7 Weeks Post BHR Surgery

[Spangy]

Had my right hip BHRed on Jan 24.  My doc (not one of those frequently mentioned here) has done >2000 of these.  My only real issue with him is he downplayed the whole thing; “couple weeks on the cane and you’ll be fine.”  I was honestly a bit depressed until I found this site and resolved this was major surgery, I was recovering slowly and normally, and a couple weeks on the cane was BS.  Had a minor issue with spinal headaches while still in the hospital, misdiagnosed as a reaction to pain meds.  Otherwise I’d say things went well.  Just had my 6 week follow up and the “restrictions” lifted which means I can now work more ROM (maybe tie my shoes again some day).  I did find it interesting at my 6 week follow up my doc said “we don’t recommend running or jumping” which is odd since his selling point was “we have people running marathons on these”. I used to play soccer and run, took up biking and hiking; hadn’t planned to hit the pitch again but anyone else find the bait and switch a bit strange?  So...I have good days and not so good days...today is not so good as I have what I call “nervy” pain in the joint when walking which leads to a pretty good limp; I have this about 50% of the time and look forward to it going away for good. Worse than the nervy pain is the numb/stiff/sore ankle and outside of my shin which is better than week 1 but hangining in there.  I assume this is just pissed off nerves and pray that resolves over time also.  I had some plantar fasciitis in the right heel that was pretty well under control before the surgery but it came raging back afterwards, probably due to going barefoot too much.  The shin/ankle and PF sure don’t help with the limping.  Looking to join a gym for more variety in my rehab and hoping to be ready for the bike come spring!

[ArthriticHip]

Hi Spangy - It doesn't sound as if you had realistic expectations set for you prior to surgery. This is a MAJOR surgery, and in my opinion referring to it otherwise is a disservice to the patient. That's where having a forum like this is wonderful. I'm about a month behind you in my recovery. I had my left hip resurfaced by Dr Peter Brooks of the Cleveland Clinic on 2/26/18. Dr Brooks has the most conservative recovery process of any surgeon I've seen. I'm on crutches for 6 weeks with a 75% weight bearing restriction, regardless of how good I might feel. At my 6 week check up if all looks good I can get off the crutches and resume full weight bearing, with some pretty conservative activity restrictions for the upcoming year. I won't be able to do anything high impact, no running, jumping, lifting anything over 50 lbs, etc. Dr Brooks says that while the bone has healed enough to resume full weight bearing at 6 weeks, that the bone will CONTINUE to heal/strengthen for the upcoming year. He feels it's prudent to wait until the bone is as strong as it possibly can be before resuming high impact activities. If all looks good at the 1 year check up, all restrictions are off. Running, skiing, hockey...whatever.  Given all of the pain, time, effort that I'm putting into this surgery...I'm going to follow the Docs recommendations. My goal is to have this new joint 10,15, 20 years and if staying away from high impact activities for a few extra months improves the chances of a successful recovery, I'm all in. One thing you will see if you spend some time on this site is that there is a WIDE range of recovery experiences. Some, it seems, are ready to run a marathon after a few weeks, but many report seeing improvements a year after surgery. Stay positive. Dedicate yourself to the PT exercises your surgeon has given you. Good luck in your recovery.

[surratt]

I think this is simply a case of you didnt know exactly what you were getting into or didnt research it enough.  What helped me when I thought I wasnt healing fast enough was to go look at youtube videos of the actual procedure and watch him cut through all that muscle and start drilling on stuff... its insane how invasive and destructive it is to your body and i cant even comprehend how it works at all after surgery.  Also when he says not to run or jump i dont think he means forever, just during the healing process, at least that is the case for mine with Dr. Gross

[Saf57]

Yes, running and jumping is the whole point of getting resurfacing over a THR. Now, different doctors have different protocols as to when that can begin, but as far as I know, all experienced resurfacing surgeons permit(and even encourage) such activity.

[Spangy]

Thanks to All.  This site DEFINITELY adjusted my expectations.  Until I found it, all I was the superstar stories on YouTube. I just take things one day at a time, doing my exercises religiously...haven’t missed a single one since the surgery.  Good luck to you ArthriticHip and thank you for the insight.  Keep us updated on your progress!

[catfriend]

A doctor's idea of "fine" and your may not be the same. Recovery takes time, and it's an individual process. Some people heal faster, and others take more time. You're probably in the average time frame. I used a cane longer than two weeks. I agree that the nor running, etc. admonition is probably just in the short-medium term. Note how many posters on this forum are runners, or participate in other impact sports. Just seven weeks out is too soon. I remember that when I was released from 90 degree restrictions it didn't much matter because I still couldn't reach my foot to tie my shoes. If you're having specific movement issues you might consider seeing a physical therapist. Otherwise, don't worry, you will heal, and some months from now you'll be back at it wondering why you didn't have the surgery sooner.

[karlos.bell]

  Good on you Spangy.