yeah - i’ll sign up for the direct-to-joint infusion, too!! (i think i just had injection number 7 or 8…the bliss isnt so blissful after a half dozen or so…).
I am finally going forward with seeing another orthopedic doctor after trying to ignore pain in my hip and thigh for a long time. I am very interested in what everyone has to say about riding and this pain. I initially was afraid I could not ride if I had a THR. But now I can’t ride or do much anyways. I do know people who have ridden after and am glad to hear of more on here.
Riding will be SO much better with a THR. Prior to my replacement, I was in pain within 15 minutes in the saddle. Now, I can ride 4 hours (perhaps longer - just haven’t had the time) with ZERO pain in my hip. Wish I had done it years earlier…
Best of luck to you, Classicgal.
Thank you GallopHer! Good to hear.
I hadn’t been able to (easily or smoothly) circle to the right for a few years. Had THR on my left hip on March 2. Started riding again about 10 weeks later. Now circling to the right is smooth as glass.
Both hips have been replaced. It’s not just that I’m riding again, but I’m riding better than I have for years.
Oh goodness, both? I have had enough trouble trying to face one, lol. But it is wonderful to hear from you who have been through it and riding again. I get so depressed not riding, I am older but not ready to give up yet!
[QUOTE=Classicgal;8243878]
Oh goodness, both? I have had enough trouble trying to face one, lol. But it is wonderful to hear from you who have been through it and riding again. I get so depressed not riding, I am older but not ready to give up yet![/QUOTE]
Ha! I waited too long for the first one, and recovery was more difficult because the rest of me had been compensating for so long. It wasn’t painful, just took quite a while to get everything working again.
The second one was a breeze. I was driving in about 10 days. Riding in 10 weeks. I felt ready to ride at 6 weeks, but my surgeon wanted me to wait until 8. Then I irritated my bursa getting in and out of a too-low rental car, so had to wait even longer. Super bummer!
I’ll be 61 in a couple months, btw. One of my barn mates is a few years older. She had her first replaced, posterior approach, about 5 years ago. Had her second one done last May, anterior approach, by my surgeon.
We were riding and laughing about this yesterday. How we’d both put up with discomfort for so long and now that both have been done, have discovered that all the crookedness we’d foisted on our horses is gone. They’re both going great, likely because they don’t have to fight our crooked bodies any longer.
I highly recommend the anterior approach. Find a really good surgeon, one who’s done hundreds, if possible. And then just do exactly what he or she says.
Good luck!
In the midst of yet another bought of gluteal tendinitis which is as much of a pain in the butt as it sounds like. It is only on the right side which is good because last time it was both. A steroid injection in my piraformus and ischial bursa on the left must have kept that side from flaring up this time too. It freaking SUCKS though and I am getting really tired of this whole hip, butt, SI nightmare.
You ladies with the hip replacements are very brave.
I’ve had ongoing SI problems since a fall in the hunt field, and my big crossbred planting a front foot right over my sacrum.
When it jams up, the pain radiates all over my pelvis and down one leg.
I get a lot of relief from doing yoga’s “triangle pose” - sometimes with a ten pound weight held in the vertical arm. I can actually hear the “click” when it goes back into place.
these days, and in the hands of a good doctor, hip replacements are pretty much routine.
they are still major surgery, but WAAAYY easier on the bod than I would have ever imagined.
one of my buds at work who had his by the same surgeon as me didn’t use any morphine after, and didn’t need any narcotics after, either…
I agree…THR is a big surgery but soooo worth it. As in life changing…for the good. Get a good surgeon that does a lot of them. Many patients can go home the next day!
I had a newer technique called Superpath. The the muscles are not cut to dislocate the joint to replace it. Faster recovery and able to get back to life a bit sooner. I was driving in 10 days and on my horse at 4 1/2 weeks (granted just strolling around at a walk but on my horse:winkgrin:). The PT was rough the first couple weeks but then only onward and upward.
I had lots of thigh pain and spasms pre op. I was not quite bone on bone yet but had 2 huge needle like bone spurs and the head of my femur was flat on one side. No wonder I had spasms. The joint capsule was full of adhesions and the labrum was shredded. Easier and probably more cost effective to get it replaced at my age (59 1/2). To be able to walk normally again…YES!
Susan
[QUOTE=Laurierace;8244245]
In the midst of yet another bought of gluteal tendinitis which is as much of a pain in the butt as it sounds like.[/QUOTE]
Ugh. I’m sorry it’s flaring up on you! Fingers crossed that you can get some relief soon, Laurierace!
In other news, I’m back from Colorado. My hip is starting to feel a little better after the steroid injection. I’ve basically been resting it for a week. It was as achy or worse after the injection until Sunday, and then it’s been slowly feeling a bit better. I did a quick short hike in the mountains Sunday evening with relatively little discomfort, and spent the rest of the trip doing indoorsy things.
It’s nice to be able to drive and sleep and work at my desk with less pain, but the real test will be to see if the stabby pain I get from riding is alleviated by this (haven’t ridden in almost 2 weeks now). Fingers crossed that the activities that typically cause intense pain go better post-injection, and that the effects last for a reasonable amount of time…
Just an update in case anyone is still tuned in:
Two weeks post-injection, my hip feels just as terrible as it did before the injection. I was really hopeful, but it’s not looking like steroids are the solution.
Time to start considering more carefully whether surgical repair is the right option. Ugh.
I am so very sorry to hear that 
Bummer. I was really hoping the injection would work for you.
Do your homework and see several doctors. Keep us updated.
Best of luck…
total bummer…
Thanks for all the support/sympathy, everyone! My orthopedist asked me to contact him 3 weeks post-injection to let him know how it was feeling, so I’m about to report back that there’s no improvement.
I’ll keep you all posted as I sort out what the next step is for me.
Calling the hip pain crew!
I’m going to talk with my doctor in early September about surgery. I’m not 100% decided but I’m leaning toward going through with it. And doing so while I have good insurance (there’s not a lot of job or healthcare security in my line of work so there’s real potential for the out-of-pocket expenses to become prohibitive if don’t get it done before my current contract ends).
So, I’m making a list of questions to ask the doctor. Is there anything you wish in retrospect you’d asked before having hip surgery that might not be an obvious question for someone who hasn’t been through it?
And, just because I’m curious about the range of recovery experiences, how long after surgery (arthroscopy) did it take before you could walk without crutches? drive a car? do barn chores? ride a horse? I’m a single person with no family in the area, so the recovery is a major consideration.
As always, thanks for sharing your perspectives and for the support!
x-halt, I’ve had four hip scopes now. First two were bone shaving for cam and pincer and labral repair with anchors. Third was a revision of #1 with more bone shaving, labral repair and psoas release. Fourth was revision of #2 with more bone shaving, psoas release, but no labrum left TO repair.
Walking without crutches…inside the house I started leaving the crutches behind at about a week, outside about two weeks. The first two I worked in a pretty physical and public environment, so I carried at least one crutch with me for about four weeks, more as a public “hey, give me space” kind of beacon 
Driving a car I did within two weeks for all four, even the two on my right hip. I do have an automatic, and clutching might have been harder. I also have a rural and highway drive; city driving would have been tougher if there was much of it.
Barn chores were about a month. And picking stalls was surprisingly hard at first. The hunched over scooping part was actually fine, it was holding the fork away from me and swinging over to the wheelbarrow that was challenging. Bending over hay bales was hard for a while. Also, for the last two, I was hindered by winter and ice that I didn’t dare go out on. I’d say by two-three months I was comfortable with barn chores. That was definitely slower going.
Riding a horse - the first two was three months off for each hip. They were scheduled four months apart and I did walk on my girl for about 10 minutes once in between the two, but the hip yet to be done hurt so bad I didn’t try for more.
My revisions this year were two months apart from each other. My first recoveries had a LOT of inflammation, tightness, and capsulitis due to such restricted movement in recovery. Because my fourth scope actually didn’t have any labral repair done, surgeon and PT (also a rider) were more concerned about getting me moving LOTS early on, so I was actually instructed to get back on my horse ten days post op. I was riding WTC only a couple weeks after that. I actually did a schooling show four weeks post op just because I was so excited
Have somebody stay with you for the first couple of days, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The long tough recovery comes months later in PT, not the immediate op-related bits 
I should add…my hips feel great now!!
