Hip Replacement - Any Experiences?

[tincaman]

I am awaiting a THR, I can cycle ok, but getting on the turbo involves a set of short steps. The bike is mounted higher than normal, it would be impossible to get on otherwise

 

[Pale Rider]

Looks like this is on the cards for me too. I've read a lot online, and one aspect that puzzles me is regarding bike position during rehab. Advice often says raise the saddle - I don't see how you can do this if your saddle is at the correct height anyway? Also the angle of torso to leg not less than 90' at top dead centre. I'll need to raise my bars and shorten my stems a lot to achieve this, in fact it might not be possible on a couple of my bikes. Will I eventually be able to ride in as aero a position after rehab as I do now or am I going to be faced with getting rid of my existing bikes? How easy is it to get on a bike on a turbo?

My experience.

Limited movement in the hip for the first few weeks after replacement - no chance of cycling during that time.

I was then able to clamber carefully on an exercise bike and do some spinning.

The biggest problem with getting back on an ordinary bike was mounting it.

I had to drop the bike close to the ground to get my leg over the cross bar.

No problems with pedalling.

I ride flat bar bikes in an upright position, but I doubt you will have any problems adopting an aero position provided you don't try it too soon after the replacement.

 

[Asa Post]

My THR was on 25th November this year. Fully cemented, and so capable of taking my full weight straight away.
Walking on crutches next day.
Out of hospital the day after that.
I was given a pair of crutches, but realised after two days at home that I only needed one. After two weeks, I decided my trusty walking (hiking) stick was enough. When I saw the Physio on 9th December, he OK'd that. I'm pretty close to not needing any support at all, but will carry on with the stick until I see him again.

I was told to sleep on my back, but I can't. I might _fall_ asleep like that, but I wake up in all sorts of positions. The leg aches much more when I'm laid in bed than it does when I'm up and about. Even with painkillers, getting a good night's sleep is difficult.

I do the exercises as prescribed, three times a day.
I started walking outside with a half-mile trip round the block. I don't go every day, because some days I feel wiped out. Apparently that's a fairly common reaction to the operation.
I'm building the distance each time I go, and now I'm up to 3 miles.

I asked the Physio about riding on the turbo and was told NO! But he also said that when I see him again on 4th January he'll try me on the exercise bike, and if I manage it without difficulty he'll approve some light spinning .
His idea of "light" might not be the same as mine .

 

[youngoldbloke]

Thanks for the information. How bad had things got before you were referred for THR? I get most pain now when cycling - having increased cycling when walking became a difficult way of exercising. Day to day living not too bad, but pain sets in earlier and earlier. Today I had to abandon a club ride after less than 5 miles. Mind I've had chronic hip pain for 20 years or so - only recently have x rays finally shown damage - prior to that it was thought to be a muscle problem, and I can't remember when I last had a pain free night. Cycling was the only pain free activity, but not any more .

 

[Pale Rider]

Thanks for the information. How bad had things got before you were referred for THR? I get most pain now when cycling - having increased cycling when walking became a difficult way of exercising. Day to day living not too bad, but pain sets in earlier and earlier. Today I had to abandon a club ride after less than 5 miles. Mind I've had chronic hip pain for 20 years or so - only recently have x rays finally shown damage - prior to that it was thought to be a muscle problem, and I can't remember when I last had a pain free night. Cycling was the only pain free activity, but not any more .

I was in a fair old state before replacement.

Constant pain and I could barely walk across a room - it was a glimpse of a lifestyle I didn't fancy.

The delay was due to my need to lose weight.

The consultant was entirely right about that, the extra lard multiplies the risk of infection or something else going wrong many times.

Most ops go well and the results are good.

You will likely be all but free of pain, and your mobility will be restored to very close to pre-knackered hip levels.

I found rehab fascinating.

To start with, I could barely hobble on two crutches and a kerb looked like a mountain.

Yet within a week or so I was clipping along for a few hundred metres no bother at all.

Then it's one crutch, then I could get in the car, then I could drive it, then I could do the exercise bike, then ride a proper bike.

All within two or three months.

You really have no need to worry about the type of bike or riding position, I'm sure that by the time you are ready to ride, you will be able to ride whatever you have.

 

[Asa Post]

Thanks for the information. How bad had things got before you were referred for THR? I get most pain now when cycling - having increased cycling when walking became a difficult way of exercising. Day to day living not too bad, but pain sets in earlier and earlier. Today I had to abandon a club ride after less than 5 miles. Mind I've had chronic hip pain for 20 years or so - only recently have x rays finally shown damage - prior to that it was thought to be a muscle problem, and I can't remember when I last had a pain free night. Cycling was the only pain free activity, but not any more .

I broke the top off the femur in 2012 - fell off the bike . Prior to that, I was a perfect physical specimen.
The repair to the hip seemed to have worked, but in Spring 2015 I started getting increasing pain and reduced range of movement. I saw the GP in August. I could only walk with a stick, and half a mile felt like a long, long way. I couldn't put my sock on without using a puller. I could barely reach lower than my knee and lifting the bad leg more than a couple of inches off the ground was a struggle. I could drive, as long as I could stand the pain of getting into and out of the car. I could ride the bike on the turbo, but the pain stopped me leaning forwards enough to reach the brakes so I daren't ride on the road. Pedalling was rarely painful, and then only for the first couple of minutes.
At the first appointment (in October), the consultant diagnosed necrosis (caused by inadequate blood supply to the top of the femur) which had softened the bone and then caused arthritis. It was progressing quickly and the joint was on the point of collapsing. He said he would operate as soon as possible. That turned out to be five weeks later.
The pain now is less than before the op, and feels different. That was a bone pain caused by movement - sudden and sharp, but now it's more like sore muscles. Walking is fine. I'm not yet allowed to try to bend more than 90 degrees at the hip, so I still can't put my sock on without help. I can manage my underpants and trousers though, so things are improving.

 

[Alex H]

Just to update - the deed was done on 17th Dec. She is walking the corridor every hour - about 100m each time (it's a long corridor ), but still needs help with dressing, showering etc.

The biggest problem so far is sleeping. Instructions from hospital are to sleep on the back, but as my wife has arthritis in her spine at the top, this is difficult. So she only gets minimal sleep, say 4 hours, due to the pain of being on her back all the time. And of course as I have to help getting her in / out of bed, the same applies to me

How do you stop yourself crossing your legs if you sleep on your side?

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

How do you stop yourself crossing your legs if you sleep on your side?

I used to go to sleep with a pillow between my legs to help prevent this.

Hated having to sleep on my back, felt like being on a long-haul airline flight in cattle class.

As has been mentioned many times previously, do the exercises they give you religiously! This is absolutely vital for a speedy recovery or in fact, recovery at all. They gave me a small booklet detailing all of the recommended exercises. As soon as I was able, I was doing twice the number of reps suggested.

Had mine replaced 2 years ago and now often forget I have an artificial hip.

Best of luck

Graham

 

[hopless500]

My mum and grandmother have both had a hip replaced. Neither cycle but mum is a walker. On the whole she does pretty much what she used to. Recovery time for both of them was very quick, but they made sure they did the exercises recommended to them.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Now having trouble cycling even 5 miles ..... Having fallen foul of the local NHS orthopaedic triage system - not enough pain, too fit to be considered, etc etc. had to get a private opinion - suspected labral tear. MRI required. To be continued ......

 

[Cubist]

Oo, where do I start?
In late 2011 I started to experience pain and difficulty lifting my right leg over the saddle. Towards the end of that year I went to the GP who diagnosed some lack of mobility in the hip and referred me to a "young hip" specialist. I was in my mid 40s. I was diagnosed with a cam impingement of the hip, or FAI. Basically the neck of the femur is or has become out of shape, and the neck of the femur grinds cartilage out of the hip joint. I was told that there was no need to replace the hip at that stage due to my age. I set about simply managing the pain using paracetamol and ibuprofen, and after a while the pain increased so much that I needed codeine ( we tried Tramadol.... No thanks!). I hid it from work because I didnt want to be written off at that stage, and my duties didn't include hours walking or standing around.

Eventually inwent back to the GP. I was struggling to sleep and had started to limp. I could still cycle for miles, but walking left me sore and needing to recover for significant periods of time. I was referred to a specialist in Harrogate who had pioneered a surgical procedure to reshape the neck of the femur and clear debris out of the socket. Unfortunately his x rays showed that my cartilage was now completely gone, and the procedure would be unsuccessful. I was offered steroid injections to manage the pain, but declined after reading up on it.

That was early 2013. At that stage there wasn't much sign of osteoarthritis, so I continued with the pain relief and all that comes with a constant diet of codeine. Over the next year or so the pain fluctuated between the occasional twinge and hours of agony. I still hadn't really told work about it, but my line manager noticed me grimacing on a couple of occasions, and the codeine was starting to affect my concentration. I therefore started to consider revisiting the prospect of a THR, but before I got round to it I had my fall on the Manchester Llandudno ride.

In that fall I broke my clavicle, a comminuted fracture requiring plating, and suffered a degloving injury on my right hip, just over the IT band. The degloving resulted in a Morel Levallee lesion, a pocket of necrotic fluid between the tissue layers. X Rays and an MRI scan of my pelvis show inflammation of the pubic symphesis and concerning levels of bone spur growth in the hip socket. The pain is becoming more and more unmanageable and my consultant will replace the hip, but cannot operate until the lesion is cleared up. The clavicle has become stable, but the repair is refusing to calcify, and so I must wait until those two factors are cleared up before the hip can be replaced.

I haven't worked my full role since April last year, and the consultant thinks the lesion may take up to 12 months to settle enough for him to operate. That takes us, potentially to April before I can even get on his list. I retire in summer 2017, and there's every chance I won't be fit again for work before then. I work from home on administration tasks and project work, but the levels of pain meds makes that pretty hit and miss in terms of quality and satisfaction, so yesterday I was assessed again, and its likely I'll be pensioned off early as a result. I just want my life back.

 

[Alex H]

We think we have cracked the sleeping problem . Mrs H suggested using 4 pillows to prop her up, recumbent style - something she dredged up from her time as a nurse. It worked - we had 7 hours sleep last night with only 1 wee break.

Reading @Cubist above, we have had no problem with Tramadol (everyone is different, I guess) but Xarelto, given to thin the blood, gave us one night of panic. Mrs H's blood pressure went to 189/90 with a resting pulse of 110

I was so concerned I phoned SAMU (equivalent of emergency services here) who passed me to an English speaking doctor. After an hour it was on it's way down and back to normal by morning. We went to see our GP and he agreed with us and told us to stop using it and go back on the injections she was having.

On the bike front as Mrs H has osteoarthritis in her spine and shoulders, we have difficulty on the current tandem on trips of more than 30km.
So we're going to try a Hase Pino (again). There will be no pressure on her arms or neck in the recumbent position.

 

[Dave 123]

Mrs Daves uncle used to drive milk tankers in South Devon, in and out of the cab all day long as farms are close to one another down there.

He had his hip done 15 years ago and has always been right as rain since!

 

[tincaman]

After my original date of August the 13th least year came and went due to some NHS technical errors with the scans, I had a THR on the 10th of March.
I am now home and in the recovery phase.
The implant I have is non cemented so I have been told that I will be on crutches for 6 weeks as I am only allowed partial weight bearing on that time.
Currently, apart from the physio exercises I am able to do three 100 metre walks a day on the flat, there's no way I would be able to put full weight on it anyway, that would be too painful

 

[tincaman]

Less than 4 weeks later I'm back on the bike, just over 10 miles to see how my legs are.