4 month follow up

[Guest guest]

I had my 4 month follow up visit with Dr. A a week ago. I had X-rays

taken locally, and took them down for him to review. The X-rays

showed good position, with no evidence of lucencies under acetabular

component, and good position of the femoral component. Needless to

say, I was relieved. My exam showed essentially equal range of motion

between both hips; before surgery my right operated side was fixed in

the pelvis. Muscle strength by exam was normal, though to me the

right leg still feels a little weaker.

I have been quite active. Most of the time I forget that I had

surgery. I don't notice my leg or hip. If I'm quite active, or doing

a " new " activity, I may get sore or stiff around the incision, but it

doesn't last very long, only a day or two. I have been faithful at

doing my hip ROM and strengthening exercises, particularly hip

abduction (lying on my side and lifting my leg to strengthen my

gluteus minimus muscle. When I climb stairs now, I don't feel to weak

and wobbly in the turns as I used to. I can also go up the stairs 2

at a time without difficulty. I can walk very quickly, about 4-5 mph,

for extended distances. I have decided that I won't jog for exercise,

I'll walk and occasionally ride my bike. And of course I have a small

gym in my garage for strength training.

I have been golfing quite regularly, in fact I first golfed 9 weeks

out from surgery. I have been walking the course recently, carrying

my clubs. It seems to be a good workout, and I'm comfortably tired

when I get done. The muscle definition on my operated side is still

less than on the other side, it looks as if it will be a few more

months before the legs are truly equal in strength. But strength and

flexibility are returning.

I talked to Dr. A about activities and some concerns that I had about

wear with the C+ implants. I asked about wear analysis of the C+

implants that had been done in his lab. He said that the larger balls

used in the C+ showed wear characteristics very similar to the

smaller balls (28-32mm) that are used in THR. Studies have shown a

reduction of wear by a factor of 1/40 to 1/100, comparing m/m to

metal/poly, so if the larger ball is really reduced in wear even by

the lower number of 1/40, that should more than last my lifetime.

There has been an ongoing discussion in this group re BRH vs. C+, if

the m/m articulation is going to last for 400 years (figured by

taking 10 years, a conservative estimate for a THR with m/poly,

multiplied by 40), then I think the main point of concern is probably

not whether the ball on one will wear better than the ball on the

other, but rather the fixation of the ball on the femoral side. What

is going to happen to the glue within the next 10-15 years? The

acetabular components seem to do quite well. Those of us who've had

the procedure done are the guinea pigs, we'll provide the answers

over time.

To those who are considering the procedure, I would offer

encouragement. I was basically an invalid before my surgery. Now I

have my life back, I'm doing most things that I did before without

thinking about it. I'm planning on skiing next winter, I will work

out at length in the fall and early winter before I go, but I think

it should go well. I haven't gone back to playing basketball, I think

I would like to protect the joint, and the impact of basketball is

probably not the best for it. But maybe I'll change my mind when I'm

in better shape. LOL. If you want to return to a life where hip pain

is a distant memory, activity limitations are minimal, and hip ROM is

restored, I think that resurfacing gives you the best opportunity to

reach those goals.

Best wishes,

Jack son