Hi all,
Just wanted to post an update for others interested in a recovery timeline. I’m 51 and had a right THR just over 8 1/2 months ago (8/2/21). My surgeon used ceramic ball with a CrossLinked Poly (CoP) cup. Prior to this I was an ultra runner so I knew recovery would take some patience.
Week 1
Recovery went as well as expected. First week I focused on allowing the swelling to come down – lots of icing and very short walks. Didn’t need a crutch or walker after the first week. Mostly used it for piece of mind that my hip wouldn’t suddenly give way going up and down the stairs.
Weeks 2-6
I concentrated on slowly building up my walking speed. Just focusing on my stride. Thankfully, my surgeon did an outstanding job as I didn’t have any leg discrepancies. I continued to ice after walks as some days it would be fairly sore. I think around week 3 or 4 the stitches came out which felt like such a relief.
Weeks 7-11
At about week 7 I was back in the pool, on the bike and elliptical. Around week 10 or 11 my hip started to feel somewhat normal. I wasn’t as pensive about putting weight on it. Started speeding up my walks – getting in about 3-5 miles a day. Glad I did it in the beginning of the fall as it was great walking weather. Winter in Minnesota is brutal otherwise.
Weeks 12 – present
For the past 5 months I’ve focused on building up my walking speed to roughly a 13:30 min/mile. That’s if I’m alternating some slow shuffles into the mix. I make sure to alternate with swimming and biking to allow the hip to rest. I also threw in a few days of cross country skiing as well and that felt pretty good.
So my big takeaway from all of this is to be patient. Honestly, I’m trying not to run until I’m at least 10 – 12 months from the surgery. From all my research the key take away is to allow for “in-growth” (allowing the hardware to meld with your bones as much as possible). I know there are many others on this board that also waited – I think that’s wise.
Time will tell how everything works out. I look forward to running again in the somewhat near future. In the meantime, if anyone has thoughts to share on when they started back to running I’m all ears.
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