Paul, That sounds exactly like my story (except I'm 54). I had bilateral surgery at the end of January and it was the right decision. The hip pain is gone and I can now put on my socks while standing.
I could barely get my socks on and couldn't spend any time on my feet. I was very tight in the adductors, groin and hip flexors. My right hip was worse than my left. Prior to surgery I measured the spread I could get between my knees lying on my back with my feet together, it was 18". I'm now up to 23" and still improving. I doubt I'll ever sit cross legged again, but the results are very encouraging.
Doing both hips at the same time was the right choice for me. The early recovery is a little more difficult but you only have to to go through the surgery once and it cuts the rehab time in half. They had me walking the day after surgery and home after two nights. I did need to use crutches for 4 weeks per the doctors instructions. I could have walked without the crutches sooner, but I followed all of with doctor's instructions. I got the crutches that clamp on your forearm rather than the underarm crutches.
My right hip has been slower recovering. My left hip has been good from the start but on the right side I've had pain in the inner hip radiating down the adductor and sometimes the inner hamstring. It's been slowly improving and it's almost gone now. It could be from going to the gym every day that irritates it, or possible from sitting at a computer all day with work.
My hips and legs are still weaker than before but it's coming along slowly with exercise. I just returned from a scuba diving vacation in Roatan and had no problems at all. I'm looking forward to getting back to pain free hockey next winter and skiing.
The hardest part of doing them both at once was sleeping because you don't have a good side to lie on and I'm not a back sleeper. I setup the spare bed in the living room beside the recliner and alternated sleeping on them, and that helped alot. I found I could sleep on one for about 3 hours then I'd need to switch.
For the surgery, I avoided the anesthetic and just went with the spinal. I was given the choice of being put under, staying alert or something in between. I chose to stay alert because I was interested in the surgery, and I didn't like anesthetic from a past experience. They gave me the option to be put under at any time it I couldn't take it, but I found it fascinating. It's a little surreal to hear them grinding and hammering on your pelvis, but you don't feel any pain.
Good luck with the surgery.
Topic: Bilateral operation July 2015 (Read 13515 times)
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