting (or I did not notice pain in it) at the time, I did not consider having it done at the same time, or discuss it with my doctor.  Many times during the first few weeks of recovery, I was happy that I had only the right hip done, so that I still had one strong leg, one good side to sleep on, etc.  I do think recovery would have been quite a bit tougher if I had had both sides resurfaced at the same time.

On the other hand, as my right hip started feeling really good and strong, and my left hip was deteriorating and causing more and more pain, I kinda wish I had had both fixed at the same time.  Yes, I would have been on crutches for more than a few days, probably not been able to drive after 5 days, and had to stay off work longer (darn).  Also, I would have had to sleep on my back for at least 3-4 weeks (the sleeping thing was hard for me - could not get comfortable).  On the other hand, by now I would have had two good hips, instead of basically going back to square one.

For myself, I'm not sure I would have been tough enough to have bilateral surgery.  Recovery is tougher and longer, but after you recover you're done!

Lori Cee, I still have to use the pillow at night - now it's for my unoperated hip!  I'm ready to get rid of that thing!

[Anniee]

Dan, I'm with you on the wine.  I tried a little once while I was still on the Oxycontin - it did not taste good.  Not even food tasted good on Oxycontin.  I was glad to be able to stop taking it after a few days!