I am thinking about having a hip replacement on my left side. My motivattion to have a hip replacement is to be able to play doubles in tennis without pain and to be able to bowl without pain. And also to golf with less pain. Currently i am able to golf without too much pain. I can bowl but I dont bend becasue it is to painful in my left groin and left hip area. I have some back issues in my lower left back area also which i would hope can be worked on and allevaited also with the surgery. Tennis i cant play without hobbling around. I am golfing and bowling and working out with weights. Granted i am in some pain. I want my pain to go away. I know that many things can go wrong with surgery and and that my condition can get worse instead of better. Should I consider surgery or be content with the activity I am able to do now. I know there are no guarntees but wanted to hear everyones thoughts. Thanks for your time. Jeffrey
Your body will let you know when it's time for surgery. Keep in mind you are not suppose to participate in high impact activities and heavy lifting after THR. Well, that is if you want your new hip to last more than a few years (these days they can last 25 yrs or so). There is also several months of rehab after the surgery. Just do some research on line so you know what to expect. It does change your life. A great surgeon is also recommended, one that primarily does this instead of just a general surgeon.
You shouldnt be doing any high impact exercise now and certainly not after your hip replacement. I would say your tennis is high impact
The bowls and golf are low impact.
Everyone is different o only you know
Ask your consultants/surgeons advice....see what he says because you can leave a hip too long and then it just degenerates.
The other possibility is that because that hip needs doing , if you leave it it will make your other leg bad because it will be compensating for the one that needs doing.
It is possible it will affect your back {not having it done if it is necessary}. All joints join in when one is not in correct alignment.
. Also your back problems.....I have spinal problems as well and have had 2 THR's {because they were needed} but my spine is still the same Just as sore and stiff.
I would say the bottom line is talk to your orthopaedic consultant and follow his advice
Jeffrey, the main problem you have is that your hip will only detiorate over time. I had similar problems and although I could do various activities my consultant pointed out unless it was dealt with, in due course I would not be capable of doing anything. Had my op on 1st Dec and now my hip is totally pain free although I still to strengthen my body. My aim is 18 holes by end of April (dreaming of going round in par and a hole in one but 18 holes will do for now) Good luck
You don't say how old you are? I am 57 and from your description would say that my condition was similar to your own and the decision to have surgery was very difficult. My movement particularly bending was restricted but the pain was not too bad, more of a discomfort. The main activity that I had to stop was running but I could still walk, cycle and gently play tennis. I am now 9 days post op. My consultant advised tha the only activity that he is seriously against is running so I won't be doing that anymore. He advised that tennis is OK but recommended playing doubles to decrease the stress. Too early to tell you if it is a good decision or not but all the info I received from this forum and my consultant was that it will NOT get better so I went ahead on that basis and the fact that I had the opportunity.
Go for it. If you don't the pain will get worse and worse until the hip will disintegrate completely. You will be able to play golf again after the op and the recovery period, probably much better than you did before. Your back pain should go after the surgery as it is usually all related. I had pain in my hip, groin, thigh and knee and I was sure I would need a knee replacement too, but the surgeon told me it was all related to my hip and would go away after the op and it did and I am pleased to say I have had no pain since. You should be okay playing doubles in tennis, but give it 3-6 months after the op before you start to do that. Golf you can start playing sooner. You will be advised what you can and can't do when you have your pre-op assessment, at least I was. My advice is get it done now, the fitter you are, the quicker the recovery and to listen to the advice you are given at the hospital and you will be fine.
We are all different and as such some with the problem may be able play up to the op and some not. I played golf 12 months before the op and it hurt like hell after the round as the joint grated and ached and as such I had to stop playing.
I did ask the consultant if I could play good golf after the operation and he said that I should, which brought my reply "thats good as I was rubbish before !"
Go for it, get yourself fit which will take time due to the fact that whichever way you look at it, it is major trauma surgey.
Take your time with trying to get fit. You cannot rush it as it may be detrimental in the long run. If you are tired, just rest and in due course you will be back on track. Out of interest what do you play off and is it a good course ?
Thank you for the information. Good luck on your recovery. I am 60 years old. Please let me know what physical activity you are able to do once you recover. I do not expect to jog with any surgery. However, when you play tennis soemtinmes you need to acelerate and i would be hoping to be able to do that.
I am happy to hear that you are doing well after the surgery and thanks for the information. Your words ease my mind and give me hope and confidnece to go for it. This is why I posed the question to the forum so i can get honest feedback.
When i do paly golf most of the pain i get is when i am walking. I do take a cart though. I have tweaked my swing so that I do not have much pain from the swing directly from what i could gather. Of course who knows what really affects what and how. Anyway now you can yell at your doctor if you arent breaking 80 because he told you that you would play good golf. All your bad shots are your doctores fault.
All my bad shots (95%) are down to on course distractions such as friends, weather, birds, paparazzi - you know the stuff that we golfers have to put up with !!!
You've got some good advice in all these responses. My advice came from the manufacturer of the ceramic parts. 'Make hip replacement your last resort.' Then you'll be able to deal with the results. Sometimes they are good, sometimes the results are not; as you can see from forums like this. Sometimes a bad installation can make any artificial joint bad. There are no guarantees and you are responsible for your choices. And you can't go back. All hip joint manufacturers are not equal. Neither are the types of bearing surfaces. Plastic and metal are not inert in the body, Biolox ceramic is, and longlasting too. You have to educate yourself, because only you can take responsibility for you. We have to sign a waiver here in British Columbia that we accept full responsibility for everything.
I could have had surgery in 2011, it would have been better cause the muscles were stronger then. Everybody told me to do it then. But mentally, I had to exhaust all my other options first, or I would regret listening to everybody. No other options worked, so now I can make the decision to operate, and feel good about it. Before this it was like being forced into something I didn't want. My wife said that I used to have a trophy butt, now its just atrophy. But I'll exercise and swim and rebuild the muscle afterwards.
One option that might work for you is Regenexx. It shows good results from stem cell injections of your own cells into your hip joint. Maybe something like that exists in the UK. It is a much better solution than putting foreign parts into your body.
Thank you for all your information. I will look inot Regenexx and if i decide on a hip replacement i will lookk inot Biolox. From what you said that is the way to go. Thanks again., I will exhaust everything before i do surgery.