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vvv

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Thank you putting up this informative site. I am 51 and have scheduled a hip replacement soon and am starting my investigation. Here are a couple questions for the blog-o-sphere...

* I am a commercial pilot and am wondering if the ceramic hips set off the airport detectors.

* I hear certain brands of ceramic hips have less tendency for squeaks, can you tell which ones to recommend?

* Any recommendations for golfers on getting a lower score after their hip is replaced :) ?

Thanks for all your work on this.

VVV
 
VVV, welcome to BoneSmart. I moved your post into a thread of its own so it would get attention from the members. Often a post in an existing thread tends to get lost.

Anyway, I'm glad you find this site helpful.

As regards the airport alarms, the ceramic in a hip is only the ball and the liner of the cup insert. The rest is metal, mostly cobalt chrome. So I'm afraid it will be a problem. But I'll be interested to know how you do as you work your way around the airports! :thmb:

[Bonesmart.org] Recommendations?


About the noises, I'm not too well informed about it but from what I have heard that it is occurring less frequently that it did. Research has been very active in this field and there are now many theories being worked on about why this happens. Having said that, it does, apparently, occur much less often than publicity would have us believe. Your best bet would be to ask the surgeon as he'll be more likely to be up to date with it.

Golf - sorry, never lifted a club myself! But plenty here have and they'll be happy to share on that score! :hehe:
 
Hi vvv. I am a kneesie, so I cant really help with the hip. You have come to the right place. These people are amazing and will help in anyway they can. I do know the hippies seem to be very happy they did it. They are doing things they couldnt do before surgey. That is the goal and pain free at that. Hang in there, you will be on the road to recovery soon, and feel much better. keep us posted please...........Kim
 
Hi vvv, Like you, I had read that the squeaking and other problems were occurring with one particular type of ceramic-on-ceramic prosthesis more often (Stryker, I think) and seemed to be a problem more in the U.S. than in Europe. Some think it is exacerbated by incorrect placement of the implants. Ceramic is a good bearing material choice for young, active people as it is long-wearing, allows for larger femoral ball sizes, and is bio-inert. It has been used much longer outside the U.S. but was finally approved by the FDA in the U.S. in 2002. There have been rare cases of "catastrophic failure" of ceramic prostheses in which they fractured but many of those were traced to contamination during the manufacturing process. I understand that now there are much more stringent quality standards in place for the ceramic manufacture.

It would be worth asking your OS about the latest research in this area and of course doing your own review of the literature.

I have a ceramic-on-metal hip where the femoral ball is ceramic and the cup liner is metal. My OS chooses this combo because it should wear longer than metal-on-PE, allows for a larger femoral head, and recent research suggests that it sheds fewer metal ions than metal-on-metal.
Gail
 
welcome vvv, glad to have you. i'm a hippie but i'll be chrom on poly. do you know the depuy website actually has an avid golfer as a patient success story. i dont know if he lowered his score but he appears to be enjoying the game. gail i didnt know that.
monique
 
Hi, Vvv, and welcome to BoneSmart. I hope you continue to benefit from the forum as you go through your journey to a new hip. One of the things we encourage members to do is to become informed about all the devices and techniques out there (just like you're doing). Then armed with that knowledge, shop for the best surgeon you can find. The skill of the person performing the procedure is of utmost importance. Here is a link that may be helpful for you.
 
Just an added note. I found out a few weeks prior to my THR that the ceramic-on-metal combo isn't yet approved by the FDA. It is "allowed" but not "approved." Individual OSs can use the combo if they deem it beneficial to their patient. My OS has used ceramic-on-metal for 7 years himself. Depuy who makes my prosthesis expects full FDA approval in 2010. I point this out because even though there seem there seem to be strong advantages to ceramic-on-metal it doesn't have the advantage of long-term use and experience compared to the gold standard of metal-on-PE. I hope my experience can help future hippies. (Yes, I really wish there were a hip registry in the U.S.!)
Gail
 
As an avid biker, I can say the debate about metal on metal vs ceramics vs some combo has been going on there, also. The bearings on cranks, wheels, etc have all shifted to ceramics on top-level road bikes for the obvious friction differences. The more abuse the bike gets (i.e. mountain bikes or, worse, downhill mountain bikes) the less they hold up and the current compromise is a metal shell with ceramic bearing. Most who abuse their bikes are still sticking with metal bearings, metal shell.

As a person who abuses his body, I preferred the same as for bikes - i.e. metal cup, metal ball. But the advantages for wear with ceramics are pretty impressive and if your surgeon is comfortable with the hybrid and you don't anticipate jumping 20ft cliffs on your next ski vacation, I'd go for it! That being said, they're all pretty damn good and the surgeon's skill will likely have more to do with your outcome than anything else.

As for airports. . . go ahead and add 10 to 15 minutes to the security line if you are in the US. These new "virtual scan" tools are supposed to eliminate that problem (I was told on my last flight). Currently, they put you in the glass corral and wait for someone to come pat you down and wave the hand-held metal detector over you. This process can take a while during a busy time, usually spent waiting on the person to come inspect you. Once they are there, it's pretty quick. Traveling outside the US seemed easier to me despite the language barrier as our security screening is fairly unique.
 
As a person who abuses his body, I preferred the same as for bikes - i.e. metal cup, metal ball.

I did the same as you Dave--MOM for both hips. I am both abusive and clumsy, a rare combination. But I didn't know that bike gear had made the switch to ceramics.
Tom
 
I am definately the abusive , clumsy type as well. My doc was originally going with ceramic/ceramic with me. Then with the squeaking possibility he changed to ceramic/highly cross linked poly. He does not like the unknown of the metal particles. I am 51, very active and love my hip.

As far as ceramic shattering, my surgeon told me that is a thing of the past. New formula.

I have flown out of LAX twice and did not activate any alarms. I also have over 20m screws/rods in my spine. My spine doc was surprised I did not activate anything. However from the east coast to the west, I have flown twice and always activate the alarms.

Not a golfer, so can not comment on that. Good luck Ask any questions you may have
judy
 
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