Hip Talk at Surface Hippy

I had my one year checkup this week and was told my labs are looking good and my X-rays were perfect. I'm feeling great and have really been ramping up my activity levels the last few months.  I'm averaging about 15,000 steps per day, riding my bike up to about 15 miles, and have been playing pickleball.

Before the arthritis got bad I was running about 3-5 miles per day and I think I'm about to start kicking the tires on jogging again.

I asked my ortho if I should consider limiting my running if I want to try to maximize the life of my hips. He said that in well placed, well functioning prosthetics that 96% are still functioning at 19 years and I should do what brings me joy. I have to navigate what that is I guess because I do think about being on 45 when I got these and realistically what the life expectancy will be.

But until that time I'm feeling great and remain happy I found out about hip resurfacing.  I was told my next checkup would be X-rays at 10 years and to call with any issues.

So far this has been better than I could have expected.

Hi  Nice to hear from you and read your update.  My BHR is also 19 years old. Dr. De Smet in Belgium in 2006. I started this website and forum back then in 2005.  I still keep it running since I feel it is important for people to have information about hip resurfacing.  Not a lot has changed as far as surgeons doing and understanding hip resurfacing.  Devices have come and gone and now several new ones are in trials or use like the Polymotion trials in US and the ReCerf ceramic on ceramic approved overseas.  BHRs are still used for only men and the Adept is used overseas.  I hope you find a good solution for your knees.  Usually older hip resurfacing are not revised to a new hip resurfacing.  Usually revised to a THR.  I wish you the best.  Pat - owner of SurfaceHippy.info    

Hello,

I used to be on this forums a couple of decades ago. So long I forgot my username and just registered under a new name. Resurface Wright Conserve + 1/19/06. I didn't think this site was still around.

I'm 19 1/2 years into mine. I've had some groin pull pain, some groaning noises, and every once in a while it feels like a slight shift in there. I was checked out in 2022 at a big Boston Hospital and passed the cobalt test and a "limited MRI" which shows a little inflammation / fluid in there but was told no concerns. I had another cobalt test which was slightly higher this year but my new doc said it's not of a concern and it would have to be a much higher value to be alarmed. I also am having "sits bone" problems and had a shot in the upper hamstring tendon last month. With lots of sitting or activity like hours mowing lawn, etc I'm sore getting up. I don't know if it's hip related or not. Of course at almost 72 I'm concerned with my hip implant. And with mine and looked up this device only to find they ceased to make MoM hips back in 2016 and lots of lawsuits etc against Wright and others..

I live in Mass and now on a fixed income, so I can't just fly down to Baltimore, MD like in my working days. My new doc is in Massachusetts where I live. The first doc to check my hip thoroughly knows my original hip surgeon who I don't blame at all as I have learned it's the device, not the doctor! He had done over 400 of these when I got mine done.

My dilemma is I'm scheduled for a knee replacement on same leg next month and I AM bone on bone from a 25 year old hockey ACL injury so the occasional pain is real but I'm contemplating putting off knee and to talk with doc about my hip a little further. He isn't a big fan of resurfacings. He does hips and knees and it is a well rated doctor.

How are others doing with decades behind them for resurfacings?

And also are there any NEW PROVEN resurface decives and can someone with a troublesome device be revised with a NEW RELIABLE DEVICE RESURFACE???

Quote from: Banas1145 on July 09, 2025, 08:27:40 AMThank you for all of the info and the journal. It was great to see a timeline that was taken day by day.   
How long would you say it took for you to be 100%?   Are you able to run jump that kind of thing?  I am a very active person with an active job and I'm concerned about the timeline to return to normal (pre hip pain) life. 
Thanks

My doctor said no running, weights, motocross, basically nothing that puts a lot of stress on the femur for 1 year (to prevent breaking the neck before it builds bone density), I've got a few months left.  But I have been doing a lot of mountain biking and I have jogged across the back yard, and it feels great. 

Regarding 100%, that's a tough one, it's not identical to my other perfectly fine natural hip (yet?).  It IS a million times better than my pre-surgery hip, I was in so much pain and disabled, now zero pain and I feel able to do pretty much anything.  Absolutely zero regrets at this point, and it has truly given me my life back.  If I had to sum everything together and put a number on it, I would say its' 80-90% of my natural hip at this point, and still improving.  Mountain biking it's not holding me back at all, same for walking, I've jogged a few steps and it feels great, I feel like I could motocross today (counting the days!) and my son wants me to go wakeboarding with him and I feel like I could do that today without issue, but trying to be good and wait the full year.  So I think there's no magic rewind-to-before-hip-went-bad solution, but this is definitely the next best thing so far, and still getting better.

Quote from: Banas1145 on July 09, 2025, 08:27:40 AMThank you for all of the info and the journal. It was great to see a timeline that was taken day by day. 
How long would you say it took for you to be 100%?  Are you able to run jump that kind of thing?  I am a very active person with an active job and I'm concerned about the timeline to return to normal (pre hip pain) life. 
Thanks

For me it was about a year.  I went back to full activity at six months, but it took another six months to re-gain quickness and explosiveness.  On the tennis court, at least.

Indeed......get your lower body as strong as possible.  Before my first hip (13 years ago), I mostly only ran for lower body exercise.  Recovery was a bit tough for me.  About 2 years before hip #2 (3 years ago), I joined a boot-camp style gym.  SO MUCH lower body stuff, like wall sits squats, sled pushes, etc....  My lower body was much stronger.  My recovery, despite being 8 1/2 years older, was twice as fast.

I think this is my first post/reply here in years!  Some "Hero Member" I am.....

Thank you for all of the info and the journal. It was great to see a timeline that was taken day by day.   
How long would you say it took for you to be 100%?   Are you able to run jump that kind of thing?  I am a very active person with an active job and I'm concerned about the timeline to return to normal (pre hip pain) life. 
Thanks

Quote from: Banas1145 on July 07, 2025, 05:18:27 PMThanks for the tips. Matt I noticed you said that you had to lay down a lot.  Was that what your Dr wanted? 

Immediately after surgery I felt a bit crummy for a couple of days, fever for a bit which I'm told is common, but then significant daily improvements starting coming fast.  Doctors orders were only walking with crutches and no full body weight on that side for 6 weeks.  The joint had no pain, but the soft tissues were wrecked for a bit.  They give you a little strap, like a dog leash, that hooks your foot and you use it to lift that leg when getting in and out of bed, etc.. I needed it LOL.  Which reminds me, also get the taller toilet seat, that makes the first couple of days easier. 

I kept a journal for myself, it wasn't written with public reading in mind, but here's a copy/paste as-is in case you find it useful. 

-----------------

2024-0917 Day before surgery - I haven't run in a while so I have been able to sleep, and I have been riding the bike fine.  Walking has been mostly OK but it starts to get sore by end of our neighborhood walks and I'm still limping.  It's also starting to pinch badly on the groin side when I sit down sometimes, very sharp instant pain.  Range of motion is still bad, lower back hurts.  Overall it's not terrible at the moment, but last time I ran it hurt the whole time and the run was very slow, and it was sore afterward. 

2024-0918 - Day of surgery
Surgery part was very easy. Spinal did not hurt at all.  Woke up after surgery and lower half was completely numb. The feet were second to last to come back and the private area was the last. It's now 5 or 6 hours after surgery, I can feel a tiny bit of numbness in my hamstrings but everything else feels to be back. Zero pain in the joint. At this point. I can feel the incision, especially when I've bend the leg, but maybe a one out of 10 on pain. The worst part was my bladder got super full and I was leaking when everything was numb and I didn't know it. Once I figured that out I used the jug and if I squeezed My abs really hard I could squeeze more urine out but it was not emptying my bladder. Not a problem until the numbness started wearing off and I realized how tight my bladder was and now it was very painful for a good 5 or 10 minutes. With the nurses help I tried to stand up and pee but due to low blood pressure from the anesthesia basically passed out. I felt it coming and sat back down and put my head on the Walker then apparently I stopped responding to the nurses and  they quick got me back in bed and that fixed it, blood pressure was very low. 90 over 60 I believe. But my bladder was still very tight, they didn't even need the ultrasound. The nurse just said oh yeah that's full. So she went to get a catheter and while she was gone, maybe 10 minutes, I got enough feeling back to be able to pee out about half a liter and then felt significantly better.  They then gave me a flowmax and cranked up the IV fluids, waiting to see the results of that .  So far that has been the worst part. I can tell my quads are bruised and possibly my hamstring a little. It does not hurt when I'm sitting still. Only when try to extend my leg. I'm sure I'll feel that more when the spinal wears off completely.

The actual surgery
After checking in they gave me a pile of drugs, I can't remember them all.  But for inflammation, nausea, Gabapentin for nerve something or other, it was a good 4 or 5 vials plus a cup of pills.  Then on the way to the OR they gave me something "to relax".  It just made me a little spacy, I'm not a big fan.  Next is the spinal to numb everything from the waist down.  I was warned it would pinch, burn then pressure, but it really did not hurt at all.  Pretty quick your legs start going numb but they still work for a bit, I started getting situated on the table, adjusting a pillow then that's all I remember.  They must have turned on the propofol at that time.  Next thing was waking up groggy in the recovery room.  No pain, I was dead numb from the waist down and my clothing was damp around my private area.  Turns out my bladder was full and I was leaking, but so numb I had no idea.  Squeezing my abs super tight could squeeze out more urine so I thought I was emptying my bladder into the jug they give you, but no, only a little was coming out.  My private area was the very last part to regain feeling, first was my bladder area and it was super uncomfortable for a bit, very painful because my bladder was full and hard, but the part that controls urinating was still numb so I could not pee. 

Notes for talk with doctor:
Woke up groggy damp clothing but no real pain. Numb
Discuss urine issues and low blood pressure
Only Tylenol so far as of 5am day after
No real resting pain, muscles very painful with movement
Range of motion seems to be similar to before surgery already, maybe a little less
Have not been able to walk yet due to blood pressure. She just checked again at 4:45am and it's back up to 114/56 so finally coming up if it stays

Day 2
They gave me a ton of fluids overnight, blood pressure was good this morning. Just took the first walk. Very short, 20 or 30 steps but felt fantastic. Used Walker and was probably only putting 40 or 50 lb on the foot. Just getting started.  Nurse did not want me to do more steps. I'm very swollen and puffy and the leg is stiff but putting weight on it felt fine. They gave me more extra strength Tylenol but so far still only pain when I move. No pain when resting. Urinating just fine. Probably the most unpleasant part is being sore from laying in bed so long and the stomach as well from laying in bed so long. But feel significantly better after even such a short walk.

Home from the hospital. The wound was getting a little edgy with pain but I had not had Tylenol a long time, took the Tylenol 1000 mg and solved that problem. Getting light-headed frequently when standing up, not able to go far. Looked at blood test results and my red blood cells are extremely low, I believe it was 3.4. this must be the problem. Going to take it easy My blood pressure has been quite high, I believe last time I checked it it was 136 over 74 or something like that

Day 3 9/20
Felt like death much of the day. Steady headache that kept getting worse.  Very little sleep last night. Just couldn't get comfortable, fever most of the day and just feeling really bad. Swelling is up a lot today and stiff/sore from it.  Did not eat much all day but drinking a lot of water, so started thinking maybe I'm low on salt.  Had a bowl of really salty soup, drank all the soup water and within 20 minutes the headache was significantly reduced, I crutched half way around the block and now feeling much better than before.  So maybe just low on salt. 

Day 4 - 9/21
Took a single oxy last night and slept 5 hours strait, yay!  Woke up 2am, did not take any other pain meds but did manage to fall asleep a few times, moved to the couch and slept some more. Sweating now, probably breaking a fever, and getting hungry.  Progress!  Evening– ended the day feeling better for sure at night than in the morning

Day 5 - 9/22
Took one oxy last night around I think 10:00 or 10:30 slept all the way through to 5:30. Feel significantly better. Just went for a walk. Not just the hip but whole body feels better, no headache, not feeling sick anymore and have some appetite. Woke up and a puddle of sweat around 5:30 so must have lost the fever. Also seem to have lost about 3 lb of the 6 lb that I gained, we'll see if that sticks.  Walk felt great. Only 8:00 now but feeling good already.  PM - Great day overall, feeling better all the way around.  Low fever for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but none in the morning.  Went for a couple of walks outside.  Appetite coming back, had the first big meal since surgery (chicken sandwich from cheesecake factory)

Day 6 - 9/23
Last night I felt great, fell asleep with no pain meds at all.  Got up around midnight to check the doors since Ryan left to go back to school and got things a tiny bit irritated so took a pain pill and went back to sleep, slept great.  Woke up about 5am in a complete puddle, apparently sweating a ton.  The third night in a row of that, also 3rd night taking a pain pill so maybe it's related?  I've now lost all the weight I gained, back to my pre-surgery weight.  Overall feeling very good.  Small headache now and then, but appetite is back, walking feels great, pain is reducing by the day and movement is getting easier.  Evening – I sat in the office chair for several hours and did not realize that my leg was swelling the whole time, so by afternoon my leg was very big, whole leg calf and all.  With the swelling came tightness and discomfort from just so much stuff, difficult to sit on the left side, etc..  Watched a movie with the ice machine and started heading the right direction.  Fever came back last night, up to 101 for a little bit. Gained a few pounds back surely from swollen leg.

Day 7 - 9/24
Now 7:45am, slept great, bed in zero-G again, swelling in leg seems to be down and feeling another nice overall improvement.  Less painful getting up and down, etc.. feeling better than yesterday so far, continuing to trend positive.  Able to lay on my back and put my shoes and socks on now!  Can touch my ankle to my butt too.  Fever feels gone as of this morning. – day ended pretty good, felt better overall.  Took bandage off, incision looked OK, lots of bruising.

Day 8 - 9/25
Messed up medicine yesterday, took Celebrex in the morning instead of evening, oops!  Didn't sleep the best last night, probably because I napped a few times yesterday.  So feeling a little blah, little bit of a headache I think is from the weather, but better after breakfast.  Physically a little bit sore, but I had forgotten Tylenol completely after yesterday morning.

Day 9 9/26
Continuing to improve. Less and less pain, getting up and down easier. Walked a good bit today. Did still have a low fever for a short time late this afternoon, but it went away after a short nap.  Was able to lay face down on the bed this morning for a few minutes for the first time and getting more comfortable to lay on my right side. Still cannot lay on left side. 

Day 11 9/27
11:00am - Feeling best yet, getting up and down much easier.  Did some walking around the back yard, cleaned pool filter, waked around block and feel really good. Night time was good, slept a lot and was able to sleep on my right side for a while.

Day 12 9/28
Felt very good in the morning. Did some things around the house. For a walk. Tried to step over the ditch in the front and put some pressure on the left side and it hurt quite a bit, feels like one of the muscles or something. Not 100% better but going away by afternoon. Hopefully didn't damage something.

Day 14 - 9/30
Yesterday was very good, a little sore I think from the ditch incident the day before, but today it's 100% back to normal.  Walked a lot yesterday, ran errands with lisa, maybe that's part of why I feel so good today.  Starting to feel like I want to walk without the crutches for the first time.  Getting up and down is very easy now, slept on my right side a while last night.  Tried the left side, not yet but I can see it happening in the future.  Walked 1.2 miles this morning non-stop, felt great.  Definitely improving every day. – Evening → Great day, getting range of motion back, could touch the tops of my shoes and was able to put socks on easily (laying on my back).  Went for 2 walks, 1.2 mile morning and 1.3 mile evening, improving!  Every so often something in the hip shifts.  I was leaning over to get the pool filter out and something slipped, felt like my hip moved ½ inch, was probably much less but definitely something moved.  Zero pain.  Also every so often something seems to move slightly, one level down from a clunk.  Not sure what it is, no pain at all.  Also bending my knee now, such as when high stepping, causes a clunkiness just above the knee, must be the tendons or something there rubbing.  The quads were wrecked after surgery so hopefully it's just due to that and will go away.  No pain, but I've never had that before.

Day 15 - 10/1
Overdid it a bit yesterday, felt great at the time but a little sore and stiff last night.  Did not use ice at all yesterday, oops!  Took a pain pill around midnight to sleep.  But this morning still improving, able to put socks on/off and pants on/off without problem!

10/5
Continuing to improve every day.  Walking more, yesterday walked 1.6 miles at once, probably why I woke up last night with some pain, more of an ache just bad enough to keep me awake.  No pain meds at all today, zero pain when sitting, mildly stiff and sore when first walking but feels like it might be from overdoing it yesterday. 

2024-1031 -
Have been improving steadily.  Walking 2-4 miles most days, with crutches.  Today was the first day I did not use crutches much.  Went to work and did not use them around the office, when out to lunch and walked once around our block with no crutches.  When walking around the block noticed some clunking with each step, about ½ way through the step.  As if something is getting caught or rubbing, I can feel the clunk/click (no sound) if I put a finger on the top of my femur tightly while walking.  Not sure what's going on with that, but otherwise felt OK.  Muscles still recovering, still limping a bit but no pain.  Except for the clunking everything seems very good. 

2024-1102 - Second day not using crutches at all, limp seems to be improving rapidly.  Also limp a lot worse after sitting for a while, but improves rapidly after walking for a minute.  The click/clunk (no sound) while walking seems to come and go, possibly happens more often when the muscles are a little tired from walking.  Back was sore last night, I think I was walking funny from the limp.  But overall still improving and feeling very good.

If you are able, try to get into a good routine now standing on one leg (the side to be operated) for as long as you can. That will help to wake up the hip stabilisers which are key to recovery and most physios will use standing on one leg as a key exercise so it gets you ahead of the curve starting now. With a little practice, most can stand for at least a minute balanced on one leg.

Thanks for the tips. Matt I noticed you said that you had to lay down a lot.  Was that what your Dr wanted?