Looking for advice...

[larryinvail]

I'm a 55 year old very active male that has bone on bone in my right hip. My only pain is what feels like a nagging groin pull. I had to quit running a couple years ago because of a herniated disc/sciatic issues on my left side but I still managed to cycle 4000+ miles this season and played golf twice per week. My only pain meds are an Alieve the morning I plan on playing golf or hiking. I've been told by Dr. Rector of Boulder I'm an "ideal" BHR candidate. I know I will have the surgery but my question is how long do I wait to have the surgery done? My discomfort is when I accidentally kick stationary things with my right foot and it sends a sharp pain up my right leg. It also hurts lifting my leg over my bike seat but I'm in no pain when I ride. There are also times at night when I roll over in bed and feel my groin pull. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

[Lopsided]

but my question is how long do I wait to have the surgery done?

If you are bone on bone, you do not wait. You will only wear cysts in your femoral head that can make resurfacing more difficult or even not an option later.

Why would you want to wait?

[larryinvail]

Great input. The only reason I would wait is my level of pain doesn't seem to be nearly what others experience prior to their surgery. But even Dr. Rector said my femoral head looked good today and that would only change over time.

[Lopsided]

For some people it is about pain. Others do not suffer much from pain, but have much reduced range of movement (that was me).

It is as much about dignity as anything else.

[Dannywayoflife]

Larry,
        im currently on a waiting list for a bhr. Im 28 up untill about 12-18 moths ago i was a good level fighter and generally mega fit i was running weight lifting swimming etc. Roll on till today im not in great pain but im sooo imobile my ROM is shockingly bad. I too have questioned weather i should have surgeory or wait as i didnt feel i was suffering as much as others seem to have done pre op. But then i saw Mr Treacy one of the top HR guys in the world and i thought well he knows more about it than me and he feels its appropriate to opperate so why would i seccond guess him?
I guess what im saying is if you Dr is a quaillity guy trust him but obviously dont be affraid to seek other opinions if you think you need to.
Danny

[maxx6789]

pain and range of motion are two factors ... for me, the deciding factor was "lose of activities that i loved" (i.e., lifestyle change). over a 2 to 3 year period, i stopped doing numerous activities that i loved doing ... these activities were a huge part of me!! i did not have much pain but i did have ongoing, nagging discomfort that was a consistent reminder that my OA was not going away.

you may want to ask your doctor "how long can you wait to have hip resurfacing" ... i asked my doctor that and he was able to give me a general range in months ... i knew that i did NOT want to wait too long and go from "an ideal hip resurfacing candidate" to "a total hip replacement-only candidate".

good luck with your decision. my guess is after gathering information and listening to your body, your mind will reach a point where you will know when it's your time.

[hernanu]

Hey Larry, welcome to the board. As lop and Danny have mentioned, it's not always about pain, but other symptoms come into play as well. Dr. Rector seems to have a good reputation and several posters have used him with good results.

I guess the question is whether you want to wait until the pain does come, because if you are bone on bone, it will. I waited until then, to the point that one of my hips was dislocating at will (had to pop it back in a few times a day).  You have to make your own mind up on this, we all came to it at different times, but in my opinion, if your doctor is saying to go now, and you know it's bone on bone, then (IMO) you are ready to go. It's your decision when to go, and you should do it at your own pace.

To me, by the time you're bone on bone, you've hit the point where the bone is being compromised by grinding. Simple physics tells you that the grinding will cause friction and bone loss / reshaping. The good surgeons can compensate for this with bone grafts, etc., but if you're going to do it anyways and you are at the point of the bone being compromised, waiting (again IMO... ) just adds to the complexity of the operation. Too much waiting makes you less of a good candidate, at some point tilting the decision to a THR.

Like I said, though it is your decision and yours alone. I'm very happy with my bilateral resurfaces, but you should arrive to this at your own pace.

[bri]

I have similar pain to you. I went in for a x-ray and I have a large cyst on my femur and I have worn a lot of the bone away in the cup area. My doctor told me I waited to long and I May not be able to have resurfacing. If your bone on bone I would get it done yesterday1

[Boomer]

I met with Dr. Rector in May after being referred by another Ortho who does not do resurfacing. Dr. Rector said I was a good candidate, but that the x-rays showed we still had time. I did the best I could to enjoy Colorado and Spain this summer, but spent a good deal of time in pain looking for a place to rest. Lunch and dinner included ibuprofen and a glass of wine to help me walk to the next site. So, when it came time to look at vacations for Spring Break or next summer, my wife and I were at a loss, because we had no idea what I would be capable of. No thanks! I'm not ready to wave the white flag yet.

I am scheduled for surgery with Dr. Rector on November 30. I could take the pain, everybody on this website knows how to handle pain, but I won't take having my life limited when I have access to someone like Dr. Rector to help me get moving again. It is never an easy decision, and you will have anxiety about it from time to time.

Stay posted. All the information and feedback you need you can find on this website.

Good luck.

[ScubaDuck]

Welcome!

I rarely had horrible pain.  It was only when I really pushed it on a hike or tried to run.  I could control it with ibuprofen.

What you want to be careful of is how much compensating you are doing which is causing problems with other joints and muscles.  I was limping without recognizing it.  My lower back and knee started hurting because I was changing my gait to avoid the hip pain.  And my girlfriend said she couldn't stand watching me on my bicycle seat because I leaned noticeably to the right in order to open up the hip.

Best wishes on your decision.  I am at nine weeks post surgery and I no longer limp when I walk.  It is a great feeling.

Dan

[mountaingoat]

Larry, 
I'm in Colorado too - Boulder. There seem to be a lot of us on these boards...I suspect because we all pound our bodies so much in the outdoors. I would say that if Dr. Rector tells you that you are the ideal candidate and you are bone on bone than get it done now. I say this because as others have indicated you are probably compensating for your bad hip more than you realize and developing other problems that will rear their ugly head at some point (knees, shoulders, back, etc). Dr. Rector is a very conservative surgeon and would not recommend surgery if he did not think you were ready. I know this because he has actually advised me against it for the last two years because I am still so young (36) and he thought I should try to last a little longer. He has a near perfect track record with BHR and his patients are really happy. I know his schedule is booked through the end of the calendar year but perhaps you could set something for late Winter...get some skiing in first and then have the surgery and be mostly recovered by late spring.

As much as I'd like to stay in Boulder for my surgery I'm going to go to Dr. Gross in South Carolina because he does not have an issue with me wanting to have more children after hip resurfacing (Dr. Rector was not comfortable with that and I understand his position). I think you'll be really glad you got it done before the pain gets bad...I know first hand how quickly a bad hip can deteriorate. In July and August I was able to hike 5-7 miles of steep alpine terrain with my baby in a carrier on my back...hiked nearly every weekend this summer in Vail, Steamboat, etc and then by Labor Day my hip began to deteriorate really fast and now I cannot walk 2 miles without a lot of pain.

Good luck!

Amy

[Tin Soldier]

It was the loss of activities and poor ROM that made me go forth with HR.  Pain wasn't that bad, but now I realize how much pain I was in.  It was of a constant nagging pain that but not excruciating.  It sounds like most of the folks here are saying the same thing about ROM and loss of activities being the deciding factor.  Good luck 

[Anniee]

Larry, I had my right hip resurfaced last April, because it was hurting.  When I went to my first appointment with Dr. Gross, he asked me if I had any pain in my left hip, which I did not.  He was surprised because he said my X-rays showed bone on bone in both hips.  In May, I scheduled resurfacing for my left hip in October, because the time suited me, and because I did not want to pay another insurance deductible this year, but not really because it was hurting.  Since May, my left hip has started bothering me more and more, to the point that I had to give up my lunchtime walks (something I did not have to do before my first surgery), and I am in major pain after every workout.  It is amazing to me how quickly this hip has deteriorated, and the pain is really quite a lot worse than my other hip was before the surgery.

I have heard very good things about Dr. Rector on this site.  If I were you, I would get the surgery done as quickly as you can, because your hip will not get better, and may start to deteriorate quicker than anyone expects.  Once you are bone on bone, there is no fix, other than surgery!