"I urge all patients to inform their surgeons of this course; if you are a joint replacement/resurfacing surgeon, please consider attending this meeting. As patients, we want our physicians to expand their knowledge and to keep current with the advances in hip resurfacing technology. —Thank you, Vicky"
She was told nothing could be done, to wait until she turned 50 for a THR, then she found out about Hip Resurfacing
"In some ways my dance technique is now even stronger than before Hip Resurfacing" - Lacy James, Hip Resurfacing 2008
I started dancing relatively late in life (around age 21) and trained in many different dance forms, eventually focusing on the Martha Graham technique, which I studied intensively at the Graham school in NYC. In addition to performing in my own works, I have danced professionally for a number of dance companies and independent choreographers
Welcome to SurfaceHippy Info! Hip Resurfacing, Alternative to Total Hip Replacement
“ ...I was checking off my shopping list as I slowly pushed my grocery cart, slightly leaning against it, trying so hard to hide the limp that had now become so apparent. Suddenly I realized there was an item I had missed. Oh NO! It was two aisles over, an aisle that I already had walked past. I paused, leaning more against my cart, hoping to take some of the weight and pain away from my deteriorating left hip. I thought long and hard, do I really need that item? Can I do without it? Was it worth walking back TWO long painful aisles to get to that item? I decided no, it was not worth it, even though I really wanted that item, the cost of that item now equated to the amount of pain it would take to obtain it. The thought of that excruciating hip pain brought tears to my eyes, tears that I slowly and secretly wiped away... ”
If the words above hit home, you have come to the right place. We are surface hippies (Hip Resurfacing patients), we all share a common story. The above was mine, (meet Vicky Marlow , founder of this website). I went from a very active female in her 40's to being totally disabled, unable to walk without a cane. I am now pain free, after my Hip Resurfacing on December 1, 2005 under the skilled hands of Dr. Vijay Bose in India.
Welcome to your new family. To meet fellow Surface Hippies (Hip Resurfacing patients), join the Yahoo Surface Hippy message board . Meet Keith Brewster the founder of the Surface Hippy message board. He started the message board back in the year 2000 when Hip Resurfacing was unheard of. If it were not for him, many of us would be walking around with THR's (Total Hip Replacement) today instead of our Hip Resurfacing. Thank you Keith for all you do and have done for the Hip Resurfacing patient community. The Surface Hippy Message board consists of Hip Resurfacing patients past and present all there to support each other from pre surgery to post op.
Purpose of This Site
This website is created by Surface Hippies (Hip Resurfacing patients) for the global community of Hip Resurfacing patients to collect and share: a comprehensive knowledgebase on Hip Resurfacing; scientific and anecdotal statistics; and personal Hip Resurfacing stories to help people return to happy and productive lives, and to pay it forward to future generations. You will see many Hip Resurfacing patient videos throughout the Hip Resurfacing Stories section showing a full return to active lives including surfing, martial arts, tennis, skiing, dancing, yoga, marathon and even Ironman and Ultraman triathlons.
The re-emergence of Hip Resurfacing as a viable option worldwide is largely due to patient-driven demand. To ensure the long-term success of Hip Resurfacing, patients must educate and empower themselves to make the right decisions about the surgeons and procedures they choose.
Patients need to know what questions to ask to find the right surgeon for Hip Resurfacing, as well as to send a message to the doctors who aren’t current with the most successful techniques.
Complicated cases require the very best surgeons, and there is quite a range in skill and experience. Surgeons that perform Total Hip Replacements do not always perform Hip Resurfacings, but all the surgeons that do Hip Resurfacing also do Total Hip Replacements. You need the most accurate information you can get, because your quality of life depends on it. And nobody cares about your quality of life as much as you do. Find out if Hip Resurfacing, an alternative to Total Hip Replacement, is the right solution for you, as it is for many young - or young-at-heart patients. Welcome!
Why Hip Resurfacing?
Hip Resurfacing is a bone preserving procedure that is a more conservative approach to hip surgery than the conventional Total Hip Replacement (THR). It gets rid of your hip pain but allows you to return to a full active lifestyle with no limitations.
As many medical sites will explain, (as this one does http://www.mcminncentre.co.uk/thr_today.htm#str ) one of the differences between Hip Resurfacing and a Total Hip Replacement is the amount of bone that is preserved or removed. With Hip Resurfacing your bone is preserved. Opposed to a Total Hip Replacement, where they place a stem down your thigh and you can lose approximately 30% - 45% of your proximal femur. See Animations Videos here that show a Total Hip Replacement, a Hip Resurfacing and a Revision to Total Hip Replacement.
Short Video Showing the differences between Total Hip Replacement and Hip Resurfacing
Hip Resurfacing, Alternative to Total Hip Replacement
With Hip Resurfacing, they just shave off a little from the top of your femur and place a metal cap on it instead of cutting off the femoral head with a power saw the way they do with a Total Hip Replacement. On the hip socket side or acetabulum, they place a metal cup which is the same for both Total Hip Replacement and Hip Resurfacing. Here is a link that shows the difference in loss of bone between a Total Hip Replacement and a Hip Resurfacing.
Selecting The Right Surgeon For Your Hip Resurfacing
The first step in finding out if Hip Resurfacing is right for you or whether or not you qualify for Hip Resurfacing, is selecting the right surgeon.
Selecting the right surgeon is crucial to getting long term positive results after any hip surgery but especially for Hip Resurfacing. It is a personal decision but one that must be taken very seriously. Basically, if you choose the wrong surgeon and the surgery does not go as planned, you can not get a “do over” without risking a revision surgery to a THR (Total Hip Replacement), which in turn means another major surgery.
