The ceramic ball used in the modern hip replacements is NOT brittle. They're making them with aluminium oxide, which is almost as strong as diamond. The ceramic surface is extremely smooth, which reduces wear from friction. The plastic cup will wear faster with high-impact activities, like running. But when the plastic cup wears out, that piece can be replaced without replacing the entire prosthesis. The surgery to replace the plastic cup is much less invasive than the original total hip replacement surgery. My advice to you would be to run once or twice a week, and do more low-impact cross-training (biking, swimming, aquatic jogging, elliptical, or walking).

Which implant are you referring to? All Total Hip Replacements are less invasive than a Hip Resurfacing. A minimally invasive THR can have a recovery time of as little as 5 days. A friend of mine was out tramping through the woods, hunting, at one week. There is nothing minimally invasive about a hip resurfacing. Everyone gets a 4 to 12 inch incision, then they yank your leg out of the joint and flap it up over your back, then go to work. But the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing is a proven product. No one is telling the patent to run only ''once or twice a week''. My doctor, Scott Marwin at NYU Joint disease Hospital to me to go run and go live my life. I just finished my second successful year of short course racing and I average four days running per week. Athletes everywhere have had successful returns to running and racing with the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing with no restrictions on no worries about replacing worn out parts later.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Timberdick, how has it been going with the hip replacement? Are you running, and how much? I just had a total hip replacement surgery 2 months ago, ceramic ball and plastic liner on the cup. The doctor said it was okay to run, but only once a week because the prosthesis wouldn't last very long if I run every day. I asked him how long it would last if I did run every day, but he couldn't give me a specific answer. I don't think anyone really knows how long the modern hip replacements will last. I want to run more than once a week, but I also want my hip to last at least ten years. How is your hip holding up?

so, you are asking something like "how long can I beat off until I just need glasses :-)

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RayGovett
Hughson CA
Be Prepared-- Strike Swiftly -- Who Dares Wins- Without warning-"it will be hard. I can do it"

Ray, are you saying my prosthesis won't wear out from running and it's just a myth???

Hi, I'm new to this forum and read your post about your husband's hip surgery with great interest. I noticed he had surgery at the hospital for special surgery in NYC which I am looking into. Could I ask what procedure and what surgeon you selected? I am within a year of having surgery but have not selected an approach or surgeon but would like to resume a small amount of trail running but mostly cycling post surgery. I am 53 and lean with decent conditioning so I am optimistic I could resume a good deal of my athletic pursuits minus the voracious amount of running that got me into trouble. Many thanks!

Jen doesn't post here very often and she was kind of misleading earlier. Her husband Dave has a Birmingham Hip Resurfacing device. His doctor was Dr Su at HSS and he has had a very good result. I believe that there is another doctor at HSS doing hip resurfacings at HSS and that he studied under Dr Su but I don't know his name. I started with another hip surgeon at HSS and I'm glad that he didn't do my surgeon at HSS and I'm glad that he didn't do my surgeries. All surgeons at HSS aren't created equal.

I had my same day bilateral Birmingham Hip Resurfacing with Dr Scott Marwin at NYU Joint Disease Hospital and it couldn't have gone better. I run four days a week; up to 9 miles and i can't tell that anything ever went wrong. Dr Marwin uses what he calls ''direct lateral approach'' and unlike most surgeons who use ''posterior'' he doesn't disconnect and reattach any muscles. He goes in between. This really helps with recovery. All the leading surgoens will tell you not to pick your doctor based on approach, but that's one thing that helps. Both Dr Marwin and Dr Su have complete faith in the Birmingham Hip and encourage their patients to run as much as they want, after six months. At my six month check-up with Dr Marwin I had my running clothes on. He told me to go across the street and run in the park and come back to see him after. When I came back, I was beaming. It's great to be back!

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

This is great to hear. I also had bilateral BHS but since I'm in Dallas obviously not the same surgeon. Mine admits to being a bit more conservative in that he doesn't want me running again until the 9 month mark. I tried talking mine into doing same day bilateral, but he always wants a good leg for recovery, just in case. One of the first questions I asked him was what type of approach he used and it was the direct lateral approach.

I remember searching, reading, but not posting on this thread while researching everything for my surgery. Wondering if I should put it off longer or just go get it down, so hearing these success stories like yours really helped me during that time.

The thing with bilaterals is that they have to have a plan for your recovery. NYU has the Rusk Rehab Center and I was there for 6 days after spending 3 days on the surgery floor. I had 3 PT's and one occupational therapy every day and walked out of there on the nineth day using only a cane, and I never looked back.

The problm is that most of the other surgeons who want to do bilateral don't have a plan for recovery. They literally send the patient home without a leg to stand on.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

That was literally his exact quote, there were options for me, but he really doesn't like to use those centers unless it's truly needed. My only reason was making sure I got both in at the end of 2014 calendar year for insurance deductible reasons. He assured me that there was more than enough recovery time between the two, and he was right. Since I live alone he was a bit more concerned and had a nice rehab ready for me just in case he didn't feel I was up to it when it was time to go home. Everything went fine, walked a 5k this weekend, back to Salsa dancing and all my old PR's I consider retired so I can set new ones now.

Garry, it looks like you are doing great. How long has it been since your second surgery? I remember those forst long walks; first mile, first hour. Planning to run, feeling it, and knowing that soon I'd be back on the trails again.
When Dr Marwin told me about going bilateral, I thought he was nuts. But then another Marwin bilateral veteran got in tough with me through the surfacehippy website and after talking to him, I realized the it would be the way to go for me. The staff at Rusk was phenomenal, right there if I needed anything. I had great therapists, both PT and occupational, and they worked my gently but got everything they could out of me. On the sixth day, I was on the stationary bike. On the eighth day I was out in the hall, kicking a soccer ball back and forth with her using both legs and no hands. With the right help, rehabbing two hips was no harder than rehabbing one. At my age, 65 in two months, I was glad to save 6 months of recovery time. I keep the running events short; 5k to 15k, but I will do American Zoffingen middle distance this year for lone time and one time only with 15 miles of running!

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Again I can't express how great it is to hear success stories like yours and others. It made what I thought at the time a very difficult decision so much easier and I'm much happier for it. The biggest plus is I now sleep through the night, no more waking up ever couple of hours with throbbing pain.
I'm at 8 weeks from the second surgery, I did have a small set back on the first weekend forgetting which was my good leg in the middle of the night and putting all my weight forcefully on the new surgery leg. All that did though was just pull the muscles a bit so that slowed me some. But things are going fine now, just some PT to get better range of motion.

I was allowed to run after my hip replacement (by Dr Freedman - http://www.melbournehipsurgeon.com.au).
The only restriction was to wait a few weeks until the implant was solid in the bone. Apparently it has some sort of surface coating that stimulates bone growth, and once that has happened the prosthesis is very stable and you can run on it.

I was allowed to run after my hip replacement (by Dr Freedman - http://www.melbournehipsurgeon.com.au).
The only restriction was to wait a few weeks (6 weeks or so) until the implant was solid in the bone. Apparently it has some sort of surface coating that stimulates bone growth, and once that has happened the prosthesis is very stable and you can run on it.

Just don't exhaust your hips too much and know your limits. My uncle had hip replacement last year (here's a quick reference to understand the procedure he undergo:http://www.placidway.com/...Replacement-in-India) and he was back to physical activities 6-8 weeks post-op.
All the best for you!

Hi folks;

I'm scheduled for a total hip replacement in three weeks and have been screened and seen (I love the sound of that) by the wonderful orthopedic specialist at the Rothman Institute here in Philly.

This is not an advertisement, honestly. I couldn't help but chime in to the discussion regarding running on a hip replacement. I was reading a wonderful story about a woman of 48 who is a long distance runner and was moved by the conclusion to the point of contacting these specialist at Rothmans.

I let them know up front that I am a multiple marathon finisher with greater than twenty years in both running and triathlons (more recently) under my belt and I'm 54 and nowhere near ready for retirement. Those specialist informed me after a battery of MRI's and X-rays that running and triathlons were still in my future.

I explained to them my weekly training regimen as it pertained to road running and my doctor went on to explain as with any high impact sport there will be wear and tear. As a matter of fact the hip replacement doesn't last forever especially with road running and racing but he assured me that I would eventually after about 10 months to a year (depending on the individual, some sooner) be back to my previous distances and within reason paces.

I was so inspired by not only 'Ruth's Story' but by the advancements made in the orthopedic community over the past decade. The folks at Rothman's are specialist who work with professional (of which I am not!) athletes for our sports teams here in the city of Brotherly Love so they bring a lot to the table regarding the newest metals and surgical techniques.

Each individual is different and just like my original hip joint wore out so will my replacement eventually but in the mean time I am looking forward to returning to the sport that rescued my spirit even though I didn't know I needed to be rescued.

So I'll keep you posted regarding my return to high, or rather moderate impact running cycling and swimming.

Thanks folks for letting me add my two cents.

Yuri'

Yuri, what hip replacement unit are you getting? Why a total hip and not a hip resurfacing? If you have read through this thread, you can see that I am a very big proponent of hip resurfacing and that I have been very successful at starting my triathlon career again after bilateral hip resurfacings. I am now at 5 years and I have no ill effects running 5 days a week. Next week I am heading to California for a trail half-marathon with 2800 feet of climbing and the same descending. I have full confidence not only that I will finish but that I will finish well. I urge you to look more into what you are getting. One of the guys I swim with was told by his doc before his total hip replacement that he could return to running. After the surgery, the doc says ''well maybe a mile or two per week but take it easy''. Please look before you leap. Ask your doc to put you in touch with patients who have returned to running at the level you want after a total hip replacement.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Hi Sweeney;

The decision for the replacement came after the consideration of more than likely having to readdress the same hip 18 months out after a resurfacing with the degree of cartilage loss stemming from not only endurance life but also the wear and tear from my years as a contemporary dancer.

What I really warmed to was the consideration of the resurfacing - the orthopedics doctor shared with me that should the damage not require the hip socket replacement than one would not be done and a resurfacing would occur.

Thanks for your response to my post.

Yuri

This picture shows a Birhingham Hip Resurfacing on the right and a Total Hip Replacement on the left;


You can see that a ''hip resurfacing'' is not something that they do it you don't need a ''total hip replacement''. A HR is a replacement joint for active people. It has a large steel ball in a large steel socket and it will hold up to the rigors of running. If you don't know what replacement joint you are getting, you really should call your doctor's office and ask. Then post as much information that you have at the Surfacehippy.com website, including who you surgeon is. Tell them you plans for future running and triathon and get information from them.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Good morning;

Thanks for your reply.

Have a wonderful day.

Yuri

Good luck

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

My name is Rick Rubio, I live in Kona Hawaii. I have had both hips replaced with BHR's and have completed in 3 ironman races and 5 marathons with them. I am still competing hoping to do another I.M. this year. I am running a downhill 1/2 marathon on March 9th and have an active multi-sport year planned. I do lots of smaller races and have no issue with my hips. I get them x-ray 1 x a year and check for any metals and have great results. I am 65 years old and had my first done in 2007 - Of couse I have a long story but I thought I would chime in and offer any support or advice i could. I am also a peronal trainer, triathlon coach and fitness and heath coach.

 I love hearing these stories. I just had my first hip done at the beginning of the year(was walking the 2nd week with no cane or crutches), Hip Resurfacing with Bio-Met mom uncemented by Dr. Gross. Second one is getting done on 3/4/19. I knew both had to be done but really didn't have the 6 weeks recovery and not being able to do much with no help so opted to give it 7 weeks in between. Not really a runner but do lots of cycling,play hockey and work is physical. Who knows maybe I'll do a little running again ( the bit I did was to painfull ).
This was 3 years of pondering my options and I just couldn't see going the THR route seeing a few friends and family that went this way and how they function. If all fails they still have bone to work with.Granted they were done some 10 years ago and lots has changed since then. Mine was done outpatient at their facility,in and out in 6.5 hours and driving home after staying over night at the hotel the following morning. (I'm in South Florida , surgery was in Columbia S.C.). Tons and tons of info on Surface Hippy site.