Diving after hip replacement?

[scubadada]

I've had both my hips replaced, twice each, has never slowed me down with regard to diving

Wow...what do you keep doing to wear them out?

I was relatively young when I first had them done. They were investigational ceramic on ceramic implants. I ended up breaking both acetabular cups after 10 and 12 years. They were redone with improved versions, I expect to die with them.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I had my left hip done in 2016.
Better than new.
Other than some minor flexibility issues (rotation), it’s completely pain free. I’ve never been a very flexible person and the left hip got so bad before I went in that it has been very difficult for me to regain the movement I had years ago due to the muscles surrounding the joint being damaged so badly.
Now my right one is acting up so it’s time to go in for an X-ray and see what’s going on.
My only advice is not to wait until it gets so bad that you’re miserable and just about suicidal and close to being in a wheel chair.
I was terrified at the thought of having it done and lived in denial for many years. Don’t do that, just go in.
They are so good at it these days, they have you walking on it the same day!

 

[NothingClever]

I've had both my hips replaced, twice each, has never slowed me down with regard to diving

Goodness gracious! That should provide @motorref some durable hope for a positive outcome.

 

[rx7diver]

Removed by rx7diver. (Added no value.)

 

[dmcutter]

I'll second what Eric said. Mine started bothering me very suddenly in late May/early June 2018 and it took me until July to see a sports med doc. I was thinking torn labrum or something like that. X-rays showed bone on bone arthritis in the right hip, but strangely the left was perfectly fine. I'm self employed and spend most days crawling under houses; my surgeon said I would be sidelined for 10-12 weeks so I delayed surgery until the end of the year to avoid missing work. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced, and I have a very high pain tolerance. The pain relief was instant and the recovery from the anterior procedure was a piece of cake. As noted above, I was back at everything in 6 weeks. Had I known how quickly I'd recover, I definitely would have had the surgery sooner. If you need to have it done, don't put it off. I guarantee it doesn't get better with time. Mine is ceramic and should last virtually forever with cycling. If you run they can use a cobalt insert that will absorb pounding better than ceramic, but obviously you need to discuss that with your surgeon.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'll second what Eric said. Mine started bothering me very suddenly in late May/early June 2018 and it took me until July to see a sports med doc. I was thinking torn labrum or something like that. X-rays showed bone on bone arthritis in the right hip, but strangely the left was perfectly fine. I'm self employed and spend most days crawling under houses; my surgeon said I would be sidelined for 10-12 weeks so I delayed surgery until the end of the year to avoid missing work. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced, and I have a very high pain tolerance. The pain relief was instant and the recovery from the anterior procedure was a piece of cake. As noted above, I was back at everything in 6 weeks. Had I known how quickly I'd recover, I definitely would have had the surgery sooner. If you need to have it done, don't put it off. I guarantee it doesn't get better with time. Mine is ceramic and should last virtually forever with cycling. If you run they can use a cobalt insert that will absorb pounding better than ceramic, but obviously you need to discuss that with your surgeon.

Mine was a slow decline over 30 years. I used to be into really heavy squats and working out, super heavy leg presses, etc. When I was 23 I was one of those goons you see in the gym with 600 lbs piled onto the machine. It was one of those torturous workouts on the inverted leg press that damaged it and scored the cartilage. I had on and off cramps and pain for many years. I thought it was scar tissue from torturing the muscles. Finally the flare ups stopped clearing up and it wasn’t going away, so I went in for an X-ray. They told me I had some advanced Osteoarthritis in the joint.
I was a good ten years after that that I finally had no choice but to go in because the pain was so bad I couldn’t sleep anymore.
But there was a complication, read on below.

To the OP, the thing that I recommend to ABSOLUTELY NOT DO is to get steroid injections in the joint to prolong surgery. They may try to push them as an alternative but don’t do it man!
I had three of them over a span of three years to try and delay surgery. The first one lasted a year, the second one lasted a year and a half, and the third one lasted about two months. When they wear off the pain gets excruciating. That stuff also causes your joints to decay even more rapidly, not only because it degrades the integrity of the cartilage but also people tend to be more active without pain. So after the third shot wore off I went in and they told me that I had to wait four months before they could perform the procedure because the steroid had to completely clear out first. So there was about four months of absolute torture where I thought I was going to lose my mind. I was taking over-the-counter naproxen (alieve) and other NSAID’s which helped a little but I refused to take prescription opioid narcotics.
So I strongly recommend against cortisone type joint shots, bad stuff man!
My joint damage was so advanced (bone to bone) that my left side was 3/8” shorter!

 

[Altamira]

To follow up on several posts, especially @Eric Sedletzky's above, my multiple experiences with all major joints taught me an invaluable lesson that should be passed on: Get the joint replacement done much sooner than later. There is no reason to delay a joint replacement until you are in major pain because that defective joint is very likely going to have serious adverse repercussions for other parts of your body. Unfortunately, I waited until I was in agony to replace a knee joint. In the meantime, that defective knee joint ruined a hip joint on the same side, severely accelerated deterioration of the opposite knee, and an extensive period of using crutches trying to delay surgeries ruined both shoulder joints. Now, I am truly a bionic man, but the replacements have allowed me to continue doing the things I like to do without pain, and the only downside is having to deal with TSA at security machines. I can't get through any metal detector without setting off every alarm in the machine.

 

[motorref]

Among other joint replacements, I had one hip replaced twice (1st implant was defective and recalled), and have had no problems diving. I do have a few suggestions. Chose your orthopedic surgeon carefully. Pick one that specializes in hips, does a lot of them, and has great current reviews. Follow your orthopedic surgeon's instructions, especially do the physical therapy and follow precautions as directed, even if it hurts (and it will), and don't try to hurry the healing process. Finally, keep the incision clean and dry until the wound is healed. Some surgeons are a bit optimistic about when you can shower/bathe, but now I always followed the advice from my sister, who used to do wound care at a major hospital in Houston, and frequently had to deal with wound infections caused by patients getting the wound wet before it was sufficiently healed . Her guidance to me was "...surgeons use a boiler plate guidance for when you can shower/bathe, but not all patients heal at the same rate, so whatever you do, do not get the wound wet until the incision is healed regardless of what the surgeon tells you." The only time I failed to follow her guidance was after a knee replacement when I was hot to get back to snorkeling as a means to rebuild the leg muscles for diving, and just as she predicted, I had a problem.

Thanks Altamira! I had my knee replaced 2 years ago and used liquid bandaid to keep it dry. Guess I need to buy some more!

 

[motorref]

Mine was a slow decline over 30 years. I used to be into really heavy squats and working out, super heavy leg presses, etc. When I was 23 I was one of those goons you see in the gym with 600 lbs piled onto the machine. It was one of those torturous workouts on the inverted leg press that damaged it and scored the cartilage. I had on and off cramps and pain for many years. I thought it was scar tissue from torturing the muscles. Finally the flare ups stopped clearing up and it wasn’t going away, so I went in for an X-ray. They told me I had some advanced Osteoarthritis in the joint.
I was a good ten years after that that I finally had no choice but to go in because the pain was so bad I couldn’t sleep anymore.
But there was a complication, read on below.

To the OP, the thing that I recommend to ABSOLUTELY NOT DO is to get steroid injections in the joint to prolong surgery. They may try to push them as an alternative but don’t do it man!
I had three of them over a span of three years to try and delay surgery. The first one lasted a year, the second one lasted a year and a half, and the third one lasted about two months. When they wear off the pain gets excruciating. That stuff also causes your joints to decay even more rapidly, not only because it degrades the integrity of the cartilage but also people tend to be more active without pain. So after the third shot wore off I went in and they told me that I had to wait four months before they could perform the procedure because the steroid had to completely clear out first. So there was about four months of absolute torture where I thought I was going to lose my mind. I was taking over-the-counter naproxen (alieve) and other NSAID’s which helped a little but I refused to take prescription opioid narcotics.
So I strongly recommend against cortisone type joint shots, bad stuff man!
My joint damage was so advanced (bone to bone) that my left side was 3/8” shorter!

LOL - that sounds a lot like me! I worked in prisons for 21 years, and we would do leg press competitions on a Smith machine all of the time, and hate taking opiods. I'm pretty familiar with the cortisone shots - probably had 3-4 a year for almost 10 years in my left knee so I'm familiar with the damage they can cause. They worked well for my knee, but the one I had in my hip didn't help my hip pain at all. Now I spend a lot of time in my recliner to keep to pressure / weight off, but I tend to fall asleep when I'm in it!
Thanks for the input,
KevinL

 

[scubadada]

...Now, I am truly a bionic man, but the replacements have allowed me to continue doing the things I like to do without pain, and the only downside is having to deal with TSA at security machines. I can't get through any metal detector without setting off every alarm in the machine.

I have 2 total hips and a large metal plate in my left forearm. I have set off every metal detector I've gone through since 9/11, except one. I was leaving Bonaire in 2008 and the metal detector did not alarm. I looked backward and told the attendant that I thought there was a problem with their detector. He assured me it was OK. Turns out the detector was on an idle mode and had not been scanning passengers for some time. They ended up thanking me for the heads up.

I use use scanners whenever possible, and do much better than with the metal detectors