As with many others who contribute to, and read
along, on this site, I was progressively loosing function in one of
my hips over several years. By year end 2010 I has just about tried
everything that a Hong Kong resident could do to keep me running,
playing high level tennis, hiking. I have been a serious skier all
my life, but the last 2 years I packed this in due to a lack of
confidence as to whether I could get them around when it was steep
and deep.

I tried yoga, Japanese deep stretching, magnets, ultrasonic waves
directed at my hip, Chinese traditional pummeling. And pills. All of
these worked a bit, for a while. Two hours of singles tennis was
able to undo any of the benefits of all of the above. By January of
this year hill climbing in the Hong Kong hills was becoming more of
an exercise to prove to myself that I could essentially hop to the
top of Lion Rock Mountain on my “good” leg. January through May I
was playing tennis using a “floating” running technique, where the
time I placed weight on my right leg was very limited. Among other
outcomes, my right leg and glute were getting significantly smaller
than my left.

So now for the Hong Kong experience. I went to a highly regarded
orthopod in a private hospital who said he thought I needed
“decompression”………holes drilled into the femur head; 50/50
chance of success; six months recovery. He wanted to know if I was
an alcoholic. ( In China, most Westerners are a priori considered to
be alcoholics. I’m a Westerner but not an alcoholic). This Doc said
not much was understood about hip problems in Hong Kong since they
were relatively rare in the Asian population. I went to another
highly regarded orthopod in HK at another private hospital. He
looked at the x rays and said both hips looked arthritic, asked me
if I was an alcoholic, and told me that nobody in HK did much with
hips and I should go to the US or Canada and get it dealt with. This
seemed complicated given Canadian wait times and the apparent debate
in the US over methodologies and devices. I spoke to the leading hip
guy in Japan. He thought maybe he could scope the right hip, 50/50
chance of a good outcome, lengthy recovery, in Japan. Good food,
nice country. This also seemed complicated.

At about this time I heard of Dr. Jason Brockwell at Asia Medical
Specialists in Hong Kong. He is a youngish Englishman with 500 plus
BHR’s to his credit. He has some connection with Dr McMinn which he
maintains, having trained with Dr McMinn in Birmingham. Turns out Dr
Brockwell is the big hip guy in Hong Kong and also does hips for
patients in other parts of Asia, notably PRC. Brockwell presents as
a fairly typical high level surgeon who specializes in complex
procedures. He has a “top gun” personality and exudes confidence. He
took the usual 10 seconds with my x-rays and said BHR now or later,
your choice. I put up with more pain and more unhelpful therapies
for a few months and did the deed. Loosing the ability to walk tends
to very motivational.

My recovery has been typical of that described by others on this
site. Pain gone immediately, improvement everyday. It is, however, a
long recuperation, and the stories I read of others on this site who
claim to be running  marathons, etc, within weeks of surgery
make me wonder deeply about the human condition. My only set back
was, at week 5, I took a long walk using one crutch. The outcome was
a major problem with my back which I couldn’t shake and which
persisted for 5, yeah, 5, weeks. The overall recovery process I was
following was slowed and I wasn’t happy. (I had a “big” Ganz Lesion
removed and was told to cool it in terms of weight bearing for 3
months).

So, in conclusion, there are excellent hip resurfacing skills in
Hong Kong, at least in the person of Jason Brockwell. There are also
excellent physio therapy skills in HK, that come at a price. I chose
Physio Motion, as sports specialists and attended both before and
after the surgery. I had no real swelling, and, as I said earlier,
made progress every day. No one should skip the physio, whether you
can talk your insurer into paying for it or not. The final point I
would make to my fellow Hong Kong residents is, be skeptical when
your local Doc tells you you can’t get help in HK. How two of the
best would fail to mention an experienced surgeon like Jason
Brockwell is something that Jason might take up with his colleagues
when they meet on the golf course. Perhaps while he is holding a 7
iron.

Peter