Thanks for the intro grant
. JohnC here as predicted.
Hi bgoetke. I can share my experience as a skier. Like you, I am an instructor, teaching high level skiing 8 hours a day, seven days a week, for the past 49 years in Sun Valley. Also, like you, a racing background before I started teaching full time. Had my first hip resurfaced by Dr Gross 11 years ago, and the second one a year ago. Like you, my femoral size was right around 50, so I have a 48 on one side and a 50 on the other. As a skier, the results have been great. At 68, I do not hit the bumps as hard as I used to when I was competing, but powder, crud, and high speed carving on groomers are all going better than it has in many years. With both hips, I started skiing at exactly 6 months. In both cases I was able to go right back to skiing all conditions by the first day, and skied every day. I did have some soreness for the first two months on skis if I pushed it too hard for a day or two, but it always came right back after taking it easy for a day. With my first hip, I went on our annual heli-skiing trip up to Canada at 10 months, and with the second hip I went up at 8 months. No problem at 10 months, but at 8 months I had to take one day off after skiing too hard and jumping off too many drop-offs one day. I am not sure why, but my second hip recovered overall much faster than the first. The first one still had small residual issues out to about 18 months, and the second passed that same barrier in about 11 months. In the summer I surf, windsurf, and play tennis pretty much every day, and both hips feel great. We just returned to Maui for the summer, and I had the shocking experience of walking along the beach here this afternoon without any limp on either side, for the first time in at least 20 years; sure feels good.
As far as range of motion; I have not been flexible since my hips caused me to give up aggressive martial arts 30 years ago. My new hips have given me a pain free range of motion, but I would not say that I have anywhere close to the degree of range of motion I had when I was younger, but I think that is more due to overall age than the new hips. I can force my knee up to my chest if I am sitting on the edge of something, but it does not come close if I am laying flat on my back, probably just past 90.
Swinging my leg up over a bike or motorcycle was a real struggle. Now it is much easier, plus I no longer have hip pain during motorcycle or bike rides.
Both resurfacings cured the problem of the knees floating out to the side during flexion. When I rode a bike before resurfacing, my bad hips would flop out to the side with each peddle stroke; that is now completely fixed.
I cannot say that my resurfacings gave me the flexibility I had 30 years ago, but I can say that they allow me to do all of my sports essentially pain free for the first time since I was 40, and I am not aware of any compromise in performance caused by the hips (at 68, everything has a little compromise here and there).
As far as overall timing, I think that Dr Gross predicts it pretty well. Take it really easy for the first six weeks, start building back with the goal of returning gradually to sports at 6 months, unpredictable aches and pains for 10 to 18 months, and after that you forget that you have a resurfaced hip. Lots of room in there for personal variation, but Dr Gross's timeline is as close to average as a person can guess.