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THR Possible revision surgery after 3 years

I don’t know that I agree with you about it being an “installation” problem. It is possible that the implant has loosened. Your description of when and how you have pain does sound like that’s a possibility. Your surgeon should be able to tell this clearly with an x-ray.

As for the clueless mailman who jumped on his new hip, unless he was jumping out of the way of a speeding car or an attacking lion, he was very, very unwise. Most hip replacements are press fit, meaning it takes some time for the bone to grow into the prosthesis. This kind of behavior with a baby hip just begs for problems, so I’m glad you are much wiser than that!
 
@Jamie Yes, the mail man was unwise to jump. I think he had had a beer or two and was giddy with joy.

I read of people saying that they’ll take the impact of running on a replacement hip over cardiac surgery later in life. I wonder how their hip will tolerate such impact.

I used to run, seriously. I gave that up. I gave up rowing because of the position at the catch and the possibility of dislocating the hip joint. I gave up biking because of the possibility of a crash.

Yes, my hip joint is press fit. I put that question to the doctor before I had the surgery.

I do think loosening may be a possibility. Sometimes, for a few moments, my leg feel fine, but other times, I get a feeling that it is unstable, and there is pain. The pain happens throughout the day, every day.

I don’t quite know what to make of it. I am saddened that I am having this pain just three years after the hip replacement.

Yes, movement of the implant should show on the X-ray as dark lines, “radiolucent” is the word.
 
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A runner here. I have been encouraged by my surgeon to continue to run, as I was encouraged to do (and did do) after my other hip was replaced. I wouldn’t run marathons on it. There’s not a lot of research around as a lot of people are either discouraged from running or prefer not to. Both of the surgeons I used are runners themselves. The key advice was to wait a few months before restarting to ensure decent bone bonding and to mix running with other forms of aerobic and muscle strengthening activity. 4 years on from my first hip replacement, it looks absolutely perfect on x-ray. And yes, I would take the risk of additional wear over the risks to my health from not running. As someone in remission from metastatic cancer I do prioritise health today over a future I may not live to see.
 
Wow, well, I am amazed. I understand the logic. I am happy that running still works for you.

I had a 5:58 mile at 45 years of age. I ran with a track club. We trained hard. I ran with 50 year old guys who could run a mile in 5 minutes flat. I considered that to be truly impressive. I never ran when younger so I don’t know how fast I could have been but I suppose it can be extrapolated.

I have never felt good enough in the three years after the hip replacement to put the impact from running on the hip joint. I have suffered with bursitis since the surgery.

My surgeon had told me I could row after surgery before I had surgery and then said no after the surgery. He knew about rowing as his daughter was rowing at a university. Rowing is a full body workout with no impact. I had transitioned to it from running after other injuries from running.

So, I found the SkiErg and was doing pretty well with it but now the slight bend of the hips causes me pain. I even have pain when I use it seated. Sigh.

I’m sorry to hear about your metastatic cancer. I just had a prostatectomy in May. I’m waiting for more PSA tests to see if I can see whether my trend is toward recurrence or not.

I am 60. How old are you?

It’s all rather sad but I am trying to adapt the best I can. I was happy walking two miles a day and now I cannot walk to the end of my street.

I can still walk to the piano bench. Sitting doesn’t cause me much pain because I’m not putting weight on the leg.

Still, I want to get this fixed. I fear the revision surgery and the extended recovery period. I’ve been there before.
 
I am 68 and didn’t start running until my mid 50s, I wish I had done it earlier. I am not fast and run mainly for the headspace it gives me. 5k twice a week suits me fine. I have had a lot of cancer treatment - 3 surgeries, 6 months of chemo, immunotherapy plus more chemo, radiotherapy. Plus a serious complication from immunotherapy that needed 9 months of steroid treatment. So my running ‘journey’ has had its ups and downs due to those health impacts. After my first hip replacement I felt normal very quickly. I started running after 4 months and was very quickly back to those 5ks. I will probably take longer with this new hip as the 3+ years of living with cancer have taken their toll on my overall fitness.

I have used a SkiErg in the gym and can see how that might help build aerobic fitness without putting too much strain on your hips. I am sorry you are in pain and hope they can get to the bottom of the problem and sort it out. When a hip replacement goes well, you soon forget it’s there. My first one has never given me a moment’s trouble and I hope the same will be true of the new one.
 
Thanks for your kind words.

I’m sorry you’ve gone through hell with cancer treatment. I’m pausing after surgery to see if I will need radiation and androgen deprivation therapy. Both can have bad side effects.

Running, skiing, and rowing are three of the most aerobically demanding sports. Now, I’m at a loss as to what to do. I’d like to be able to walk a few miles a day.

I had a beautiful dynamic rower, one where everything moves like on a real boat, but I sold it off. I enjoyed some rowing on the water as well.

I will see what the surgeon says when he sees the X-ray.

We were in the middle of moving to retire in France when I was diagnosed first with pre-diabetes and then with prostate cancer. That move is now in the lake, dans le lac, as the French say.

This problem with my hip is just one more woe.

The best I can say is that I didn’t die at my desk. I got outsourced last year and decided to retire.
 
Not a rower, but I have sailed dinghies in the past. Never took to skiing but I love being out in open space. Luckily I was able to retire early- which gave me the time and space to start running. Although I had run occasionally and enjoyed it when younger, there had been no space in a busy corporate career alongside bringing up a family. I hope you can make it to France but understand how cancer has the awful ability to get in the way of plans. I am lucky at the moment to not need any ongoing treatment. Although it’s breast cancer it’s not of the sort that benefits from hormone blockers. I think I am grateful for that overall.
 
I’m sorry to hear about your breast cancer.

I am hoping to be able to skip the hormone blockers for prostate cancer because the side effects can be awful. I don’t know yet if I will be able to miss them in the short term.

I will have to always be getting tested in the future. The cancer can recur.

I don’t know about France. It’s a huge change for me. I’ll be in daily 4 hour French classes for years.

I guess I didn’t read the fine print that said I had to return my wife to her home country after 25 years.

People act like France is some sort of utopia. There are no utopias. Only 5% of that utopia has air conditioning. We were able to survive without it when we were younger but not now that we’re older.

Oh, how I wish we were on a single floor in an elevator building.
 
French houses are often designed to deal with the heat with high pitched roofs and shutters. Here in the UK air conditioning is very rare and we somehow don’t seem to expect heat. But global warming is bringing it, along with more storms, more flooding etc. We are also not well set up for those. I live in a coastal town that is in the middle of rebuilding sea defences.
 
We are not going to buy a French house. It is too much work. Our days of owning houses are over.

We are going to buy an apartment in Lyon. As long as we have a balcony, we should be able to install an air conditioner.

My wife wants to retire by the sea, or at least the channel, in Le Havre. We will see.

Yes, global warming is bringing heat and strong storms. We will not retire to the south in France. It is simply too hot for us.

I’d like an English speaking country but that looks to be too difficult.
 
Ha, sadly, I was also diagnosed as pre-diabetic so the wine and bread are out.

I will still have cheese.
 
HipButSquare said:
I guess I didn’t read the fine print that said I had to return my wife to her home country after 25 years.
Click to expand...
:heehee: That's a good one, made me laugh. Thanks!

Best wishes for healing and good health. I am sorry for all you've been through. Hoping for brighter days for you.
 
Well, I saw my hip surgeon today.

The X-ray they took looks good. There isn’t any evidence of the stem loosening. There is a lot of bone growth into the implant. My surgeon explained how the porous surface of the implant tricks the body into thinking it is bone.

So, I had blood drawn for testing and I’ll be going for a bone scan next week to see if I sustained a stress fracture in the leg. It is also possible for the prostate cancer to have moved into the bone. I hope that is not the case.

If it is a stress fracture, i believe it will be possible to heal back the leg if I stay off of it and use a walker.

Has anybody done that, let their leg heal back after a stress fracture?
 
Good news that the implant looks good. Small stress fractures can heal, so try not to worry about that. If that is what is diagnosed, you’ll be given specific instructions for weight bearing. In the meantime I suggest you really baby the leg by using a cane or walker when possible.
 
Thanks @Jamie Yes, I am staying off of the leg as much as possible and going back to using a cane.

I think bone metastasis would have spiked my PSA much higher before the prostatectomy so I’m fairly confident that this is not cancer in the bone.
 
Well, I had the bone scan this week.

The results came back saying that everything was fine with my bones, no stress fracture or evidence of cancer.

The trouble is, my pain is getting worse and I’m having more and more trouble putting weight on the leg just walking around the house.

I’ve stopped taking ibuprofen at night and have seen my pain level increase.

I’m at a loss as to what to do next.

I don’t want to go for physical therapy. Do sure I don’t trust them to help me and I don’t know what I should do to get better.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Should I stay off the leg most of the day and see if I can get through this pain?
 
Unfortunately if all the imaging looks good, your problem is likely some sort of soft tissues problem. You might be able to find out more if you could get an MRI done. If you were in the States, I’d suggest you see a sports medicine doctor, but I don’t know if they are as plentiful as they are here.

You could go back to your the doctor that ordered the bone scan and see what is recommended. If it is a soft tissue problem, physical therapy is the best answer.

You say your pain is worse, can you describe the pain for us? Where it is, what causes it, what makes it worse, what makes it better….is there any redness, swelling, or a fever?
 
I have no redness, swelling, or fever.

The pain is worse when I put weight on the leg.

Even sitting on the edge of the bed brings pain. It radiates from the middle of the thigh, close to where the stem of the prosthesis goes into the femur.

As a former runner, I’ve had a lot of soft tissue pain in my quads and hamstrings, for years. This pain is nothing like that.

The pain does ease somewhat if I am lying down but it is still there as a deep ache. It doesn’t have the sharpness it has when I walk.

I just walk around at home now and don’t walk outside. I’m not doing any sports or forms of exercise.

I hesitate to go to physical therapy because I’m afraid they’ll cause me more pain.

I guess all I can say is that the pain is most certainly in the leg that has the prosthesis and it is interfering with my ability to walk. I can walk a few steps without pain but not very far.

I can try to use a pair of hiking sticks and walk a little ways from my house and back. I used to be able to walk two miles.

Also, I’m doing more clamshells to see if this is extreme bursitis.
 
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