Any Hip Replacements Out There?

I have had both my hips replaced, one year apart and wouldn't change it I feel great but I have let myself gain a lot of weight which is bearing on my hips....I've just recently join mfp and have started working out just need some support to keep me motivated! It has been 3 and 4 yrs ago since mine. But lately my lower back has been hurting and my hips and I'm sure its from the weight that I have packing around so that is motivation in itself to keep me going to loose weight.
Anyone want to add me feel free to do so. Hope you have a great day:happy:

Hi All!

I had my hip replaced 4 years ago at age 34. It is amazing and I'm grateful to not be in pain anymore. My replacement was the larger sized head and I've received my doctor's blessing to run, just no marathons (as if!) and no hip precautions. I recently started running this past May and I love it. Although my doctor feels I shouldn't need a revision with the newer technology I am doing everything I can to make sure it lasts. I'm losing weight and although I did start running I'm very careful to no do too much pounding on my joints.

I know this thread is a few months old, I hope everything is going well!!

Hi - I had my hip replaced 12/27th of 2012 and Im 45 years old. You will be so thankful you get it taken care of! Not sure about you, but I had pain for about 2 years. The 1st year, I didnt even realize it was my hip that needed replaced. I sought out chiropractic care for the thigh and knee pain. Thankfully, someone in my family who also had their hip replaced urged me to see their surgeon. After 6 mo and 2 hip injections to no avail, I took the plunge. Im now at 6 weeks post op and feel fantastic. I started feeling like myself again around the 4th week. My doctor urged me not to run, but I am not a runner. Elliptical, biking, swimming is what has been recommended for now. I think doctors are very cautious against okaying anyting that might cause the new hip to dislocate. I say, find a doctor you are comfortable with and let them know your goal of running again and hopefully, they will work with you to achieve that. I do warn - since you are so young, you will feel really well around that 4-5 week range and maybe even sooner, but know that its important to still stick with your hip precautions. Good luck!

This thread is old, but arthritis caused me to gain the weight in the first place, & like a bad friend I never got rid of the weight (alot of weight gained 60# over 7 years as they told me I was too young for a hip replacement).

Since I lost so much conditioning, it took a year of rehab to really, feel 95% normal (I still cant sit indian style & feel normal tho, almost but not quite enough to use that position anymore without thought in a tent for example, sadly. it used to be so effortless). It helps to be able to sit indian style in a tent, I love camping!

However, I still have the friggin weight on, & now looking at the other hip being replaced. ButIi will never give up. Bad genes sigh.

Add me, I post everyday, & need encouragement too!

I am 38 and have been waiting for a replacement for over a year. My surgeon won't do it for me for another 9 years because he said I'm too young. I've had 2 other opinions, and they are all the same. I try to exercise as much as possible, but everything hurts:) My doc said to swim, but we live out in the country and the nearest pool is a ways away. Any advice?

"Happy to share the program that I do if anyone is interested. Everyone is a bit different in terms of what they can tolerate, it took me almost a full year to figure out all the exercises that worked and didn't work for me. It was hard giving up squats and deadlifts."

I would like to know what you are doing. Squats (even without weights are hard to do with a bad hip, yet they are important in just being able to get out of a standard height 18" chair or 16" standard height toilet, which become progressively more difficult).

51 year old here and 18 months out from my left hip replacement. The hip feels fantastic. I lived over a decade with increasing hip pain that lead to much of my weight gain. I too was told by my Dr. that I had to wait. That wait was not good to me.

My advice is, if you have access to a pool get in it. I belong to LA Fitness and they have a Aquafit class that has worked wonders for me. The class allows you to strengthen all the smaller joint stabilizer muscles that help with joint stabilization. It also is very good for streching. That and walk, walk, walk!

My downside was that evidently my leg with the bad hip was shorter then my healthy leg. The Dr. lenghtned the leg in the hip surgery. The problem with that is it threw off my back which had been compensating for the shorter leg for years. Even though my hip felt 1,000% better, now lower back hurt bad. So some more weight went on!

I finally had had enough of sitting on the sidelines! I used to be a super active fun person. I basically miss my son's teenage years for doing activites together which really bothers me. So I started with regular trips to my fantastic chiropractor, and I started working out in the pool. I just had to tough out pain with Advil and ice packs. I started to loose some weight via diet, and now the back is slowly getting better. I am now finally feeling that I am on the right track to more weight loss, and improved physical condition.

As my incentive to continue on my betther health journey, is that I have signed up for the Warrior Dash 5k in September. I have a dozen friends and family going with me, and this incentive is really motivating me. I am so looking forward to being an physically active and happier person.

Good luck to all you with the new hips. It was the best choice I made to put me on the road to being healthy!

p.s. I also just started Nordic Walking where you use the poles. This takes some of the stress of the joints and back. I am finding I can walk longer with less pain. Check it out!

I'm 25 and had a bilateral hip replacement March 30, 2012. I am now officially 1 year recovered and doing great! I have other medical issues that cause me to use high dose steroids at times - the steroids caused a condition called avascular necrosis (AVN) in both my hips. I just went for it and had both replaced. It was either that or wait until they both collapsed!

Anyway - I was never a runner but I am currently doing Turbo Jam which has a lot of jumping around. Hips feel great! I do occasionally get pains when I bend over and stand up to quickly (mostly muscle that needs to be worked). My doctor said everything looks great and I should expect them to last me until I am in my 40s. I opted for ceramic on ceramic rather than the ceramic on plastic combo that most people get, since I was so young.

Also - I think the surgery location affects when/how you should exercise. I had the anterior (?) surgery, which goes through the front of the hip, rather than the buttocks.

Good luck to everyone in their fitness journeys!

I am 38 and have been waiting for a replacement for over a year. My surgeon won't do it for me for another 9 years because he said I'm too young. I've had 2 other opinions, and they are all the same. I try to exercise as much as possible, but everything hurts:) My doc said to swim, but we live out in the country and the nearest pool is a ways away. Any advice?

Well I was in the same boat. They told me the same thing. I didnt have a pool either. I waited 7 years, lost 90% of my fitness, gained 60-70#, it was a nightmare! Used a cane for 5 years, & ended up in a wheelchair for the last year. It sucked, plain & simple.

All I can tell you, is I had a hip resurfacing done. Theres been a lot of stupid bad press around that, but mine is great, 6 years out.

The thing is with hip resurfacing, it preseves the hip bone & caps it like a tooth. This is important for a young person, as if you ever need a replacement on THAT, you still have the top of your hip bone, & a REPLACEMENT can be done as if it was the first replacement surgery. Revision surgeries on an already REPLACED TOTAL HIP hip, arent so good, so I chose the reSurfacing surgery first, as I was young & may need another surgery on it someday.

Now, there Are Issues with resurfacing that you need to look into. Some of them are:
1. Its a technically difficult surgery, so you HAVE to have a surgeon who has done A LOT, A LOT, A LOT of them! Dr Amstutz in California (who invented this surgery back in the 1960s), & Dr Gross in N Carolina come to mind. This surgery is more trchnically difficult than a regular total hip replacement.
2. I hear it works less good in women as their bones are generally smaller (but I am a woman & happy with mine), so ask your surgeon.

Nothing is pretty about this problem, so you have to do a lot of research & come to your own conclusions. If I personally had to do it again, I would have the resurfacing hands down! I had a C+ prosthetic put in by Dr Amstutz. The lawsuits are on the DePuy ASR prosthetic (thats a different wear pattern than the C+, the DePuy wears more, & metal shavings caused problems).

HTH