Broken hip :(

[Philster]

You're about 10 years younger than me and should recover well. My only advise is to follow the restrictions on movement religiously. You really don't want to dislocate that hip.

I broke my hip about 10 years ago in a major fall and got a rod at first. The break healed, but the joint didn't get enough blood to remain healthy and I got a total replacement about 6 years later. My understanding is that a total replacement first is pretty standard at this point.

[technicolor]

Thanks for sharing your stories and the helpful info.

Originally Posted by Philster

My understanding is that a total replacement first is pretty standard at this point.

That's what I was told too. My orthopedic surgeon said this was a routine procedure and that she does several a day. The miracles of modern medicine.

[smontanaro]

Originally Posted by RWL2222

Were you a candidate for replacement before the fall? I dont know anything about this but am curious how the diagnosis escalated to the need for a full replacement. I wish you a full and speedy recovery. You’ll be back in saddle this summer.

I broke my femur in 2017. Because the break was in the shaft, not the head, no hip replacement was required. Had the break been on the head of my femur, they'd have gone straight to hip replacement, because (as I recall them telling me) the blood supply to the joint would likely have been compromised. (Think Bo Jackson.)

[kgbianchi]

Originally Posted by Flinch

As someone who is still doing daily PT exercises, from a broken right pelvis last fall (no pun intended - hit by van but back on the bike), here's my get well list:

1. See a PT therapist and get a list O exercises
2. Do them religiously, even if: hurt/tired/happy/sad. Keep a record.
3. Add to the 'work level' when you can. For example do 10% more reps, longer stretches, etc. for each exercise
4. Stay as active as practical, even if not bike related. Can you use a spin bike?
5. If you can go to the gym, do upper body and core exercises.
6. Watch your weight! Don't ask me how I got so fat over the winter...

Keep the faith. walkers and crutches suck, but you will get better!

Oh, and treat yourself to a new bike

Flinch is spot on. I am 51 years old 1.5 years post hip fracture. I was able to keep my native hip with a gamma nail. I still do strength training and keep up on my PT. I can ride and run as fast or faster than I did pre injury. Likely due to loosing ~10 lbs while I watched what I ate through my recovery.

Good luck,be patient and listen to your body!

[MatchDave]

Originally Posted by smontanaro

I broke my femur in 2017. Because the break was in the shaft, not the head, no hip replacement was required. Had the break been on the head of my femur, they'd have gone straight to hip replacement, because (as I recall them telling me) the blood supply to the joint would likely have been compromised. (Think Bo Jackson.)

Same for me in 2020 - got "doored", handlebars jerked one way, I fell other way, landed on hip. Direct enough that I didn't slide at all, no road rash.
Break in neck of femur, outside the hip joint, so no need for replacement. But whatever the nature of break and surgery, several things made a huge difference for me.

Doing physical therapy religiously. I started with home visit PT, then graduated to in office. Was able to make progress significantly faster than they expected, because I approached it like going to the gym, which I thoroughly enjoy. And the visible daily progress helped me get a sense of mastery over the injury.

I typically hate indoor trainer. But bought one and loved the thing when first cleared to pedal on trainer - it was first tie back to cycling a few weeks before I could safely get back on road. Able to ride the trainer for decent workout while I still absolutely needed cane to walk any distance at all.

My neighborhood streets at the time were sort of like a square criterium course. I rode a couple of weeks of ridiculously slow laps around that "course". Didn't need that for two weeks physically, but needed all those laps between parallel parked cars to "practice" paying attention for drivers about to open doors. Needed that confidence restoration, another aspect of getting back sense of mastery.

And something that surprised me - it was longer than I ever imagined before ortho surgeon cleared me to drive. Right hip break, so getting from gas pedal to brake pedal in an emergency would have taken too long because of impact of injury on musculature in hip. For me, hip flexor muscles in particular. Another reason to do physical therapy religiously.

[Todd]

So sorry to hear about your accident. I broke my hip in a Nordic ski race crash in Feb 2020 and had a total hip replacement the next morning. My break was bad - the femoral neck had a vertical fracture with several pieces of bone and the surgeon thought that screwing it back together wouldn't be a long-term option. I was 63 at the time and had no arthritis or other hip pain. My surgeon used a lateral/posterior incision because of the severity of the break. This means the surgeon cut my gluteus medius muscle (part of my butt) and that made my recovery longer.

I did PT for 3 or 4 months but because of when it happened (about a month before the pandemic shutdown), much of my PT was via Zoom and that wasn't ideal. I started riding a stationary bike after about 4 weeks and I rode outside after 12 weeks. By about mid June (~4.5 months), I was riding several times a week and feeling ok. I also walked several miles most days. I limped for what seemed like a long time and used a cane until about August when my PT told me to ditch the cane and focus on not limping. I had a setback in November when I put too much weight on the repaired hip on a hike and had pretty severe pain in my femur, especially down near the end of the titanium spike. This took about 6 weeks to go away.

Since then, I've returned to regular riding during summer and Nordic skiing in the winter. I wish I could say that I'm as good as new and that I can do all my previous activities at the same intensity and duration but I can't. I still have mild to moderate pain in my hip area during and after some, but not all, strenuous biking and skiing. It's slowly gotten better over the four years, but it's not completely gone. Extremely steep hills where I have to stand for long periods or pushing a big gear seem especially likely to give me pain. Fortunately, the pain subsides overnight and I'm usually good to go the next day.

I wish you the best in your recovery. Because you are younger than I was when I had my break, your recovery time may be faster. My advice is the same as most of the other folks: take it easy, do your strengthening exercises/PT, remember your motion restrictions for the first 3 months or until your surgeon clears you. Hang in there, you'll be back on the bike!
Todd

[robt57]

Yes, take PT seriously, simply put.

My wife was on trainer no resistance day 3. Was back at work end of 3rd week.
Hope all goes right with zero complications.

[dcama5]

Technicolor,

Now for me, the right hip is secondary - 6 weeks post surgery and all seems fine except some persistent swelling at the incision site and the foot.

However, at about 2:30am in the night on Friday/Saturday, I fell on my way to the bathroom to pee and landed on my left side ribs on a small table. The CT scan in the E.D. on Saturday showed 6 ribs broken, but 8 fractures because 2 were broken in 2 places - another set back and one that is painful beyond belief.

I don't sleep well and was trying Relaxium Sleep, which is advertised as being very effective - well, they are correct. Although I only took half the recommended dose, I think when I got up to go to the bathroom, I was still half asleep and disoriented from the Relaxium, and as a result, went down. Needless to say, I am not using that product any longer. It's been a rough spring.

Dave

[Dana Kilalps]

I've had both hips pinned and one replacement, 2014, 2016 and 2018. I was very diligent about exercises and did even more than were recommended and seemed to recover well. At five weeks I could do easy rides of about a half hour. But to mount the bike I had to lay it down, step over it, and pull it up between my legs. I could not swing a leg over the bike. That went on for a few weeks. Even today, I find it much easier to swing my leg over the bike from the drive side versus the non drive side.

[thwart]

Originally Posted by dcama5

It's been a rough spring.

Wow. I’d say so.

Hope the ribs heal as quickly as your hip did.

[Turkle]

Originally Posted by dcama5

Technicolor,

Now for me, the right hip is secondary - 6 weeks post surgery and all seems fine except some persistent swelling at the incision site and the foot.

However, at about 2:30am in the night on Friday/Saturday, I fell on my way to the bathroom to pee and landed on my left side ribs on a small table. The CT scan in the E.D. on Saturday showed 6 ribs broken, but 8 fractures because 2 were broken in 2 places - another set back and one that is painful beyond belief.

I don't sleep well and was trying Relaxium Sleep, which is advertised as being very effective - well, they are correct. Although I only took half the recommended dose, I think when I got up to go to the bathroom, I was still half asleep and disoriented from the Relaxium, and as a result, went down. Needless to say, I am not using that product any longer. It's been a rough spring.

Dave

Wow. I am really upset to read this. Broken ribs are just awful. Best of luck on your recovery.

Treat yourself to some ice cream or something, you're gonna need it.

The above might sound flippant, but I don't mean it to be. Good luck.

[tootall]

As has been said, do the work to get full range of motion. I had a tibial plateau fracture last year with surgery and didn’t get all my range of motion back. I walk a little funny because my knee extension isn’t 100%. Luckily I am good on the bike, but I think focusing on getting back on the bike as soon as possible ended up costing me some RoM because I ended up with basically the amount of extension needed on the bike and not much more.

[billb5612]

Sorry to hear about the hip. i've been there. i'm going to post a few of my comments/recommendations and they will be 'different'. don't follow or trust them if you don't want. i wouldn't blame you. but you may want to hear a different approach.
i went down on April 1st, 21 (i was 63 yo). operated on 4/2, walking down the hall after the operation, kicked out of the hospital 4/3, was on the spin bike 4/25 and on the road a week later. everything went fine except i found out i'm allergic to surgical tape on my skin for a week. took weeks for the rash to go away. didn't effect the healing.
After a very brief conversation with the surgeon and more of a discussion with the PA we agreed to skip PT. I've been to PT before and they're not used to 'people like us', they take the most conservative approach - by the book and they can't feel what you feel. they have liability. they will go slow and conservative.

i'm in good shape, riding for 25 years, 15 of those doing triathlons (10 ironman) so i know how to exercise, i know my limits and i don't need supervision or encouragement.

the exercises are basic, same things you would do to improve strength and mobility for training. you almost can't go wrong if you use common sense and know you limits. as my doc said - pain is the best coach to tell you when to back off. there's no magic formula or exercise here, strengthen the hips, strengthen the legs, strengthen the core. Rinse Repeat.

you don't have to work on mobility as long as you don't let yourself become immobile after the operation. you didn't (i assume) screw up the muscles/tendons/ligaments you broke a bone. you should have no loss of mobility except it hurts some to move at first. i ended up with a slight increase in mobility. i had some arthritis in the hip - now i don't.

so, look, carefully, at youtube for appropriate videos ( i recommend E3 Rehab and [P]Rehab) and start doing what you can as soon as you can.

hope that is of use. sorry for the rant but i think sometimes solutions are over thought and reliance on specialist is overblown. some things like imbalances and specific overuse or biomechanical problems need pinpoint solutions but some problems you can just blast them with a shotgun and you can get the job done.

sometimes when i'm riding along and some bonehead driver almost takes me out i think to myself, 'i hope i go down on the other hip and break that, id really like to get it replaced before it gets too bad or i'm too old to recover'.