Cycling after total hip replacement

hippacyclus

Hi,
Apologies if this is the wrong forum - my first post on bikeradar having "lurked" for many years.
I was a very average cyclist who pottered around to about 150 miles a week (mostly road but a bit of off road) but now require THR at a pretty early age of 32 due to congenital hip dysplasia. Is there anyone out there that could share any personal experiences of cycling (to what ever standard) after THR? Floyd Landis isn't replying to my emails for some reason..........
Any advice gratefully received! Many thanks,
Dave

brucey72

Hi,
I posted a similar thread relating to cycling after knee replacements but am awaiting a response. I can, however, help you with cycling after THR as I had both of mine replaced 15 years ago and I'm a similar age to you.........I'm 39 so was only 24 at the time of the operations. I have something called avascular necrosis which has affected all of my weightbearing joints and my knees finally packed up last October leading to the last lot of surgery.

With regards to my hips, I have had no problem with cycling as it puts very little stress on my hip joints. Over the last 4 years I have taken part in many 100 mile sportives including doing La Marmotte twice. In the summer months I usually cycle about 1000 miles a month and have done a few races and TT's. I have my hips x-rayed annually and the cycling has not caused any excessive wear to the joint and my surgeon has been keen to encourage me as he says it has kept my weight down which helps keep wear and tear to a minimum, he even signed my medical certificate for last years Marmotte. I had quite a bad crash two years ago landing heavily on my hip but thankfully the xray showed no damage so they must be pretty strong.
Best of luck with your operation and don't be too concerned if recovery seems slow at first, it took me about 18 months to fully get back to fitness. If you have any questions please ask.

Brucey

hippacyclus

Hi Brucey,
Apologies for the slow reply as I have been away, but many thanks for the very reassuring and useful info - it sounds like if I am lucky my cycling should improve not get worse, which is something to look forward to as well as being pain free.
I was wondering if you could share what type of hips you have had and your recovery time, not just returning to the bike, but in general (obviously depends person to person, incision site etc)? Also, have you had any other benefits in terms of position (I cannot ride on the drops at all - even with a +6, very short stem with spacers underneath) or have any other things I should be thinking about - pedal type post op for example?

Thanks again, I really appreciate you taking the time to post as it has reassured me a great deal. It has unfortunately started all the Mamotte talk again with my buddies though.......
Thanks - and good luck with your knees,
cheers
Dave.