wish me health: [surfacehippy] Re: Obvious play a year post-op

Rabu, 23 Januari 2008

[surfacehippy] Re: Obvious play a year post-op

--- In surfacehippy@yahoogroups.com, Ron & Eefje <ron-eefje@...>
wrote:
> A while ago I wrote about the subsided play in my operated hip in
> response to questions of someone else. Now exactly a year after the
> operation I must admit that I still experience play and this is now
> becoming a concern to me.

Ron,

I had a BHR resurfacing done by Dr De Smet 19 months ago for severe
protrusio acetabulum. In essence, Koen built a new acetabulum for me,
filling in the old one with the bone graft from reaming the femoral
head.

I have faithfully done the prescribed stretches, water workouts, and
now am running again. From the beginning, I have had
significant "play" in my artificial joint that I can feel. It was
unnerving to me at first, but now I just take it as a reminder that I
have had a hip replacement, and the pain I felt before is almost
completely gone.

When I had a checkup with Koen at 15 months, I talked to him about
the sliding feeling in the hip, and his reply was that while he
thinks that resurfacing of the hip is about the best artificial joint
that one could have, it is still a replacement and not the original
equipment.

I think also that some of us are more sensitive to the feelings in
our bodies. I started doing Tai Chi again 1 year post surgery, and I
can definitely feel the hip sliding as I change positions.

I was also thinking that generating more synovial fluid could be an
answer to lessening the feeling of movement in the hip.

I cringe sometimes when people recommend products, but I have an
example from treating our thoroughbred horses for arthritis. We found
a liquid created for horses by Kinetic Technologies called Conquer.
It is pure sodium hyaluronate (HA) and is given orally to the horses
100mg/day. It makes an amazing difference, which has also been shown
in double blind testing.

They have a human product in capsule form, which I was thinking about
trying myself; it comes in 30mg doses. At any rate, the studies show
that the HA liquid does stimulate the production of synovial fluid in
the horses' joints.

Myself, I have accepted this strange sensation in my hip as part of
my new, pain-free life. My only real concern is that if there isn't
enough synovial fluid in the joint, the bearing surface may wear out
more quickly. Dr De Smet told me that after 2 years, I can have a
blood test that will show the level of metal ions in the blood, which
csn show if there is excess wear in the bearing. (They don't do the
test for the first 2 years, as the bearing is wearing in.)

Best wishes for your hip,

Bill in Atlanta
LBHR 50/58 De Smet 13-Jun-06