Hip Replacement Surgery

Have you had hip replacement surgery or do you know someone who has had it?
Does hip replacement terminate one's ability to ski backcountry and inbound?

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Thanks,
Mike

I've a couple friends who've gotten hip replacements and it has really helped them return to ski touring after being in pain for years!

Thanks for the reply. To be clear, the "ski touring" you are referring to is backcountry powder and crud (which often can't be avoided). I assume there is an increased risk of injury at bone supporting the new hip joint, but it's relatively safe as long as one skis moderately and doesn't have a violent fall. Is this a reasonable assumption?

I had my hip done 8 years ago, I was 52 at the time. My doctor was Dr Pritchett at pro ortho. Dr Pritchett recommended a hip resurfacing. In that procedure the socket is replaced like is done in a full hip replacement and femoral head is ground down and the new ball is attached to it. This procedure maintains your original alignment and can only be done on younger patients with good bone density . I am really happy with the new hip. I was skiing 6 months after surgery and within a year was skiing at my full potential. I have no limitations, dislocation with this procedure is very rare. I imagine there are many advances in hip replacement now , not sure this procedure is still done. The bottom line is you should be able to do all activities once you have recovered from surgery, it takes lots of PT and hard work on your part.

Thanks for the information. Greatly appreciated.

I had my right hip total replacement surgery on May 2016. Same year December, I started resort ski then slowly got back to backcountry ski. It took me about 18 months to come back to 99% pre-surgery healthy structure condition, especially in confidence. Then I had to do the same thing to left hip on May 2021. Both surgeries were done at UW medicine by Dr. Paul Manner and it’s minimally invasive surgery. Surgery itself took only less than 90 minutes. The recovery from second surgery, which is still going on, was/is incredibly fast. I was able to road bike around the blocks from day 10. I started going to MTB trails after two weeks of surgery. I used bike especially mountain bike as physical therapy. I never did proper PT ever since I was discharged from the hospital. I’m 51 now with both hips total replaced but more active than ever. Just did chair peak circumnavigation tour on new year day, and it felt like dream!

Thank you Kamtron, SteepDeeply, and AlpineDad for the information and encouraging comments.

I also went the hip resurfacing route with Dr. Pritchett. Range of motion a little different but it was a real bad hip to begin with. I'm 68 and ski as hard as I want and tour when it's good. Other factors limit me but never the hip.  With resurfacing, you have more complex options later should they be necessary but going on 9 years and it has held up well.