Please be very careful with weight bearing exercises. My hip replacement is 9 years old and I am scheduled for a revision soon. The stem is loose which may or may not be a result of over-doing it at the gym. It's easy to forget that you are and always will be vulnerable. Good luck.

wow! 9 years? That's not very long for an artificial hip to last. What type of replacement do you have - metal, plastic, ceramic? I know the ceramic heads on polyethylene liners are expected to last 20 years, and they are specially good for young, athletic patients.
There's a professional ice skater - rudy galindez - who had both hips replaced with ceramic implants and has been back skating professionally for years.

I'm very active. I had my hip replaced 11 1/2 years ago with plastic and titanium. It's been a great ride so far. But i'm due for an update soon. I don't do impact activities, i'm a cyclist. Doctors recommend cycling and swimming for those patients who want their hips to last but want to stay active. If you're hip is made of newer materials it should last longer. And i've heard that keeping the muscles around your hips strong helps too in terms of the life of the hip.

Scotty

I'm one of those people who has to workout really hard in order to keep my weight down. It's kind of hard to do with a hip that hurts or aggravates you, but I always push myself to burn those calories. Regardless if i'm in pain or not. If and when I get an artifical hip, I know I will put it through the paces. Maybe by then the techniques and materials might have improved even more.

Thank you for all your input, folks. I've been taking it easier on the weight bearing exercises for a few months now, and it seems to have helped. Meanwhile, I hope you end up not needing the revision surgeries, youngatheart and scotty. Still, if you do get it done, at least I hope it goes better with you than the first replacement. Good luck, and god bless!

Thank you all for your input. I really don't know why my hip replacement failed after 9 years; it was titanium. The pain was most intense around and above the knee and in the middle thigh. I wasted a lot of time thinking it was a bad knee. My original hip surgeon thought everything looked fine; and of course, the knee surgeons couldn't find anything wrong with the knee. My biggest mistake was not getting a second opinion from another hip ortho early on. Sometimes you can have too much confidence in one doctor. At last I went to the mayo clinic and they diagnoised it right away as a loose stem. I'm going to have revision surgery later this month in jax. If you so inclined, please remember me in your prayers and blessings to you all.

Youngatheart

I´m 48 yearso old and need to go through a hip replacement because of arthrosis.My quality of life has become really uncomfortable and have pain when I walk more than 10 minutes. I used to be a very sportive person, I climbed mountains, hiked a lot and, most important of all I love skiing. Anybody knows whether there is any posibility of doing things like that once you go through the hip replacement?I´m interested mostly on people who has gone through that and keeps on doing exercises and sports.I can give up running and I could do some bike riding and swimm, which are specially indicated with this problem, but it is very difficult for me to quit hiking and skiing not very often, but at least from time to time.I know that moderns prothesis are good enough to last quite a lot, I could take care whenever I do exercises. But then I was told that there is the risk of luxation of the hip and that scares me a bit.

I would like to know the experience of anyone who is a mountainer or hiker, skiier, or love mountains in any of its ways, and had the bad luck of going through a hip replacement. I need one, am scheduled for it in january, and I really love any kind of mountains activities, specially skiing. Any piece of advice or experience on that matter will be really helpfull for me.

hi, I understand and share your many concerns about being able to continue doing the things that you love after having a hip replacement.

I am 31 years old and have been putting up with the effects of a childhood hip disorder since the age of 13. I have degenerative joint disease in my right hip, and my hip bothers me alot. Like you, I am a big outdoorsman; I love the mountains and one of my strongest passions in life is hiking. I live for these activities.

At this time my hip is not bad enough for a hip replacement, but eventually I will more than likely need one; probably by the time I hit my mid 40's or 50. I think about what I will be able to do with a hip replacement, and I also think about what I won't be able to do. I can't imagine life without being able to hike or without the ability to be physically active. Having said all of this, i'm sure that you will be able to do as much hiking as you want; provided that you listen to your body and don't suffer any bad falls. Hip replacements have come along way.

What type of hip replacement are you receiving? I know that the new ceramic on ceramic hip implants are supposed to offer the longest implant life; these are ideal for younger, more active people. The fact that you are 48 years old puts you in the "younger, active" category.

A few years ago, an olympic athlete named rudy galindez had both of his hips replaced with the ceramic on ceramic hip implants and he went back to ice skating within a few months and he was in top form. He was in his early 30's I believe at the time.

Anyways, I would love to hear more about your situation as well as your hiking life...I live in southern california and the hiking opportunities here are endless. I went on an 8 mile hike last week(with a 2600 foot elevation gain) and handled it well. I did encounter an elderly guy who had to be about 80 years old who was using two hiking sticks to complete the same hike that I was doing. He was going slow but damn if he didn't make the whole hike. So, there is alot of inspiration out there.....And i'm sure you will get good use out of your hip. Hiking is a relatively low impact activity - at least compared to running, jumping or jogging.

Boy am I glad to find this site-i am a 33-year-old mother with twin 3 year olds, and a 4 year old,i just had a hip replacement done 3 weeks ago-i am thoroughly amazed at the speed in which I am recovering-and how great I feel-i was looking for info/validation that there are people who live normal active lives, since I can not bear to think of being "stagnant"! I used my bowflex for 6 months prior to surgery, and am itchy to get back to it, since I feel as if I am sitting watching my progress drift away as I heal. None the less, I walked 3 1/2 miles on my treadmill a few days ago-and it made me cry from happiness! My walking is slower than before the surgery, of course, and I still hobble a little, but it feels like a smoother gait is not far away!
Hearing you others talk about hiking and working out really gives me hope. I did get a titanium hip with a porcelain head, so I am hoping for 20 years-of course that means in my 50's i'll need a second hip, but figure technology will be so advanced my then, maybe I can just take a pill!!
Wishful thinking, -but thanks either way for inspiring me! -cindy

My birmingham hip replacement is now 5 months old it's great and like most people that have hade a hip replacements I wonder why I put up with the pain from my hip for so long, I now find that I can walk, some what slower, but I am not very flexible and after 5 months I feel that I should be able to put my soxs on and tie my shoe laces, or am I expecting to much at this stage,i can put them on but it's a real battle I would like to find some exersises's that I can do that will strengthen my hip, and some that will help with geting some of my weight that I have put on with 4 months of taking it easy

As a 57 year old woman I am supposed to keep up the weight bearing exercise to fend off the dreaded osteoporosis. 6 months after my replacement and I walk as much as possible and use an exercise cycle, but it seems rather tame and doesn't shift the weight that has piled on. Has anyone got experience of body pump or body balance classes after surgery?

hi cindy -

i just discovered this site and wanted to let you know that I am a 46 year old female and it has been 3 1/2 years since my total hip replacement. You see, I was a marathon runner in my previous life and kept running on an injury until I was shocked when I was told I needed a complete hip replacement. I was bone on bone with incredible pain. Since my surgery, I am relatively pain free and remain very active. Of course, I don't run anymore but I swim, bike and hike on a regular basis. I do a lot of weight lifting but mostly upper body since I am careful not to add too much additional weightbearing stress on my hips. My surgeon says that my x-rays are dream and she uses them often for teaching medical students.

I do miss running... It was a tough decision but I want this prosthetic to last as long as possible. I have a ceramic cup with a cross-lnked polyethylene liner and an uncemented titanium stem. My surgeon says this should last me at least 20 years. It's been a complete mind shift for me and now I look at runners and think about the stress they are putting on their joints.

I hope your recovery went well and that you are leading an active and pain-free lifestyle again!

The question I would like to put out there is has anyone heard about vibration and effects on hip replacements? The power plate and vibra fit vibrational technologies claim to increase bone mass and lean body mass. I've reviewed the scientific literature and there is not a lot out there yet. Does anyone have any experience with this they can share with the rest of us?

Thanks, malia

I am 39 and had a left hip (metal on metal socket) replacement on may 29, 2005 and the results have been outstanding. I am a travel agent and my primary business is selling group ski trips. As a result, I spend quite a bit of time in colorado. I skiied about 20 days this year and my hip never bothered me once. The quality of life has improved dramatically! My hip flexition has greatly improved which has made my day to day activities pain free.

I was a very active person (softball, skiing, exercising, flag football, etc) until the pain began to severely limit what I could do. About 6 months prior to surgery I was walking with a severe limp and was really limited to what I could do. It got t the point where I could not reach down to tie my shoe laces. Since my operation, I have cut out softball and football (just about anything that is high impact), but have really gotten into cycling. In fact, I am training to do a 100 mile ride in august which is really exciting.

The bottom line, have the surgery because you will love the results. Be smart about your activities. I ski just about any terrain I want, I am extremely careful about skiing bumps though. That can put quite a bit of strain on the joint so I just avoid them....Most of the time.

Feel free to shoot me an email with any questions and I wish you the best!

Glad to hear your metal on metal is working well for skiing. I am having my right hip done this fall, i'm 50 and want to continue biking, skiing, golf and maybe some moderate tennis. What type of metal on metal did you have? A full replacement or resurfacing? Was it biomet m2a magnum large ball? That is what they are recommending for me.

I had a total hip replacement. They implanted a cementless titanium stem and the ball and cup are a cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy....Whatever that is. They said if I did not abuse it too much that it could last 20 years....I am not holding my breath on that one....But I am trying to take care of it and not overdo any activities.

Hope that helps....Let me know if you have additional questions.

thanks for the info. Did your doctor even discuss hip resurfacing instead of a full replacement with you?

Hi, I am 62 and two years down the line after having both hips replaced. I have recently been to a sports medicine clinic to see why I still don't walk properly (trendelenburg). He referred me to a physio who has me doing special exercises for the abductors AND using the power plate. I must assume he knows what he is doing but it does seem rather scary to me. I may not run or play tennis but I am allowed to used the power plate? hmmmmmm? Anyone out there have a comment or experience with the power plate?
thanks for your input
joan