Pre-surgery advice | Welcome to HipRunner.com

Hi all, looking for some advice from people who knew well in advance that they’d need a hip replacement, please.

I’ve been running injured for the past year, all right leg problems. First my calf muscle seemed to stop working, then achilles problems, finally persistent weakness and pain around the knee.

Orthopaedic surgeon, x-rays, etc, turns out that the problem is my right hip. Replacement will be needed within 4-5 years at the outside. Key diagnosis terms are: degenerate femoral acetabular impingement with cysts in the femoral head and superior lateral acetabulum, large osteophytes inferiorly, dramatic restriction of movement of the right hip (20 degrees of internal rotation reduced to 10 degrees by mid-flexion and extension, 30 degrees of external rotation reduced to 20 degrees towards extension).

For those of you who also knew years in advance, what did you do about running? Less often and less far until surgery? Screw it, continue running until the hip’s well and truly knackered? Pilates, yoga? Surgeon recommended symmetrical activity – static exercise bike and rowing machine, both with very low resistance – but that barely qualifies as exercise, in addition to being extremely monotonous.

Feeling pretty demoralised, though finding this site and reading so many positive posts is helping. Never enjoyed going to the gym, no interest in team sports, and mostly detest tennis (decades of which probably caused the damage), so have to be able to run!

This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 2 months, 3 weeks ago by WedgeC.

Viewing 5 reply threads

Author
Posts
- June 15, 2023 at 1:49 am #20614
  JD
  Participant
  Hi all, looking for some advice from people who knew years in advance that they’d need a hip replacement, please. I’ve been running injured for the pa
  [See the full post at: Pre-surgery advice]
- June 15, 2023 at 3:43 am #20621
  OB
  Participant
  I guess I don’t understand why they want you to wait to have your hip replaced for another 4-5 years. Instead of suffering through the pain, I selected to have my left hip replaced as soon as possible so I could resume normal activities before it got too bad.
  That being said, with my right hip replacement a couple of years ago, I just couldn’t run so did allot of outdoor biking and pool swimming (I am a triathlete so there is always something to work on) until the hospital opened back up during the covid shutdown. That kept me more than fit and resulted in a very fast recovery.
  - This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by OB.
- June 15, 2023 at 4:51 am #20623
  JD
  Participant
  Thanks, OB. Yeah, I don’t really understand such advanced notice either and need to ask the consultant for clarification. I have no hip pain at the moment, but it is causing pain elsewhere in my leg, as well as being the reason why I haven’t been able to run properly for the past year. So I’m just expected to let it all get worse before surgery? Will have to think about getting it done sooner rather than later.
- July 2, 2023 at 8:34 am #20635
  dts439
  Participant
  I left my hip replacement far too long (it was a very slow degeneration) resulting a lot of muscle mass loss in the affected leg. I had no pain but I suffered from ever increasing mobility issues over a 10 year period and by the end was not able to walk 1/2 a mile without being exhausted
  My physio said that ideally pre-surgery I needed to go in with as much mobility as possible so that my recovery would be quicker, so earlier the surgery the better.
  In my case I made a full recovery of the replaced hip and started running after 6 months and after a year was running better than 7 years ago. However the last 6 months pre surgery (delayed by Covid) I was walking so badly I ended up slightly wearing my other hip. SO far its holding up and hindsight is wonderful
  Everyone is different of course.
  - July 5, 2023 at 1:16 am #20637
    JD
    Participant
    Thank you – particularly important point about having the surgery with as much mobility as possible. I’m going to get the replacement as soon as I can.
- July 8, 2023 at 11:58 am #20641
  Brent
  Participant
  Here’s my two cents – take it for what it’s worth. I had a THR on my right hip two years ago. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis nearly 8 years ago when I was 44. I was an ultra runner for many years. Long story short, before my surgery I made a conscious effort to alternate running with swimming, biking, and any other physical activity to mentally prepare for the change that would be inevitable. The sooner you get on board with the idea of adding swimming or biking or other low impact activities, the better off you will be mentally after your total hip replacement. Coming to terms with the idea of not running or not running as much as you used too simply takes time.
  As I mentioned, I am two years post surgery, (age 52) and I am very happy with the decision I made. I still run/walk one or two times a week, swim and bike on alternate days and throw in some strength training. The idea of prematurely wearing out the hardware makes me evaluate my choices any time I head out the door.
  I would encourage you to do extensive research on the pros and cons of running after THR and how it can affect your body. Keep in mind that even though the materials used now are extremely durable, there are still particles that wear off over time. That said your THR could last 30+ years or it could last 5-10 years depending on how much wear and tear you put on the device. And on top of this revisions are never that successful if you read any literature on the subject.
  From my point of view, I would put it off until you know it’s time. Believe me, you will know when it’s time because it literally will be too painful doing your daily activities and keep you up at night.
  Good luck with your decision!
- July 9, 2023 at 9:32 am #20642
  WedgeC
  Participant
  Hello JB, and my comments will be very similar to what OB and some others have said… That is “if you know it’s happening, why wait?“. However, I did not opt to do replacement surgery until I knew it had to be done. For me, that was when I had at least constant mild pain, affecting my sleep at night, and when any significant running effort produced significant pain. I dealt with discomfort sleeping at night and joint pain on the “7 out of 10 scale“ after moderately hard 45 minute runs for about a year and a half before I decided to do the THR surgery. That was 2.5 years ago on my left hip and a great decision! Now, as time has gone along, and I have been running pretty well, my right hip is starting to hurt more than it has in the past. Now I am not disparaging your comments about seeing your doc, getting the diagnosis and medical issues figured out, and then prognosticating a future surgical timeframe, however, I suppose I will need another hip replaced… Of course, I will see my doctor and have it x-rayed, but when the pain hits that point, and it is an inevitability, I will know!
Author
Posts