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Ivoryton, CT
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Nairb#70
5/28/2020 3:11pm
5/28/2020 3:11pm
Edited Date/Time
6/17/2022 1:27am
Just got the go ahead to get my right hip replaced after years of pain, soreness, immobility, and a general assache. Doin' cartwheels here. Can't have any medical procedure done without consulting the Vital MXperts first of course. But really, I know people who have the procedure done but they are not motoheads like us. I'm convinced we are physically superior compared to the rest of humanity, and that we have a substantially higher threshold for pain. Its in our DNA. Just ask any MD. My hip is totally shot so they are going for the full monty replacement. Im certain some, or even a bunch on here have had this done, how did you respond, can you still ride (race), are you still limited, how did therapy/rehab go, any tips, advice, etc.
Thanx in advance,
Nairb
Thanx in advance,
Nairb
* Pick a surgeon carefully. Find one that does a lot of replacements and uses the most modern technique.
* Go into the surgery in the best possible shape and as light as possible.
* Use a professional Physical Therapist for the first 3-4 weeks after the surgery.
Those are what I found most helpful and I’m sure there are more that others can add.
The Shop
First thing you're going to want to hear is I do everything I did before, ride offroad, race moto, (if the otmx 60 novice class counts as racing lol) walk as far as I want, surf, swim, body surf, ride bicycles, and am on my feet walking and bending over all day with zero issues, I don't even think about having fake hips anymore. You'll be "Fixed" As far as the procedure I agree with everything nighttrain said. The surgeon is the key to the whole thing. If you have a choice (and you should) make sure he uses the "Anterior" approach, in through the front or side, the "Posterior" approach through the butt cheek is bullshit, they go through way more muscles and the recovery is 4x longer. So remember "Anterior" Go in through the front or side, or find another doctor that will. I've had both and the difference is HUGE. I'd be surprised if they still do posterior approaches. The one that failed on me was metal on metal, I'd be leery of metal on metal. The 2 I have now are ceramic coated titanium ball into a polyethelne cup and they feel like nothing ever happened. So health kick big time if you're not already, the lighter and stronger you are going in the better. Do what the PT says and before you know it you'll be good to go. The last one I had my surgery was in the morning, I was back home by 6pm, and the pt had me walking up and down the street in a walker the next day. A month later I was walking unassisted with no limp, and went back to work at 6 weeks, not lifting shit but driving around, walking in and out of yards etc. You're going to be stoked ! Good luck !
ps. I waited 6 months before I started riding and waited about 8 months before I started back on tracks and racing. It felt like I could have done that sooner, but I wanted to make sure the bones had fully grown into the implants. My doc said it's solid at 6 months but the bone grows into the implant for about a year. And I'm sure you already know if you bring up dirt bikes they'll say "that's not a good idea", but you already know that haha
Same as others:
* Wish I would have had it way earlier. Once I got to the right Doc, he agreed. I tried one Steroid shot that didn't do anything and then he was scheduled the replacement.
* Get the best surgeon you can find - look for a Hip specialist and someone with lots of surgeries under their belt.
* I do everything I used to do with only a twinge here and there (downhill skiing was awesome this past winter - until Covid anyway)
* I don't off road anymore but I ride a Ducati Monster like I stole it and have no issues
* Post Op pain management: get off the Opioids as soon as you can.
* My PT said to stop skiiing and riding motorcycles but the Doc said to listen to your body and do what feels do-able.
* This is my biggest point: Some medical folks have knee-jerk reaction to say you can't do stuff simply because they classify stuff into the "scary things" bucket. Listen closely to how they say this and ask them to clarify exactly what it is about the activity that might cause an issue. If they can't articulate a valid concern, they're likely just pulling the fear out of their ass.
* This is especially true about anything related to motorcycles. My doc explained exactly which kinds of torque/torsion would fuck up my hip (knee to the inside while my foot came around outside). When I ski, this is on my mind and I am aware of how I fall and twist that leg. If I rode dirt, I would be very aware of dabbing that foot or planting it a corner to make sure that outside twist motion didn't happen.
You can also ask to keep your bone. Mine had been in the freezer since the surgery. Eventually I’ll push it deep down in a fire-ant hill and let them clean it up. Then I plan to install it on the end of a hiking stick. Pretty cool, eh?
At the end before the replacement I had to put my chest on the gas tank and then slide my extended leg over the rear fender and seat. My son said it embarrassed him when people were around, haha. And there was no way to raise my leg in turns while seated. The pain was debilitating. I had to learn turn while standing on the pegs. That’s was actual kinda cool.
Today marks the 8 week anniversary of my THR or total hip replacement. You guys nailed it, I felt 20 years younger 1 week after surgery and no doubt it feels awesome. Killed it on the mtb today, back swimming like a fish again, no more limping like a drunken sailor either. Groin muscles are still a little weak but they're coming around. I never had the chance to ask the surgeon if I could have the old parts though, would make a nice souvenir. I think I'll remember the experience for the rest of my life though. Feels like I have two legs again instead of 1 1/2.
Great news ! Stoked for you
My question is, with respect to moto, how bad is it to dab in a corner? Is it better just to fall over? Outside of a really bad crash, any concerns about minor tip overs or movements like doing the Cody Webb EX one legged pivot while on single track? I won't be back on the bike for at least 4 months and when I do, it will be super light initially. I won't get after it until after at least 6-8 months. I'll be doing all the PT, etc. I'll go to PT initially, but I have a home gym and wife is a pilates instructor with all the equipment. So once I get the PT routine, I'll do it all at home.
But when it comes to moto what should I avoid? I just don't want it to pop out.
Pit Row
My experience with knee replacement is the opposite. Wish I’d never had that surgery.
Its been years and I still mountain bike, moto, golf, longboard and everything I used to do before. Just do the PT and get some resistance bands and stuff and really try to build up the small stabilization muscles and you are golden. I am not sure what exact procedure you had done, but mine was an anterior (from the front) approach, which is harder to dislocate than some methods from my understanding. Did you go with a plastic lining?
I wear these shorts when riding or mountain biking and I can't tell you enough how amazing they are. Or how long it took to find something that I felt actually protected the hip.
KNOX Defender Shorts
Most padded compression shorts suck because with one pad your hip isn't always protected when you leg bends. The knox shorts have 2 overlapping pads with a "pivot" and they slide over each other meaning your hip is always protected no matter how your leg is bent.
Cycling is how I get the cardio in as we are supposed to keep it low impact and I'm not much on swimming. I really recommend skate / longboarding as well as it really helps building your balance back up and builds a lot of the small stabilization muscles. I don't do anything too crazy on the board but just kicking around on flat ground will help a lot if your balance is jacked like mine was from having a collapsed ball for 3 years. Plus it is pretty fun once/if you are confident enough to bomb some hills!
Any questions you have or whatever I'd be glad to answer. Good luck on your recovery and hope all goes well!
My only question is when you are MTB'ing or moto'ing, any issues or concerns with popping out of joint on a dab or pivot when putting your foot down? That's about it. Everything else seems pretty straight forward. I plan to give this a good 4-6 months before getting back on the bike, then just taking it slow on the vet tracks and turn tracks. I'll give it a good 8-12 months before going really hard. I'm still in really good shape and plan to bike for cardio as well as using our rowing machine. I have a home gym with free weights plus pilates equipment.
Thanks again, Really interested in the shorts.
I spent a lot of time in that hospital fighting cancer so knew a lot of the nurses personally, and those nurses recommended that surgeon as he is one of the best in the state and even top athletes go to him. He was actually the second surgeon I consulted with, as the first one was a dick and acted like id never be able to do shit again. It was at that point I asked the nurses for a recommendation and found the really cool, younger one who said with the anterior I can do whatever a normal person can. So don't be discouraged if your surgeon is a dick and tries to tell you otherwise as he told me "a lot of surgeons have the personality of a cardboard box" (his words) and just look at this surgery as a "quality of life" procedure for old guys to be able to take a walk in the park but that is an antiquated view as the new anterior way is just as strong as a normal hip, but they just read the same old script from back in the day when you used to have to sit on a triangle pillow for weeks after surgery and couldn't even bend at the waist past 45 degrees for a month. He then alluded to something along the lines of surgeons will tell you to play it safe because they don't want you to come back/make them look bad; maybe im wrong but that is what I picked up on reading between the lines.
So you should not be worried about it popping out! I would say I would probably wait the full 12 months before you rode moto just to be safe as you wouldn't want the 200 lb bike to piledrive your thigh or something at 6 months when the bone/ligaments or whatever isn't fully healed. I just waited 6 months before I rode anything, then rode mtb for 6 months then got on the bike around a year later. No worries about dabbing my foot or anything. You sound like you are going to put in the work in the gym and stuff so I wouldn't worry at all. I have absolutely ate shit so many times on my mountain bike (i crash like jordon smith but on bikes) and never had any trouble.
The only time I have ever had an issue was one of the first times back on my dirtbike I highsided in a deep sand corner and the bike landed with all its weight on my inside thigh and trapped my leg under the bike. My hip didn't "hurt" really (like a 2/10 level pain) but when trying to kick the bike over or taking each step it was uncomfortable, which scared me. But then 2 days later everything was all good so it must have just made it sore or something. That was probably at around the 11 month mark or so which is why I say give it the full year before you hop on the 200 lb beast. But again, I have ran out of talent numerous times since then (almost every time lol) and have never had a single issue with pain or soreness ever again. I do wear knee pads instead of braces. I wouldn't worry about pivoting either as I hit a LOT of golf balls and my pivot/power foot is on my replaced side, no issues at all.
The knox shorts are really great and even here in the NC heat they aren't too hot to handle. Movement isn't restricted and they give me the confidence to not worry at all. The pads are removeable and a bit of a pain in the ass to get back in so I actually have 2 pairs and I let them get a little stanky before I wash them lol. When I mountain bike I wear a regular chamois as the first layer then throw these over top. There is also a tailbone pad that you can remove, but after taking a hit to the tailbone I put it back in lol.
FYI - my Doc said he expects my hip replacement to be good for up to 30 years. I don't think the titanium will break down, it just comes down to the plastic and ceramic coating, which I would expect they could replace on a future rerack down the line. all in all, very pleased!
Thanks again for all the info!!!
Resurrecting this to add a bit of new info. I just had mine done through the Direct Superior Approach. This (counter to sumdoods info) approach is through the rear, just below the beltline. However it doesnt cut any muscles, and in fact ends up with only a single 3-4" incision. I walked out of the hospital same day, and my flexibility is already way better (6 days out from surgery today).
Great news ! I've never heard of that approach, I know they're constantly perfecting different methods. I went mountain biking with a guy who had one done 8 weeks ago and you'd never know. His scar was about that, 3-4 inches but was anterior (almost directly on his side but more forward than back) He called it anterior (front) approach. I've watched a couple videos and they make a small incision then "slide the hole around" for access to different spots. I wish they had this technology when I got mine, the last one was good but I wasn't walking on my own the first day by a longshot. Stoked for you congrats on getting back to your life so quick that's awesome Now I'm hoping for the same results from doing a knee replacement, sounds like they're not quite there yet on those. Good deal dude charge it !
Thanks man. Had my two week check up today, got cleared for driving and back to work already (desk job though). It's amazing what they can do nowadays.
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