Hip Resurfacing? 38 Years Old, Feel Too Young But No Other Options??

Posted , 11 users are following.

Hi,

First post here, great forum, just found it tonight!!

Ok, so I'm a 38 year old male from the UK, married with two kids.

All my life I have always been very athletic......sprinted for my county, played football since I was seven etc.

Around seven years ago........I started to notice after football that I was starting to get very stiff the day after............then it started to extend into two days after......three days after and so on and so on. But I was finding that it had eased by the next game so I carried on playing and just dealing with the midweek pain.......then I started to notice that I was becoming noticebly slower, could lift my left knee high enough to sprint properly or quickly. I just put it down to age and the opposition getting younger.......until I started to notice that I was struggling in comparison to all my peers!!

After a few years I went to the doctor, had a few xrays and physio sessions...to be told I had severe hip arthritis of the hip!! Proper shocked......felt that was what "old" people got......I thought I'd just need an operation or some physio and be back to normal!!

I then got referred to Doctor Treacy at the Orthopeadic Hospital in Birmingham....he said it was pretty bad and that "You will need that resurfacing in the next 12 months"........that was four years ago and he's been saying the same every year. All this time I had an attitude of "I'll prove you wrong" and have continued to play football, even through the pain, but now feel that I'm at the end of the road and need to do something about this.

Dr treacy said that I'm a prime patient for Hip Resurfacing as I'm youn, male and active and want to remain active. I know this is a hip replacement forum but can anyone give any insight into their own experiences of Hip Resurfacing;

- How was the surgery?

- How was the recovery?

- How has it been since the surgery?

- Do you regret it? Or wish you did it earlier?

I've resisted it for years but feel now is the time........I've always been active but this has decreased severely over the last 9 months to the point that I've put on weight because I'm less active........my flexibility is ridiculous, I can't even get anywhere near putting my own left sock on!!

I've got friends still running marathons, Triathlons and Iron Mans etc and I can barely run the length of a tennis court without my left leg dragged behind like some lame animal........it's starting to make me depressed thinking about the active things I can no longer do and will never do again currently.........

Any help, advice or personal experience of similar would be great appreciated!!

0 likes, 34 replies

34 Replies

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  • Posted

    Just as an update guys, saw my consultant in September, we agreed to get this done now..........having a Birmingham Hip Resurfacing a week on Thursday........fingers crossed!!
    • Posted

      Sarnie

      Good luck with the op. I hope it all goes well - sure it will

      Mike

  • Posted

    Hi,i was due to have a resurface in july at the same hospital as you (not mr treacy)after doing loads of research i was really excited about it after being in pain for years but cut a long story short i could not have it done and had to have thr but did not know until i came around.

    I am now 3 months post op and really pleased with the results they gave me a low wear hip for active and younish people(49) what i will say to you is it is really good hospital for joints and that mr tracey is one of the top surgeons in the country who along with mr mcmin produced the bhr you are lucky to have him mate .

    all the best.

    • Posted

      Thanks for the reply, it means a lot.

      I was looking at McMin site and he has a video of someone who had it done who went on to win a World Championship in Badminton, so hopefully I'm in good hands!!

      Bit nervous now though of waking up having been given a THR!!

  • Posted

    Not with mr treacy you won't wake with thr,also you won't have any hip precautions with a resurface it's a win-win situation .

    again all the best.

    • Posted

      "you won't have any hip precautions with a resurface"

      Sorry, what does that mean? smile

  • Posted

    When you have a THR they tell you not to bend more than 90 deg,not to twist,you have to sit in high chairs all sorts of things you can google them if you wish but if i were you I wouldn't bother,at the roh they say when you have a resurface you have no precautions,just to take it easy for a few weeks .Try not to worry you are in good hands.

    please let us know how well you are doing when you are done.

    paul

    • Posted

      Ah ok.......what did surprise me was that Mr Treacy said this was only a 30 minute operation??

      And that I'd potentially be back playing football of some description before Christmas??

       

  • Posted

    An update for anyone interested................had my hip resurfacing on 12th October and my progress since has been pretty amazing.........I think I will be completely off crutches towards the end of this week.........pain was bad at first but dissipating day by day.............very pleased! smile
    • Posted

      Congrats on your resurfacing and so happy to hear everything is going well. I am a 46-year-old male, also very athletic up until about four years ago and now I can barely put on my right shoe and sock. I’m walking with a limp over half the time now and was told I am no bone on bone and will need something done. Two surgeons mentioned that I would be a prime candidate for resurfacing. After six months of going back and forth and asking for advice and going back to a local surgeon with more questions, I am now scheduled for hip resurfacing with Dr. Gross on March 14.  I have gained 20 pounds in two years due to lack of activity and depression from this- I’m ready. I might have missed this post but how long was it before you could start driving and walking- even with a limp- and just taking part in day to day activities? I have three kids and a pretty crazy schedule so there is no such thing as a good time for surgery so I’m just going to go for it! Also, I was told my left hip was not too far behind- ugh!!! 
    • Posted

      Hi Dustin,

      Good to hear you are booked in, you won't regret it!

      I was on pain killers for barely a week really. Off the crutches within about 2.5 weeks.

      4 weeks after the Op I went on two trips to Berlin & Krakow, without any crutches. I was back driving after weeks too.

      My op was 12th October and I was back at football training before Christmas and this week I will be on my treadmill five times week, 2x gym sessions and football training Thursday night.....

      It's so good to be back able to exercise.......

      Good luck, any other questions just let me know!

       

    • Posted

      That’s great to know! I’m looking forward to having my life back after four years of pain that is just getting worse every day. Good luck with your continued recovery! 
  • Posted

    Glad to hear you have been done and that all is well.
  • Posted

    Sarnie

    Glad it's all done and you are on the mend. Just remember mending takes a while and you will take some forwards and some bacwards steps. But if you end up playing football by Christmas it will be great.

    My goal is to bike 70 miles on my 70th birthday next May, I've still got a while to go though

    Mike

    • Posted

      Thanks Mike!

      I'm not going to rush it for sure.........the bigger picture is much more important to me!

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