Hip replacement

[PaulB]

Has anybody had a hip (or both) replaced? can one cycle after and if so how long after? I 'm asking because my doctor thinks i may have to have both replaced. Going to try my hardest to avoid having it done!!

Depends on your age. It will undoubtedly give you a new lease of life but that lease of life will last approximately 15 years. So if you're under 60, you'll possibly have a long time to live with a knackered old chunk of metal in your hip(s).

I'm pretty sure I'll need my left one doing in the not too distant so I'm going to put it off until I'm in desperate need. It really makes me wish I'd taken up cycling ten years sooner and ran less often as that's what's clearly had a bad effect.

 

[Pale Rider]

Had one of mine done, no choice, towards the end I was in constant pain and could barely hobble across the room.

It was a glimpse of a lifestyle I didn't fancy.

Operation went well, although I am a tiny bit lop-sided - the leg with the new hip is 'shorter' than the other.

Because you tend to re-align a bit in the year or so following the operation, the surgeon has to allow for that when putting you back together.

My position is not helped by the other hip which is going the same way, although the arthritis is not nearly so far advanced so the surgeon is hopeful I will get maybe five or 10 years out of it.

Cycling is no bother, although I can see a time when due to restricted movement in the 'old' hip, there will come a time when I will be unable to mount a crossbar bike.

My new hip is ceramic so has a projected lifespan of 15 years or so.

That will take me to late 60s, so I will likely need it doing again.

Surgeons call it 'remodelling' - best if it can be avoided, but on t'other hand it is a doable procedure.

On the far horizon, I believe there is some treatment by injection which may slow the rate of arthritic decline - that might keep a few folks out of the operating theatre in years to come.

 

[Fnaar]

On the bright side, with a metal hip replacement, you can lie on your back in a swimming pool, and point north, forming a 'human compass'.

 

[fossyant]

On the bright side, with a metal hip replacement, you can lie on your back in a swimming pool, and point north, forming a 'human compass'.

Sorry, Titanium isn't magnetic !!! LOL. They are usually Ti and ceramic/plastic

 

[asterix]

A rider on the Raid Pyrenean had had both knees replaced. He was a former gymnast. The new knees had given him a new lease of life, he said and he didn't seem to suffer any more than the rest of us with the hills!

 

[ScotiaLass]

I don't need a hip replacement but I can't walk a few miles on the flat before pain kicks in. On hills it's painful almost immediately.
Switch to cycling and I can manage 15 miles with only some stiffness later on.
I hope all goes well for you if you have to have those hip replacements.

 

[s7ephanie]

Thanks for all the advice, I am going to try and avoid it for as long as possible. Funny thing is its my back that gives me the most pain !! but this morning i actually felt pain in L hip, but i think its all in my head now that the doctor has said !!!

 

[ASC1951]

Thanks for all the advice, I am going to try and avoid it for as long as possible. Funny thing is its my back that gives me the most pain !! but this morning i actually felt pain in L hip, but i think its all in my head now that the doctor has said !!!

If your hip joint is wearing out, it's wearing out - but I still say go to a physio for some targeted exercises. I have had a lot of discomfort in my hips and pelvis over the last three or four years, plus some leg numbness, and am told:-
- good news is that the joints are absolutely fine
- bad news is that I have spent years crouched over a bike and even more years bent over a desk, so I am a little dwarf with jodhpur legs and a back like a bent poker
- and not news at all, there is a good 30lb too much of me.
So I am in month three of a programme of lumbar and leg stretches and feel hugely better for it. It has freed up my back and lengthened my Achilles and hamstrings so that I can walk and run without all the load going straight into my heels and hip joints. I have also invested in a pair of Five Fingers (as approved by the physio) which are gradually restoring springiness to my foot arches and again reducing the load on my hips, although that is a much slower process because I have been flat footed for <cough> quite a few years.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

...I have also invested in a pair of Five Fingers (as approved by the physio) which are gradually restoring springiness to my foot arches and again reducing the load on my hips...

Mrs McGinty's got a black pair of those, they look like monkey feet.

 

[ASC1951]

Mrs McGinty's got a black pair of those, they look like monkey feet.

They do indeed. One interesting side effect is that you can stand on the pavement and wiggle your toes so that - with a bit of practice - you can get the heads of passing toddlers to go round almost 270 degrees.

 

[Fnaar]

We have a new colleague at work*, brought in to replace someone who retired. He rides a fixie, wears Rapha city-gear and has a goatee. You might (snigger snigger) call him a 'hip' replacement.

*no we don't

 

[ASC1951]

Mrs McGinty's got a black pair of [VFFs].

Where did she get them, TBM? I have found it impossible to get any locally and had to buy a pre-loved pair mine from The Great Store of Treasures that is Ebay. I reckon mine are genuine, not Chinese fakes, but that was luck.

 

[rich p]

I had a hip replaced and was cycling again within 6 or 7 weeks. Did a 100 miler after a 4 or 5 months or so. Occasional discomfort 3 years later but I can walk and cycle forever nowadays - my best advice would be to resist the temptation to vault 4' railings when getting bladdered on 7 or 8 pints with @MossCommuter .
My sex life has never been better but that's another story

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Where did she get them, TBM? I have found it impossible to get any locally and had to buy a pre-loved pair mine from The Great Store of Treasures that is Ebay. I reckon mine are genuine, not Chinese fakes, but that was luck.

It was this place, must have been a bit of an offer on knowing Mrs 3BM - http://www.directsportseshop.co.uk/index.aspx

 

[s7ephanie]

I had a hip replaced and was cycling again within 6 or 7 weeks. Did a 100 miler after a 4 or 5 months or so. Occasional discomfort 3 years later but I can walk and cycle forever nowadays - my best advice would be to resist the temptation to vault 4' railings when getting bladdered on 7 or 8 pints with @MossCommuter .
My sex life has never been better but that's another story

do'es that mean if i get it done - i get a sex life