New Member

AKrunner907

Hi everybody, I’m Chris and new here. A couple of weeks ago (three?) I went in to a local sports med Dr (He is quite good)to have to my left hip examined because of extreme pain, he diagnosed me with hip dysplasia and told me I needed THR surgery. The X-rays were all the evidence I needed, nearly all of the cartilage in my left hip is gone and the bleach white of my bones showed the obvious contact points of the femur ball contacting lower down on my pelvis toward the pubic. I am an ultra runner, I’ve been running most of my life with the usual gaps of disinterest when I would become involved in other sports like, rock climbing, mountain climbing, ice climbing etc. I returned to running in 2014 and found a life in the ultra running scene in 2016. I’ve since ran in a slough of ultra’s from 50k up to 100 miles.

Last year in October of 2019 I was running in the Javelina Jundred 100 mile trail race about 50 miles in I began having hip pain, grinding, aching debilitating hip pain. Pain was shooting down my leg to my knee. I was slowed to a speed walk and by the time I reached 80 miles I had missed the final time cutoff and dropped from the race. I took the winter off thinking I could recover with rest. It did help and when covid struck I found myself out of work and my health insurance at risk of not getting paid I decided to forgo the Dr appointment, my hip felt ok again, no rush. I ran through spring and summer and the pain gradually returned, after my longer runs over 20 miles I would have to be inactive for a couple of days afterwards until the pain subsided and run again.

This process came to a head in early September, I couldn’t handle the pain any more and stopped running. Finally I got off my butt and went and saw a Dr, and now you are all caught up. I’m going to schedule the surgery after the new year in January when my health insurance renews so I don’t pay twice on the deductible.

After being told I won’t be able to run again I spent about 10 days dealing with the emotional backlash (I suffer with depression) basically crying in the fetal position on the couch. The I began coming out of my darkness and started researching options and post surgery running. I have several friends who have had THR and are back to running ultra’s, they said that if you get the right hip prosthetic you can return to running as long as your bone quality can accept the prosthetic. I have my second meeting with my Dr next week to begin the process leading to surgery. I trust his evaluation, but not his opinion regarding not being able to run again and this will be a topic during the appointment.

Any advice you all can give me would be appreciated regarding the type of hip and materials. Also I’m trying to find a good PT that is familiar with recovery for runners. Wow this post got long, sorry about that!

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    • December 3, 2020 at 10:51 am #19105
      AKrunner907
      Participant

      Hi everybody, I’m Chris and new here. A couple of weeks ago (three?) I went in to a local sports med Dr (He is quite good)to have to my left hip exami
      [See the full post at: New Member]

    • December 7, 2020 at 11:19 am #19106
      boiledpeanut
      Participant

      Hi Chris,

      Sorry you’re going through this. I had a hard time wrapping my head around a major joint failing too.

      I’m 10 weeks post op anterior on my left hip. My implant is titanium with ceramic. My surgeon only offered anterior approach as it’s been his preferred method for the past decade. He knew I plan on being active and it’s the implant he thought would suit me best.

      My suggestion is to have conversations with a few surgeons and go with the one with the most experience and you feel most comfortable/confident in. I met with three surgeons and each had a different response to me getting back to running and playing basketball (happy to go into more detail here but it’s not ecessary to answer your question).

      My suggestions are to get your body, house and mind ready. Ramp PT as much as possible now (glutes, quads and hip flexors). Buy an elevated toilet seat with handles, a leg lifting strap, a walker (my hospital gave me one) and a pillow designed to go between your legs. Remember that everyone’s response to a major surgery is different. I spent the first four days mentally beating myself up because I had a tough time in PT, took lots of pain meds while others only needed small amounts, etc.

      Don’t let that last part scare you – I’ve been feeling great since I “turned the corner” and plan to start mixing in short bursts of light running with my walks in exactly 11 days.

      Feel free to ask any questions.

      Best,
      Jonathan

      • December 20, 2020 at 9:39 am #19153
        AKrunner907
        Participant

        Thank you Johnathon. I haven’t gotten my surgery date yet, but I’m meting with him January 5th. It could have been sooner but I wanted to wait until after the new year, I upgraded my insurance policy to lower my premium and it doesn’t take effect until after the new year. I’m probably going to be staying at a hotel that I work at, we have handicap rooms that would be perfect for me. My home home is terrible for recovery, stairs to everywhere and raising the toilet isn’t an option. Physically I’ve been strength training my upper body ever since I stopped running in September because I was bored from not running and I started strengthening my hip flexors an glutes after my first Dr’s appt. Trying to get as prepared as possible, thank you!

    • December 7, 2020 at 1:27 pm #19107
      Brian
      Participant

      Hi Chris, the mental part is hard to prepare for. I’m 6 weeks post-op, posterior with titanium/ceramic. This site has really been a huge lift for me, almost like group therapy. Jonathan puts it well, and I’m sure just about everyone here will say the same thing, that everyone’s journey is different, but when you do “turn the corner” it makes it all worth it.

      I started throwing in a couple of 20 to 30 second slow jogs with my walks last week – almost function running, barely leaving the ground, but even that little bit was enough to make me feel like I’ll be back running again someday soon. With my surgeon, I flat-out told him not to tell me what I couldn’t do, so he asked what I wanted to do. Run, coach and play football with 10 year-old son, downhill ski and he said “go for it” on all of them. I think he did say layoff the moguls and don’t jump off any cliffs for the downhill part :).

      The things Jonathan lists above are really helpful – especially the raised toilet seat. I’d add a hip ice pack/wrap to the list. I bought mine off amazon and it made icing, which I did a ton of, much easier. I iced from hip to knee several times a day for the first three weeks.

      Please don’t hesitate to ask lots of questions, that is why we all came to this site!

      Brian

      • December 21, 2020 at 12:57 pm #19158
        AKrunner907
        Participant

        Thank you for the information, I live in a dry cabin in the middle of Alaska. They are quite common up here actually, to answer that question but I have an outhouse and steps up to my cabin since it’s elevated to avoid the deep snow in winter. Also have stairs to the bedroom and to the outhouse. Planning on staying at a hotel I work at that has handicap rooms available, it’s also right across the street from a quick care if I have any issues. I’d forgotten about the ice pack, a friend told me about it on Amazon, thanks for the reminder! You guys have so much invaluable information, thank you so much!

    • December 9, 2020 at 12:33 pm #19112
      OB
      Participant

      Hi Chris – I am 5 months post op posterior THR. I would suggest if you are also a biker to do that prior to your hip surgery to get in good shape without the pounding. As mentioned above…prep for the surgery is important to your recovery. I am running easy at about 3 miles per day plus bike training three times a week and swim training three times per week…waiting for that spring triathlon. Don’t attempt to run until at least past four months to give the bone the opportunity to secure around the new post. I also got the titanium post and ceramic ball. My doctor said i won’t wear it out and it is a much bigger socket so can support running.

      Let your hip and pain be the guide as everyone is different. The first two weeks will be uncomfortable until the staples are removed and flexibility will be slow to return. I am guessing at six months I will feel normal but at 12 to 18 will be fully back….good luck!

      • December 21, 2020 at 1:02 pm #19159
        AKrunner907
        Participant

        I use to race bikes back in the day but not anymore and no longer have a bike. All my money is going towards the coming medical bills and everything outside of the medical bills including being out of work for a while. Sounds like I need to just be patient, bite the bullet and let the natural progression of healing take place so I don’t damage the implant or cause other issues. My body hates that but my brain is in charge right now lol.
        Thank you!

    • December 10, 2020 at 7:54 am #19118
      Brian
      Participant

      Hi Chris, I had my 6-week post-op meeting with my surgeon this week and he told me the little bit of function “running” I’m doing is fine, but wants me to wait until the 3-month mark to start actual jogging/running . As OB mentioned, it is related to making sure the bone grows around the titanium rod enough that it doesn’t come loose. He knows how much I want to get back to running and is asking me to be patient, to look at the long-game and not what my brain (and body) needs in the short-term.

      Good luck and keep us posted!

      Brian

      • December 21, 2020 at 1:05 pm #19160
        AKrunner907
        Participant

        Brian thank you for reaching out. Sounds like from what I’m seeing, I should expect to spend 3-6 months of gradual activity to strengthen the hip and muscles before getting back into running, depending on how well I’m healing and how general recovery/rehab goes. Thank you! I’ll keep in touch, I meet with my surgeon for the first time on January 5th to go over everything, my wants, expectations, his expectations, implant info all that stuff. I’ll keep you all informed on the progress.

    • December 14, 2020 at 10:04 pm #19123
      Hip Brother Tom
      Keymaster

      Hi Chris,
      The first thing you will find after surgery is the old hip pain is gone. As the days progress that pain will be replaced by the less pronounced pain of the recovering surgery site. I started running at about 3 months but it took me close to a year and a half until I was back in racing shape. Now 8 years later I am still enjoying the benefits of running ….. my primary fitness activity. Keep your head up, stay optimistic and look past these initial days to when you’ll be running strong again!

    • December 14, 2020 at 10:04 pm #19124
      Hip Brother Tom
      Keymaster

      Hi Chris,
      The first thing you will find after surgery is the old hip pain is gone. As the days progress that pain will be replaced by the less pronounced pain of the recovering surgery site. I started running at about 3 months but it took me close to a year and a half until I was back in racing shape. Now 8 years later I am still enjoying the benefits of running ….. my primary fitness activity. Keep your head up, stay optimistic and look past these initial days to when you’ll be running strong again!

      • December 20, 2020 at 9:51 am #19155
        AKrunner907
        Participant

        I can’t imagine what it would be like to run pain free, heck I can’t imagine what it would be like to sleep pain free and not woken up every 2 hours because my body position caused hip pain. I am in so much pain all the time, I just want the hip fixed, I miss my active life, I miss being able to walk without limping and having pain erupt from my hip when I happen to step wrong. I’m so ready for surgery, it’s afterwards that scares me, all of the little things, getting home from the hospital is a 7 hour drive and because of Covid there are no flights. Staying someplace that is rehab friendly, all the little things are adding up. I’m staying positive but man there is a lot to think about!

    • December 15, 2020 at 6:26 pm #19130
      Dave Whiteside
      Participant

      Hi Chris, I’m looking forward to running a 100 mile race with you some time in the future. It can be done and you can still be competitive. Biggest challenge is to listen to your body and work out what works for you, that may also change over time. Learn to adapt and take what you can. Take your time, enjoy 3 months off and just go slow the first year, then start to explore what’s possible. I hope you enjoy your journey as much as I have mine. Dave.

      • December 20, 2020 at 9:45 am #19154
        AKrunner907
        Participant

        Dave thank you! I’m missing racing so bad and not being able to run has been torture. Going from running 60+ miles a week to zero overnight has been devastating. With all of the races cancelled this year that helped a little mentally knowing that there was nothing out there anyway. But this is the time I would begin ramping up for training for those early spring races. I’ll feel better once I see my Dr in a few weeks and get a surgery date, with the ball moving I’ll feel better knowing there is a finish line and not sitting in limbo like I am right now. I look forward to running with you!

    • January 5, 2021 at 2:15 pm #19204
      DougErickson82264
      Participant

      This is more of a rant than a comment. I, too, was told by the first orthopedic surgeon I saw that I would never run again after getting my hip replaced. For the life of me, I don’t understand why doctors continue to say this, especially with all of the evidence to the contrary, on this site alone. It’s so counter-productive. Why take away all hope? Shouldn’t doctors want to encourage physical activity and mental health? For many of us, running has been a balm that has gotten us through rough patches. Shouldn’t doctors want their patients going into surgery with an optimistic attitude, not devastated and depressed? After the surgeon told me I’d never run again, I asked follow-up questions, like, “Well, what will I be able to do?” A lot, of course, including hiking. When I asked how far I could hike, he said unlimited miles. I asked, “Like 30 a day?” He said, “Sure.” He never asked about the terrain or how heavy my backpack would be. How can hiking 30 miles with a heavy backpack up and down mountains be OK, but running a couple of miles on grass not be? It makes no sense. Fortunately, the second surgeon I saw — and the one who did my hip replacement three months ago — supports a return to running. I will wait a couple more months before trying, but just the possibility that I will be able to run again, even a little, is inspiring. That’s all I wanted.

      • January 5, 2021 at 5:25 pm #19205
        Dave Whiteside
        Participant

        Hi Doug, I hear you and agree. So many people are given misinformation rather than encouragement and advice. At least Tom had the foresight to create this group to help you and others.

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