Is recovery any different after a bilateral THR?

malcolmw

Hi everyone,

I had a bilateral THR on 7th Jan 2020, at the age of 57, so 8 1/2 months in now. Bone on bone impingement in both hips plus osteo arthritis, could still compete in veteran’s races up to 4oom last year, but **** painful by the end of the races!

Intent is to get back to competitive running (at least at some level), fully supported by my consultant. Ceramic on ceramic uncemented (which I’m assuming is the same as unglued), so was under strict instructions not to run for 3 – 4 months after the op to allow the bone to grow into the implants. I started a 2 month “couch to 5k” course (does that exist in the US?) at the beginning of May, and have gradually built up the running since. Now up to 15 – 20 mile / week, maximum distance of 6 mile. Still slow, although the sprinting capability is coming back faster than the endurance running (much to the disgust of the athletes I coach, when I can now outsprint them during track sessions!).

First race in a year on Saturday, 5k on the road up in the Olympic Park in East London. Hoping to go under 28 minutes, but we’ll have to see how it goes.

Anyone out there also had both hips done at the same time? If yes, how has your recovery gone? I still get muscle soreness after exercise, but reading the other posts on here, that is not uncommon for anything up to 12 – 18 months after THR.

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    • September 23, 2020 at 9:20 am #18889
      malcolmw
      Participant

      Hi everyone, I had a bilateral THR on 7th Jan 2020, at the age of 57, so 8 1/2 months in now. Bone on bone impingement in both hips plus osteo arthrit
      [See the full post at: Is recovery any different after a bilateral THR?]

    • September 25, 2020 at 1:53 am #18894
      Petemeads
      Participant

      Hi Malcolm, welcome here!

      I’m just up the road from you in Leicester with a Birmingham resurfacing from 2014 and a ceramic THR like yours from 2017 so I can’t comment on the simultaneous bilateral replacement recovery aspect, and I don’t think I have seen anyone else on this site mention having both done together. There are several people on SurfaceHippy who have had both hips done at the same time or a couple of days apart, initial recovery is difficult but you only have to do it once… Not sure how many of them have gone back to running. My surgeon assured me I would not break my THR so I jogged my first 5k at 6 weeks then continued with parkruns every Saturday after that. Only just started on running longer and slower this last year trying to build fitness for the mountains, cautious because the Birmingham hip is metal on metal and will eventually wear whereas the ceramic is almost indestructible (although a friend has just had one shatter, probably as a result of a small fall).
      It sounds like you have done everything according to the book so should be able to run faster and further as your soft bits finish repairing – good luck at the weekend!

      Pete

    • September 26, 2020 at 12:50 pm #18897
      malcolmw
      Participant

      Thanks Pete.

      26:39 today for 5k, in windy conditions, so very pleased! That’s just 6 seconds slower than my last road 5k in August 2019. Hips are fine, muscles are sore but that’s probably to be expected.

      Malcolm

    • September 27, 2020 at 9:05 am #18898
      Petemeads
      Participant

      Well done! 26:24 for me, a minute slower than last 2 weeks but Garmin seemed to think it was a better run (lower HR I guess). A very steady 19k along the canal today so back to biking for the next couple of days – share the aches and pains out more evenly… Keep up the good work!

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