Superpath Hip Replacement 3 weeks post op
Posted , 21 users are following.
hello everyone
im nervous about posting on here as I never in my life thought I'd be on a forum for patients so in some ways it is good I've learnt some humility as always thought I was indestructible as I've always been very sporty playing a lot of tennis, football, rugby and cycling as well as regular gym sessions.
Im 42 and last year after persistent groin pain that wasn't overly painful but nonetheless noticeable and wasn't going away after about a year I had an MRI scan, the results of which showed a FAI and laberal tear. My consultant told me the space between the ball and socket at one point was about 0.5mm and therefore I was too far gone to even attempt keyhole surgery and that I needed a THR of right hip. Being the cautious sole I am I had a couple of other opinions by consultants all of whom said same thing.
I kind of didnt take it too seriously as i wasnt in great pain and was still very active, playing a lot of tennis running and cycling. The most noticeable thing was during sexual intercourse in missionary when I could feel a grinding sensation in the groin and clicking. Obviously that became somewhat of a passion killer.
As time went on the pain was pain was getting more noticeable during tennis and my consultant suggested cortisone injections and sinvisc plus. The cortisone injections did great but only lasted around 3 weeks per injection. I didn't notice any great difference with the sinvisc plus.
Still up to around april/may this year I was still playing a lot of sport and walking fine. But then in June during a very brutal game of tennis while hitting a running forehand I experienced an almighty crunch in the hip and a bit of pain, not too much as I'd only just had last cortisone shot. This was a Saturday when the crunch happened.
No problems on saturday evening or sunday Sunday but the Monday when at work after being seated when I went to get up I was in agony and couldn't move. Hip/groin locked.
Since then this sensation continually happened if I bent my leg then tried to straighten it. I had an injection into a tendon that my consultant said was getting trapped and that did work but only for two weeks. I was at the stage where getting off toilet was a massive challenge. Once unlocked it wasn't too bad. I could walk ok and pretty quick. I noticed if I did no sport (or sexual relations) the locking subsided but as soon as I was more active the issue came back. My consultant told me it was a very personal choice when to have a THR but my quality of life was being affected and the aim of a THR was to improve that quality. He then told me about the Superpath technique which I loved sound of and he was one of very few surgeons who did this. I elected to have the super path and it was done on September 15.
Im 19 days post op and can walk with one crutch pretty quick but when I try without a crutch I'm struggling as hip is stiff. I can bend leg upwards well and outwards and can squat. Obviously no locking now.
my concern is I've seen you tube videos of people able to cross their legs and walking with no aids at all and in no pain. I have no pain when lying down or sitting down save for a bit of soreness where the wound is but my main worry is I do get a lot of groin pain when exercising or trying to lift my leg keeping it straight. Also when I walk the groin hurts and while other pain seems to be getting better the groin doesn't at all.
I go for my first physio appointment in two days time and I'm worried that this groin pain means something isn't right. I've gone into so much detail as wanted to explain how I was before the operation. Has anyone had the superpath and if so what were your experiences at this stage. I've read somewhere that the illopsis tendon can be damaged and of course when I was locking up before the THR I wonder if that tendon took some damage.
sorry if this is really long winded but it's all very stressful as I've never so much had a filling in my teeth let alone major surgery so I'm not sure where I should be and what I should be doing.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
7 likes, 395 replies
m05 gary45745
Posted
Hi everyone thanks for all your thoughts and empathy I think unless you have been through these hip problems yourself it is very difficult to appreciate the level of incapacity and discomfort bad hips can cause , this forum is so helpful I try not to complain too much now at home because non hippies just can't understand! Anyway I have a date 31st Jan not as soon as I would have liked but it's a date no colds this time pleeease. Gary I know what you mean I look at people who can walk normally and can nearly end up in tears sometimes but we must be positive next Christmas with a bit of good fortune we will all be good again . Had lovely dream last night that I was skiing one of my passions it was so liberating..then I woke up! Hope everyone's Christmas preparations are going well
Cheers for now Martin
RichardKen m05
Posted
Oh golly Martin, I have rather different dreams even though I'm 76<BG> young.
A very happy Christmas to you all and best wishes for a fantastic and positive 2018.
Cheers, Richard
gerriberri66 m05
Posted
Good Morning! Martin, I am so happy surgery has been rescheduled for you.Its too bad that its the end of Jan. Mr Cronin must be the only surgeon doing superpath in your area....he seems very busy! I was kind of proactive on getting my hip done... wasn't bone on bone, wasn't in pain (yet)..but had limitations walking distances, stairs and forget getting on a tennis court. So non hippies can not appreciate not being able to do everything, I knew this was inevitable for me, and timing worked out for me to do the surgery now. When I speak to people and they say you must be happy not to be in pain anymore, its hard to explain that I wasn't in pain prior; by why wait until that point and lose a few more years of not being fully functional I think you need to quarantine yourself for the entire month of January! No colds allowed!
?On a side note: a friends, friend just had THR here in Vegas..she was in very bad hip condition. In hospital for about 4 days, then rehab for 2 weeks. Shes finally coming home, but they had to teach her how to do everything.. shower, sit, dress..etc. This was not Superpath. I am thankful everyday that I found Superpath and how it has allowed me my independence so quickly. I'm usually the care taker, not the care takee..lol.I do think that Mr Cronin has altered some things that works for him...stitches, crutches, no driving, not putting weight on operated side...All of this was different for me. I am doing my exercises at home. I have a gym in my community so I am going to go there and do some recumbent biking.. I was able to actually sleep on operated side last night, although leaning more on thigh/stomach rather than total side, But it was a nice change of pace. I have seen progress already with only 2 PT sessions.. Martin, I have no doubt that by the end of Feb you will be doing amazing well!!!
?Richard, you gave me a good giggle this morning! lol
?2018 is going to be amazing for all of us!! xoxo
judith12644 m05
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gary45745 m05
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Im glad u have a fixed date. Its 5 weeks away so the end is in sight. Try to enjoy the festive period in knowledge that 10 weeks from now u will be more or less normal.
As for my left hip its a case of keeping eye on it. Ive plenty of csrtilage left so mr cronin tjinks if nexessary we can use non invasive methods to preserve it for a few more years. That being said tje more exercise im doing the more painful it seems to get.
As fkr right hip mr cronin is happy with me although he said my recovery has been average in speed, many patients recover quicker than i have so thats positive news for you.
Im more or less normal now still a few twinges but notbing restrictive day to day wise but still cant run or play tennis yet so thats now next step
jbrhip gary45745
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gerriberri66 jbrhip
Posted
Hi JBR,
?The Superpath technique is different than other hip replacement procedures as the surgeon makes an incision and carefully separates your muscles and tendons to get to your hip joint, rather than cutting the muscles and tendons. They also do not dislocate your hip in order to put in the new hip. Because there is less trauma to your muscles, & tendons, there is less blood loss during surgery, and because your hip is not dislocated to begin with, there is much less chance of dislocating your hip post surgery. Normally you would have restrictions on what you could do after surgery; like no bending at 90 degrees, restricitions of certain movements, a lot more therapy time for recovery. Recovery, as I'm sure you have been reading on this site is much much quicker. Are you in the UK? If you read my last post there have been obvious differences between Mr Cronin and Dr Chow, here in the States.. and what they allow you to do post surgery. The anterior approach is another method that does not cut muscles or tendons. I've heard a lot of good and bad about that procedure. Prior to Superpath, that had been the latest way to have hip replacement. But there is an extreme twisting of your leg in unnatural positions, and I've read about a lot of people suffering from nerve damage after that. Log on to www.mynewhip.com.. Dr Chows Website for more info.
?Hope this helps.! Are you needing THR??
RichardKen jbrhip
Posted
Have you done an online search? There is quite a bit of information out there.
Cheers, Richard
gerriberri66 RichardKen
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gary45745 jbrhip
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Superpath is mimimally invasibe procedure that means no cutting of muscles or tendons and no twisting aand dislocating hip to remove defective hip. So it means recobery time in first few weeks alot quicker and less painful than traditional methods.
Long term there there is no difference but why have 2 months on crutches instead of three weeks ?
jbrhip gary45745
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gerriberri66 jbrhip
Posted
Congrats on your hip replacement. It sounds like you are doing great in your recovery. Superpath is a relatively new surgical procedure. Dr Chow has been doing this for 11 years. Although to us lay people that seems like a long time, to surgeons who have been using a tried and true method, that’s very new. I had gone to a surgeon here in Vegas that I was totally going to use. He does surgery in a surgical center and then he has 6 surgical suites that you recover in for the next 3 days...and they are all about PT for either your hip or r knees. Loved the idea of not being near a hospital. He does the mini posterior approach. I know several people who had used him and had great success. That evening I went online to read about that particular procedure..and that’s when I came across superpath. Did more extensive research and sent the info out to a couple of friends in the medical field to get some feedback from them, which came back all positive. There are only about 5-7 Surgeons in the US doing Superpath. I decided this seemed like the way I wanted to go and the rest is history. I wish you continued success in your recouperation.
I think you and I might be only ones on this forum currently that are stateside. Wishing you a safe holiday...and keep us posted on your progress! Xo
m05 gary45745
Posted
Hi all, interesting to see why you have been moderated Gerri! The probably think you are advertising for superpath. Well Richard it might be interesting to hear about some of these dreams or would you get moderated 😉. Judith that is great to know that you could get back on the slopes so quickly how did you find it was your confidence affected much . I must admit I have only been skiing once since my hips started to play up and it really knocked my confidence I felt like a learner again in the past I used to ski anywhere and do some rather stupid things I really would like to get back to it at some point but the confidence thing concerns me.
Gary was Mr Cronin happy with your results sorry about the other side have you been given any time scale or is it just a case of seeing how it goes ?
Hopefully the next month will pass fairly quickly once Christmas and New year are done it should be a fairly quick run up to the 31st unfortunately my work plans have been shaken up a bit as the locum who was covering for me is 7 months pregnant and can only do a couple more weeks for me this was all planned around my original surgery being bilateral resurfacing in November but things have changed a bit now so I am hoping that after both ops I can start to get back to work after a couple of weeks in a limited capacity as I really can't afford to loose too much business even the most loyal patients begin to drift away if you can't see them still most important thing is to get up and running (perhaps walking) again.
Cheers Martin
RichardKen m05
Posted
Nice try.....more than my life is worth to say anything and doubtless it would be moderated or worse, I could even be thrown out!
Just off to catch a train, boat and more trains to spend Christmas with my family.
Best wishes to everyone here.
Cheers,Richard
m05 RichardKen
Posted
Cheers Martin
judith12644 RichardKen
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judith12644 m05
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gerriberri66 judith12644
Posted
Good morning all,
Wanted to wish everyone a safe and wonderful Christmas 🎄.
Moderators: if there is something you find objectionable in our emails, why not email us and we can take out the part that you feel needs to be moderated? I spent time and thought on my answer to JBR yesterday and can’t imagine why it didn’t publish. It almost makes me hesitant to respond to anything, thinking I will be censored. Thank you for your consideration.
RichardKen m05
Posted
Many thanks. What a long a difficult journey it was with a critical train cancelled due to strike action. This meant a couple of additional trains journeys and having to stand as the trains were crowded.
I got to my destination rather like a sailing boat tacking to make forward progress!
All the best, Richard
RichardKen gerriberri66
Posted
I share your frustration too. Why indeed can they not just edit what they object to I wonder?
As you say it puts people off posting.
Cheers Richard