Oesteoarthritis and hip replacement surgery

[Bernie068]

I am 57 female! and took up riding after the frustration of not being able to run anymore, due to oesteoarthritis. I had hip replacement surgery 10 weeks ago and started riding only last week. Changed peddles back to flat's and tried riding on the flat out of the saddle, but still a little painfull (no problems if I stay seated!!) Interested to know if anyone else is further along with recovery. (I need inspiration!) In my case my original op in Oct had a problem and back for revision 7 weeks later. Maybe I need a little more time off the bike, but I miss my riding!!

[Dr_Mutley]

Stay seated, spin and gradually build it up.... Patience! No point loosening the joint by going to hard too early! ESP given uv had problems and a subsequent revision!

A 48yo mate of mine rides with a hip replacement, and a big leg length discrepancy, due to a motorbike accident in his 30s... He's a bigger fellow, but can easily do a hilly 150km ride at a fair clip (30kmhr avg)... so take yr time... u will be flying in no time

[PawPaw]

Bernie, this question is best answered by your surgeon. For hip replacement surgery, there's several ways to cut the muscles and access the joint, that result in the complex variably compromised via different movements and bend angles. If you don't have a clear understanding of, or well defined guidelines for, post op activity, you need to contact your surgeon's office and clarify. For many hip replacements, hip flexion >90 degrees is not recommended during the rehab phase.

[gabrielle260]

+1 to Pawpaw's comments. The only thing I would add is to get a really good rehab physio that your surgeon has worked with before so that they can manage your recovery regime between them. And by rehab physio, I mean a physio who specializes in it, not one who dabbles (because they all do!).
Everyone's case is different but I had a hip replacement in 2001 due to avascular necrosis of the femoral head following a fractured neck of femur suffered in a fall. Since then I have ridden about 90,000kms without a problem... Although it squeaks a bit!

[sogood]

Cycling and swimming are perfectly reasonable sports following a successful hip replacement. However, these are prosthetic joint and will impart limitations in terms of range of movement. Also as indicated by PawPaw, excessive flexion may induced an unwanted dislocation. Bear in mind these devices will wear and have a finite life span. You should use them, but with some care and moderation. With a design life of 10 years and a wide span of real life either side of that, ideally you want to make them last as long as possible and avoid a re-do. As such, staying seated and spin is a good idea. Also, you want to avoid crashes and any risk of fracture.

[hotfoot]

Congrats on the new hips...I too have a couple of new hips (06 and 07) and my advice is simply to give it a little more time..do some pool walking to build up your leg muscles and stamina (any major surgery knocks the whole body for six), double check the bike is just right...seat height etc...and begin slowly all over again...short easy rides, incease slowly and only attempt gentle hills..and quit them if they are too tough. Don't be in too much of a hurry to get back to your peak cycling. Good luck

[Bernie068]

Thank you all for the great feedback. My surgeon cleared for me to ride as I had the anterior approach op, so no muscle cutting! And yes I will take it slowly, but we all know that riding is addictive!