Re: new to group: any rock climbers out there?

January 1, 2002

Bill- Search postings by " Des Marshall " " Climber " and " Rick

West " . Climbing after THR is definitely contra-indicated due to the

risk of dislocation. JRI (Joint REplacement Institute) of Los Angeles

is probably your closest site. You should distinguish between Hemi-

resurfacing (femoral appliance only) and M/M resurfacing , which

involves a metal acetabular cup, as well. The latter is in FDA

clinical trials (, Corin) in the US, so access is quite

limited, but (BHR, Corin) is widely available in Europe, particularly

Britain. Check out activejoints.com or midmedtec.co.uk and related

sites for a comprehensive overview. Gord

Hi,

> I'm new to the group. I'm 40 and have had hip pain for several

> years and this year (OK, last year, 2001) the orthopedist that I've

> visited locally in Denver (Dr. Doug Dennis) said I should get a THR

> within the year. Through the Web, I discovered the hip re-surfacing

> procedure and it sounds much more appropriate for me given my age

> and the amount of activities I enjoy. I'm a big rock climber and

> one question I had was whether there were any climbers out there

> who have had hip re-surfacing? The other big question I have is

> where to get the procedure done? Dr. Dennis was recommending a

> metal-on-metal THR for me, but I believe he was talking about an

> otherwise traditional THR. In the lists posted on activjoints.com,

> I didn't see any surgeons here in Colorado doing the procedure, does

> anybody out there have different information? I also have family

> in New Jersey, and have thought about having surgery done there, but

> again I didn't see any NJ surgeons on those lists. This confuses me

> a bit since I had some communication with a Dr. Buechel in NJ who

> has a Web site where he discusses doing hip resurfacing. Sorry for

> being a bit rambling, but I'm trying to sort things out and any help

> would be appreciated.

>

> Bill

January 1, 2002

Bill- I'm no rock climber but there on here. Things are kinda slow

with the New Year on us. If you're looking for rock climber surfers,

type in " climbers " or " rock climbers " in SEARCH and see what comes

up. I know some were talking in late Nov or early Dec. As far as a

list of resurf docs goes, it is published on activejoints.com but I'm

going to cut and paste the list here.

I was in the same boat as you, nagged by pain, I thought I just

wasn't stretching enough before reffing travel team soccer (sometimes

3 matches a day). I went to my MD to get a referral for PT who could

give me aggressive stretching, he wanted to take xrays to rule out

Arthritis. Long story short, they wanted to cut the end of my femur

off. I felt like this was an imposition, like burning bridges behind

you and leaving no way for retreat.

I narrowed my resurf surgeon choice down to about 4 that were in my

PPO and sent Dr Mont in Baltimore my films (I had copies made at

radiologist dept at our local hospital $7 / shot) for evaluation

(also he didn't charge for looking at them)

He called me on a sunday and we talked for a while, I made appt on

mon, just had my left hip resurfed 2 weeks ago. No pain now, haven't

had a pain pill for a week, or a Tylenol for 3 days. Just Phys

Therapy daily with my wife's help, weekly with a PT. Everything is

much better now.

With resurf, you'll have less chance of disloc, probably quicker

recovery, more ROM and bone left to make next Hip job easier than

conventional THR revision. You have a viable option for the future

with resurf, only advice is let Dr's insurance people take care of

your insurance dealings, if you need a referal, as with an HMO, they

will have sugestions.

I went with sending my films to Baltimore after seeing 3 other

Orthos, they all had basically the same rap. If and when you want to,

take the plunge...here are those addresses. Good luck, Captain Amaze_O

By the way, Dr Beuchel's not listed here, he may be involved with

Hemi Resurfacing (only redoing the femoral side and utilizing the

acetabulum cartilage) Anyway, this list is originaly from

Brewster's website, Activejoints.com. I just cut and pasted it for

ease of info.

Cappy

Conserve Plus Participating Surgeons

California

Dr. Harlan Amstutz, Dr. Schmalzried, and Dr. Beaule

Joint Replacement Institute, Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital

cadams@...

http://www.jri-oh.com/

Dr. Ed Sparling, Vancouver, WA

Dr. Harold Boyd, Salem, OR

Texas

Dr. Mike Grecula, Univ. of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

fax

mgrecula@...

http://www.utmb.edu/ortho/profiles/grecula.htm

Florida

Dr. Kennedy, Sarasota

1818 Hawthorne St.

Sarasota, FL 34239

East

Dr. Mont

Sinai Hospital

Baltimore,MD

rhondamont@...

http://208.184.31.71/aboutavn.html

Dr. Tom Vail, Duke Univ., Durham, NC

fax

https://www.medduke.mc.duke.edu/phyrefrl.nsf

Cormet 2000 Participating Surgeons

East

Dr. Tom Gross

Midlands Orthopaedics

1910 Blanding Street

Columbia, SC 29201

Contact: Ms. Lee Webb, RN

Dr. s, MD

Chief of Orthopedic Surgery - Good Samaritan Hospital

Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery - s Hopkins University

Team Orthopedist - Baltimore Orioles Baseball Team

Good Samaritan Hospital

Bldg. - Room 405

5601 Loch Raven Blvd.

Baltimore, MD 21239

(fax)

Contact: Sharon O'Shaughnessy (pronounced - O-shaw-ness-ee)

Allan Inglis, Jr. MD

343 West 58th Street

New York, NY 10019

Phone:

Midwest

Dr. Myron Stachniw

Galesburg Orthopedics

Galesburg, IL

Contact: Ms. Reva Hennenfent, RN

Dr. Gordon Allan

SIU School of Medicine

Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Division

800 N Rutledge St., Rm D311

Springfield, IL 62702

(fax)

Contact: Ms. Candi Bearss

January 1, 2002

Hey Bill,

A simple search of " rock climbing " will give you a start.I know

Des is a rock climber, and my future roommate (Feb 12, Dr

DeSmet, Gent Belgium) is also a climber. If you will be self pay

you will find that Belgium is by far the most cost effective, and

DeSmet considered one of the best in the world.

Verne

(Minnesota)

> Hi,

> I'm new to the group. I'm 40 and have had hip pain for several

> years and this year (OK, last year, 2001) the orthopedist that

I've

> visited locally in Denver (Dr. Doug Dennis) said I should get a

THR

> within the year. Through the Web, I discovered the hip

re-surfacing

> procedure and it sounds much more appropriate for me given

my age

> and the amount of activities I enjoy. I'm a big rock climber and

> one question I had was whether there were any climbers out

there

> who have had hip re-surfacing? The other big question I have

is

> where to get the procedure done? Dr. Dennis was

recommending a

> metal-on-metal THR for me, but I believe he was talking about

an

> otherwise traditional THR. In the lists posted on

activjoints.com,

> I didn't see any surgeons here in Colorado doing the

procedure, does

> anybody out there have different information? I also have

family

> in New Jersey, and have thought about having surgery done

there, but

> again I didn't see any NJ surgeons on those lists. This

confuses me

> a bit since I had some communication with a Dr. Buechel in NJ

who

> has a Web site where he discusses doing hip resurfacing.

Sorry for

> being a bit rambling, but I'm trying to sort things out and any

help

> would be appreciated.

>

> Bill

January 2, 2002

Dear Mr. Farrand sir,

Hi there. So you are a rock climber. Tsk, tsk. You know what it does

to the hips! I'm one too and have been for a long time. When left hip

pain grew worse I researched potential remedies and was pointed by a

rock climber to hip resurfacing. A colleague climber had had one and

was back to climbing UK HVS (US 5.10?). I found others who had had a

season after surgery in the Italian Dolomites. Other research showed

that metal-on-metal resurfacing in general produced a better hip

range of motion, potentially much longer joint life, more active

lifestyle and lower dislocation risk - much - that a hip replacement.

So, I looked into it more, found this group of helpful - very - souls

and eventually located Dr. DeSmet in Belgium. He is the best value

abd third most experienced resurfacing surgeon in Europe. I am a self-

funded patient and desperately want to resume climbing, so both

things mattered.

I have heard that travelling to Europe can be a better value option

for people in the USA. However, this group's colective wisdom also

makes it clear that there are excellent surgeons in the USA also.

In the months of research I have carried out I have found no

indications that hip replacement patients resume rock climbing, not

one. Hip resurfacing patients do. That is the single most important

fact for me concerning the choice between resurfacing and replacing.

The second is that, should a resurfaced joint need replacing (known

as revision)a hip replacement can be done. The general view is that

you can only have two hip replacement operations before bone damage

precludes any more.So, for me, climbing life would be prolonged with

hip resurfacing and stopped with replacement.

There are lots of supporting points about the general advantages of

resurfacing such as a longer-lasting and lower wear rate metal-on-

metal joint.

A British climbing instructor has had the operation and is currently

recovering. He's in his third or fourth post-operative week. His ID

on this group is Reisz. (Before you ask, I don't know.)

Whatever your choice, good luck and a happy outcome.

Chris.

Mellor.

C h r i s . p e n t i r e @ b t i n t e r n e t . c o m

Remove spaces for correct e-mail address)