Question for HipRunner Community | Welcome to HipRunner.com

I had a total hip replacement back in March 2018 (age 67, left hip, anterior approach, ceramic on polyethylene). Recovery was surprisingly easy and I was back to gym workouts within 2-3 weeks. I now am back to “pre-hip pain” intensity and duration workouts on stairs, rowing and elliptical workout machines. I also have full “pre-hip pain” range of motion with my operated hip.

Prior to hip pain I was a daily runner, running 20-30+ miles per week. While I definitely miss running, it is my understanding that basically every orthopedic hip surgeon is at best negative about running after hip surgery. While the best medical data does not definitely suggest that running will lead to the need for early hip revision surgery, there is also no strong evidence to the contrary.

I also believe that hip revision surgery is substantially more involved and has much greater risks than first time hip surgery.

While I would love to run again as I near the 1 year anniversary of my surgery, I find myself questioning whether it is really worth the risk.

Would be interested in others thoughts about this “to run” or “not to run” issue. Have also asked my surgeon for any updated studies addressing the risks of post-THR running.

This topic has 7 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 7 months ago by wkstevens.

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- January 2, 2019 at 3:15 pm #14566
  wkstevens
  Participant
  I had a total hip replacement back in March 2018 (age 67, left hip, anterior approach, ceramic on polyethylene). Recovery was surprisingly easy and I
  [See the full post at: Question for HipRunner Community]
- January 3, 2019 at 11:48 pm #14569
  Petemeads
  Participant
  Hi WK – I’m 68, just, and had my ceramic/ceramic THR right hip operation in May 17. My surgeon was attempting to fit a Birmingham resurfacing device but my femoral head broke off… He reckoned that I would be able to do everything I used to (run, climb, bike etc) with the THR. So I was jogging slowly at 5 weeks and have run 60-odd 5k races since. However, ceramic on ceramic will not wear out in my time – maybe there is more chance of wearing crosslinked polythene but slipping a new liner into the cup surely cannot be a difficult operation. What makes for a difficult revision is removing the stemmed piece from the femur, that should never be necessary unless you actually break the femur is an accident (like my friend who fell off his bike – and he is still biking). Worth checking with your surgeon about liner replacement if you are worried but I reckon you should get at least 15 years of activity out of your current setup.
  My BHR left hip is doing well at 4 years, this is metal/metal and will wear but people are getting 20+ years so far so no worries!
  Hope this helps,
  Pete
- January 4, 2019 at 4:46 pm #14570
  Hip Brother Tom
  Keymaster
  Hi WK!
  We are all 1 big GRAND experiment aren’t we? It is understandable for you to be cautious and I wouldn’t want to encourage you to proceed ahead whole heartedly if you weren’t feeling completely comfortable about it. I would recommend that you look at the training logs at this link (http://hiprunner.com/?page_id=2755) and see how the Hip Runners on Strava are doing. This site has been up since 2012 and so far, I have not heard of a single hip failure due to running. Best wishes to you in the new year!
  Hip Brother Tom.
- January 5, 2019 at 8:45 am #14572
  wkstevens
  Participant
  Greatly appreciate the feedback Petemeads and Hip Brother Tom! I have my 1 year exam coming up and will discuss all with my surgeon. It surprises me that more comprehensive studies of THR wear have not been done given how many of us have had this surgery; I guess studies of this type take time. I do enjoy reading all of the training logs and am impressed with the willingness of you all to be a part of Tom’s GRAND experiment. Suspect I too will become a hiprunner (if only a few times per week on the beach) after my 1-year exam.
  Thanks again for the responses and advice!
- January 5, 2019 at 2:12 pm #14576
  Clayton Harrier
  Participant
  Am having a LTHR in April 19 it’s a ceramic on ceramic I am 56 a regular 15 mile a week runner for five years until recently when the pain became too much. Just wondered why I have been given a C on C is there any reason why we have different types cheers
- January 5, 2019 at 5:38 pm #14577
  wkstevens
  Participant
  Clayton it is my understanding that while ceramic on ceramic hip replacements are common in Europe they are much less so in the US. My surgeon at U California San Diego would not even consider doing ceramic on ceramic. His claim was that it is possible (though presumably very unlikely) for C on C devices to shatter which can be disastrous since the pieces can be hard to find and extract. It sounded like he had done some difficult C on C revisions.
  I believe that the advantage of C on C THRs is that wear rates are likely to be very low making running after surgery less risky than for the ceramic on polyethylene THR I have.
  Note that I am not a surgeon and I am just repeating what my surgeon told me. Going into surgery, I actually wanted to do ceramic on ceramic since I wanted to run after surgery, but I ended up taking my surgeon’s advice. Hope this is useful info.
  The good news is that most/all of us having this surgery end up with an excellent outcome! Good luck in April…
- January 27, 2019 at 11:32 am #14744
  Dave Whiteside
  Participant
  Run, run and then run some more. I’ve been running around 2,000 miles each year for the last 5 years and so far everything is great. Not to say I haven’t had injuries but they’ve been down to overuse and not cross training enough. You’ll love it and you won’t regret it.
  - February 10, 2019 at 5:10 pm #14801
    wkstevens
    Participant
    Dave, I greatly admire your willingness to run big-time miles after a total hip replacement! As long as you “listen to your hip” I’m sure things will work out for you; I am truly envious.
    For me, at age 67, I’ve pretty much decided to listen to my surgeon and stick with stairs, elliptic, and rowing for my primary cardio exercise. I supplement this with hiking, golf and walking. I have decided not to risk the possible need for early THR revision surgery (which my surgeon advises me is a different ballgame than a normal first-time anterior THR).
    I’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines (i.e. in the gym vs. on the road/track) and look forward to hearing more of your running exploit stories!
    All the best…
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