Hip replacement questions?

[El Jason]

Went to see a sports physician to help me with hip stiffness. He ordered an x ray and a follow up. At the follow up today he told me he is referring me directly to an orthopedic surgeon for a consult. He said my x ray showed severe osteoarthritis.

Anyone here had a full replacement? What was the recovery like? How long did it take to regain full strength and mobility?

 

[antlerradar]

good luck
You are too young for that kind of crap.

 

[El Jason]

good luck
You are too young for that kind of crap.

It was a bit of a gut punch, and also why I put off going in.

 

[noharleyyet]

I've done both knees. L4-5, and the right hip...hip was a breeze Jason. Diligent PT is key. First up early morning, wife drove me home same afternoon, walked to my daughters house two days post cut for Easter Sunday lunch. Hunted elk in October. Easiest ortho yet...doing a reverse replacement on the right shoulder Aug 3. You'll do great...getting rid of that pain is a game changer.

 

[Nick87]

My old man has had both replaced. One in around 48 iirc and the other a few years later. I'll ask him about the details.

 

[thomas89]

Damn man, that sucks. I have heard from my mother who works with seniors (probably 75+), this surgery is one of the easier ones to recover from. Good luck, you got this!

 

[Gellar]

I’ve never had a broken bone, let alone a surgery but age is on your side. Like Harley said, go balls to the wall on the therapy and I bet you’ll be a new man.

 

[Hams42]

Granted I didn't get a replacement (thank goodness) but I had a labrum repair and a arthroscopy to reshape the joint and take off a bone tumor. That was seven weeks ago and I am feeling almost back to 100%. I biggest fear I had was replacement because of how young I was and the fact that they only last 10-20 years. I hope everything goes well for you.

 

[DFS]

It is crazy how fast people are up and walking after knee and hip replacements. Most of the people I talk to wish they would have done it sooner. The ones I have seen go south are due to infections because it is very hard to penetrate the joints with oral antibiotics.

 

[Bigjay73]

My 85 year old mom had hers done last week, already walking around with little discomfort. It's a big deal, but typically not a rough recovery. Knees are a 180 from hips.

 

[Bigjay73]

It is crazy how fast people are up and walking after knee and hip replacements. Most of the people I talk to wish they would have done it sooner. The ones I have seen go south are due to infections because it is very hard to penetrate the joints with oral antibiotics.

I wish I had done my knees sooner, but it was quite a while before I was pain free. It was a rough one for me, but I can be a pussy from time to time.

 

[Nick87]

It is crazy how fast people are up and walking after knee and hip replacements. M

Same day iirc.

 

[Treeshark]

Total hip arthoplasty is known as the “operation of the century” for good reason. It is an extremely successful surgery in a very high percentage of cases.

@El Jason- the “wait as long as you possibly can” advice from the old days is outdated. If you need it, and your hip is negatively impacting your life, get it done. You’ll probably be home that same day feeling better than you did before surgery.

PT is key. You’ll likely feel better than you really should, and will be tempted to do more than you should. Don’t do things beyond what they tell you to after the surgery.

 

[Treeshark]

Same day iirc.

Yep. I would guess 75% of patients undergoing a THA are home the same day nowadays.

 

[BenP]

I have two totally different stories. The first is my father in law just had his done in December and he has been pain free since it healed up by the end of January, recovery was a breeze and you can tell he is no longer in pain.

The other story is a friend I work and played golf with. He was in a car accident and had his hip replaced young, I believe in his 30s. Well a few years ago he was having a bunch of pain and found out there was a recall on his hip...and he was experiencing the reason why. Metal wear was causing it to break down and to get in his bloodstream. So he has now had it replaced again but they cut it too short and now that leg is shorter and he requires a platform on his shoe to compensate.

 

[DFS]

I have two totally different stories. The first is my father in law just had his done in December and he has been pain free since it healed up by the end of January, recovery was a breeze and you can tell he is no longer in pain.

The other story is a friend I work and played golf with. He was in a car accident and had his hip replaced young, I believe in his 30s. Well a few years ago he was having a bunch of pain and found out there was a recall on his hip...and he was experiencing the reason why. Metal wear was causing it to break down and to get in his bloodstream. So he has now had it replaced again but they cut it too short and now that leg is shorter and he requires a platform on his shoe to compensate.

Yes I have seen that as well but hopefully those days are behind us. Probably got a settlement of some sort I would hope. The people around here did not that that fixes things.

 

[jryoung]

My Dad had both his done and in both cases regretted noting doing it sooner. He was up and walking within 12 to 16 hours after surgery.

Across the orthopedic industry doctors are simply very good at body mechanic stuff now.....it really is basic standard of care for orthos.

If your looking to give yourself an advantage for recovery, look into HBOT.

We've had Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers (FDA cleared 2.0+ ATA) in our clinic for 2 years now, and have a number of orthos as well as plastic surgeons refer to us for post surgery recovery. It can be a pretty head start on recovery with just three to five treatments after surgery.

 

[Wildabeest]

Hips are the easiest and quickest recovery of all joint replacements, so long as you don’t have other complications beyond an arthritic joint that need to be addressed. I’ve not had one yet, but was told I’ll likely need one or two at some point.

I had an ankle replacement 1-1/2 years ago, along with associated ligament reconstruction, and that was a b*tch of a recovery. Just now getting back to where I can do some aggressive hiking.

Good luck with it and hope all goes well! My neighbor was out walking a day after her hip replacement.

 

[mtmuley]

I'm 60. This thread is not what I wanted to see. mtmuley