u/ajmattison

First world problems but someone make me less anxious about it 🙏🏼 incredibly grateful I can have surgery and that this is my biggest fear but it's still a big source of anxiety.

Figure I may as well ask, for myself but also anyone else who searches this sub in the future.

Anyone on this sub have their surgery by a surgeon in British Columbia or Alberta?

What clinic and which surgeon? How was your surgery and recovery? Would you recommend them?

One of the hobbies I've picked up while waiting for my hip replacement is listening to podcasts. I am a student and love to learn, so of course some of my favorites are educational. I have found one podcast specifically about joint replacement (hip and knee) and they just released an episode on resurfacing vs replacement and thought some other folks on here might be interested - in the podcast overall, but particularly for us young folks.

Hi, me again 😅 pre-op and can't decide.

I have the option of two amazing surgeons, one who does anterior and one who does posterior. My deepest desire is to get back to lower body training in the gym, lunges, split squats, leg press, hack squats, RDLs, deadlifts. I want massive legs 😂

The posterior surgeon said that these may be possible but he thinks it would be a big dislocation risk and I might benefit from an anterior hip replacement. He said I could try and "it will be ok

.. until it's not"

However, I have a lot of concerns with the potential complications of anterior hip replacement, the two largest being the potential for permanent numbness on the side of my thigh and the fact that the surgeon does not repair the anterior hip capsule, which while research hasn't shown this makes a difference, makes me nervous about the possibility of dislocation. I would also have to pay 35000$ for the anterior hip replacement vs 0$ for posterior.

I have already asked so many questions of both surgeons that I fear neither wants to help me any more. But I'm on crutches and have already drawn this out too long. I'm more comfortable with posterior but I worry about the long term impact it will have on my activities.

Long shot, but I need both hips replaced and I haven't met many people who returned to training post op. I am particularly interested in hearing from anyone who had a posterior-approach hip replacement. The only people I know who got back to training had an anterior-approach.

I need bilateral hip replacements due to early onset arthritis (28F) and was wondering if anyone here has had a hip replacement and been able to return to training. My main concern is dislocation. I am aware that returning to sport will shorten the lifetime of my implant and require early revision to replace it again. The gym is my home and I haven't met many people with a hip replacement that returned to lifting. Particularly if you have had a posterior approach hip replacement I'd love to hear from you.

For the rest of you who don't understand most of that, I'm sorry 😂

Apparently the top reason people are dissatisfied with their hip or knee replacement is because their expectations didn't match the outcome.

Some people walk into this thinking they will be able to do everything they could do with their teenage hips and are disappointed when they can't. This is a life changing surgery and the joint you get will likely be better than the joint you have prior to surgery. But it's still an artificial joint and has limitations.

Same thing goes with people worrying too much about potential limitations pre-op. You worry too much and limit YOURSELF with your expectations.

You also have to do this for you. Not your parents or kids. You do this for YOU. Otherwise you may eventually feel bitterness and resentment.

Background, I have been trying to decide between 2 surgeons for a few months now and I went with a surgeon who performs the anterior approach, not because of the approach but because he said he gives no activity restrictions post op which is important to me as a young person who loves the gym and outdoors more than anything.

However, I had some concerns about the potential for permanent numb patches with the approach and the fact that he does not repair the anterior hip capsule (which is an important part of posterior hip replacement to reduce risk of dislocation). I had an appointment with questions for the anterior surgeon and had surgery scheduled for August 31. I asked if I could have another phone call to ask a few more questions and was told the surgeon was on vacation and that they would postpone my surgery so I could meet with him after he comes back and decide if I wanted to proceed with the surgery after that.

I appreciate that they don't want me to go through with a surgery without having all my worries addressed, but I don't really have many options at this point and it is a major surgery, why wouldn't anyone have second thoughts? I'm frustrated with myself for perhaps coming off as indecisive or sketchy... I have an anxious personality can't you tell? 😅

If you made it this far thank you for reading, I just needed to get it off my chest.

Will your body tell you that you are in an unsafe position before you dislocate? I'm particularly thinking years down the line once you've fully healed and are no longer concerned with hip precautions. If one were to squat down or kick their leg out to the side would they experience pain once they reached a range of motion just before dislocating?

Hoping this helps someone.

I am 29F diagnosed with bone on bone arthritis in my hips after 6 months of progressively worsening pain. I walk with a limp and use crutches as I wait for hip replacement. I have accidentally discovered that if I start my day on the elliptical, my hip (and referred knee) pain improves for the rest of the day. My hypothesis is that it "lubricates" the joint and gets it moving without heavy jolting impact that I get with walking (probably from my limp). It is also not as extreme a range of motion as a bike is so it doesn't cause too much pain.

Friends who have a posterior hip, what kinds of things were you able to get back to in the gym? Leg press, RDL, deadlifts, hack squats, Bulgarian split squats, lunges? I don't care for barbell back squats 😅 mostly want to lunge and split squat and RDL. How is your range of motion? How long did it take you to get back? Did you have to modify at all?

Are there any contraindications for having your initial surgery with one approach but having a revision done by a different approach?

Trying to find research on this and I can't find any direct studies. Some studies analyzing dislocation rates give some description like "2 were in activities of daily living, 1 was traumatic" but most don't give any information. Were you just doing your normal activities and it popped out? Did you fall or trip or have some sort of accident? I guess also add if you were posterior, anterior, lateral etc. I'm just curious.

Does this happen to everyone? Does it resolve over time? How big is the area and did it shrink over time? Some of you are saying it is your whole thigh? I could to relate a small numb patch about the size of my palm but not my whole thigh or if it were constantly burning just from being touched. Is there anyone this doesn't happen to? Seriously considering cancelling my surgery now 🫣

Edit to clarify: if you had numbness, how big was the numb patch? Did it go away? Were you able to wear pants/touch it without pain? That's my main concern. A small numb patch is not what I'm worried about, I'm worried about a patch bigger than my hand that stings to touch.

I had the choice between two surgeons:

A surgeon in the Canadian public system who gave me an earlier date (July 24) and came highly recommended and I know people he has operated on who do well. He did posterior and told me I would have to modify my gym activities and avoid deep hip flexion and internal rotation for the rest of my life. I also felt a bit like I was on an assembly line and the follow up post op was only a video call at 2 weeks and x rays and in person check up at 8 weeks. I also found his office a bit difficult to get in contact with, I'm sure because he is very busy.

The other surgeon does anterior but I met with him before I got my surgery date with the public system. I actually like him better as a person, he was kinder and explained more about the procedure and what kinds of activities I could get back to post-op (he said he doesn't give restrictions beyond use common sense). Follow up post surgery is at 2 days, 2 weeks and 4 weeks with a nurse and 6 and 12 weeks with my surgeon. The date he gave me was 5 weeks later than the public system (August 31) which is actually nice because I am finishing up my PhD and I will be able to wrap up my lab work and sit on my ass and write my thesis for a few weeks 😂 Interestingly the private surgeon actually told me I should go with the public system as long term follow up would be easier if I had a complication.

I ended up choosing the private system surgeon and cancelling with the public surgeon because I just felt a bit more comfortable with the private surgeon.

I thought I wanted a posterior approach because I am terrified of the idea of having a numb patch on my leg permanently or other nerve damage, but on the other hand the gym is my life and I don't want to have to worry about possibly dislocating my hip doing what I love. However, since I made my decision I have learned that many people with posterior hips do not have permanent restrictions after the first 3 months and maybe having fewer appointments with the surgeon is fine. Now I am worried I made the wrong choice.... I could have had a sooner surgery potentially with a similar outcome and no numbness and a surgeon to call if something goes wrong years down the line.

I don't know if anyone can help me, maybe I just needed to vent. I have gone back and forth on this for weeks. I'm considering that maybe I'm just not ready for surgery... I thought I was begging to have it done but now that it's getting closer I worry that I'm making the wrong choice and it will affect me for the rest of my life.

Surgeon says this is higher risk for dislocation but he also says after the first 8 weeks crossing legs is fine, so is "circuit training", skiing, hiking, backpacking? Lunging and split squats are the most extreme activities I do (and I love them) so if I can do those no problem it would be essentially like having no restrictions for me 😅 I'm also confused because that's also how you get up from the ground on one knee?

Disclaimer, I have hip arthritis, my knees are supposedly fine. However, my knees KILL me and I really feel for y'all with knee arthritis so I hope maybe this will give someone hope or ideas beyond knee surgeries.

For the rest of us, I love this Doctor's YouTube channel for general joint health information! Especially if you're considering the surgical route.