Hip Replacement & Bents?

I have a good friend who is having hip replacement surgery in November. He's been looking at bents and is wondering how people with hip or knee replacement are doing on recumbents.

Any experience? I'll forward your comments to him.

Thanks,
Ben

>>>>>Burley Canto>>>>>

 

Ben must be edykated coz e writed:

> I have a good friend who is having hip replacement surgery in November. He's been looking at bents
> and is wondering how people with hip or knee replacement are doing on recumbents.
>
> Any experience? I'll forward your comments to him.
>
> Thanks, Ben
>
>>>>>> Burley Canto>>>>>
>
>
>
> --
>> --------------------------<
> Posted via cyclingforums.com http://www.cyclingforums.com
My left knee is U/S, slides apart and is generally no good, riding bents is a great pleasure for me,
I get no joint impact and can complete 150mile rides with no nasty after effects, conversely 15miles
on a wedgie sees me unable to walk the next day.

Ian

 

Ben,

I sustained major damage to my left hip last year when a car ran onto the shoulder where I was
riding and hit me from behind. I was riding a recumbent bike at the time, and had been riding
recumbents for a couple of years. After rehab, I'm able to walk with a cane, but I can't lift my
left knee very high. For this reason, an upright "cruiser" bike works better for me now. The riding
position is far more "open" than on any recumbent (save for very laid back recumbents, which involve
other problems such as difficulty mounting and dismounting, balance at low speeds and putting one's
feet on the ground comfortably at stops).

The upshot here is that your friend probably really won't know what will work best until after the
surgery and rehab. Then he should test ride some bikes and see which configuration enables him to be
most comfortable. Of course, good therapy is looking at all the cool recumbent bikes on-line and
doing some "wish list" research . But my advice is to not settle on anything before he knows what
works best for him in the real world. He might be surprised.

Tell your friend I wish him good luck and good riding!

Andrew

"Ben" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I have a good friend who is having hip replacement surgery in November. He's been looking at bents
> and is wondering how people with hip or knee replacement are doing on recumbents.
>
> Any experience? I'll forward your comments to him.
>
> Thanks, Ben
>
> >>>>>Burley Canto>>>>>
>
>
>
> --
> >--------------------------<
> Posted via cyclingforums.com http://www.cyclingforums.com

 

Ben <[email protected]> wrote in news:3f3331a0$1_2 @news.chariot.net.au:

> I have a good friend who is having hip replacement surgery in November. He's been looking at bents
> and is wondering how people with hip or knee replacement are doing on recumbents.
>
> Any experience? I'll forward your comments to him.
>
> Thanks, Ben

The only thing I would say is that one of the nice thing about 'bents is if your legs are strong you
can push with more than your bodyweight on your pedals. I guess this would be a bad thing if your
hip is still "bedding in" so I would get a docs advice before heading out!

There are recumbent style cycle machines in lots of gyms, so he can pretend to be using one of those
if doc is easily confused

Fragg

*disclaimer* budding benter, don't own one

 

Ben <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I have a good friend who is having hip replacement surgery in November. He's been looking at bents
> and is wondering how people with hip or knee replacement are doing on recumbents.
>
> Any experience? I'll forward your comments to him.
>
> Thanks, Ben

Doc Pearson races his recumbent with a newly replaced hip. Word was he put off replacing it last
year until the racing season was over...this year he raced with the new hip. Here is a picture:
http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/racing2003/michigan/IMG_4391.jpg

The caption is: Doc Pearson seems to be doing quite well after his hip replacement last fall.

 

Ben <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I have a good friend who is having hip replacement surgery in November. He's been looking at bents
> and is wondering how people with hip or knee replacement are doing on recumbents.
>
> Any experience? I'll forward your comments to him.
>
> Thanks, Ben
> >>>>>Burley Canto>>>>>

I've been riding with replacement left hips since '77. I'm on the 3rd one, and their effect on
riding has been different each time. On this one the cup ended up rotated back a a few degrees past
where it should be. I'm no longer very comfortable with a closed riding position, so I can't get
down low enough to ride efficiently on a wedgie. As long as I have an open position I can ride all
day, or walk till my feet give out, without any hip discomfort.

As for balance with an open riding position; A backrest angle of 45 degrees and a 6" drop from seat
to BB works best for me. Even on our tandem with my seat ht. of 26-27" I reach the ground OK. and
have no balance problems. I'm 5' 10".

Some tips for him.

Suggest he trim his toenails very short before the surgery. It may be a while before he can reach
them comfortably again.

Learn to use crutches now, not in the hospital after you've been drugged and flat on your
back for days.

Explain to the doctor that much of your exercise will be biking, with the hip joint bent forward,
not straight. He may be willing to orient the socket a few degrees forward of straight up and down.
If they can accidentally rotate mine back a few degrees they should be able to intentionally rotate
yours forward.

Get all the exercise you can before the surgery. You will recover much faster. I rode my 1st century
a few weeks before my 1st hip replacement, with a cane on the rack so I could get around at the rest
stops. My 2nd one required neither cement nor waiting for bone to grow into a porous outer surface.
So I was biking to work 21 days after, with crutches across the handlebars of my Dunelt 3 speed.

 

Ben <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I have a good friend who is having hip replacement surgery in November. He's been looking at bents
> and is wondering how people with hip or knee replacement are doing on recumbents.
>
> Any experience? I'll forward your comments to him.
>
> Thanks, Ben
>
> >>>>>Burley Canto>>>>>

Sounds like a great excuse to look into the tadpole option. There are dozens of them and lots of
upright vs. laid back choices. Pricey, yes-- but compared with the price of medical services, or the
human cost of sitting home bored and grumpy-- a very good value. If only the insurance would cover
it dale

 

Ben,

Several things for your friend to do follow.

Anyway,

I had my right hip replaced three years ago. Until about 1 year before the surgery I was still
running 3-4 miles several time a week, riding an upright 2-3 times a week and swimming 3-5 times a
week. 6 months Post surgery I did a MS 150 ride from Houston to Austin Texas. 100 miles the first
day and 75 the second on an upright. Shortly after than I went to a tour easy after seeing one on
the ride. Now I routinely do 100-125 miles per week and am very able to do 100 miles rides with no
problem. I also do some leg presses to gain strength and my doctor said that was ok.

1. do their best to complete the exercises recommended by the doctor pre-surgery.
2. The better shape they are in before will determine how quick the recover is post-surgery.
3. The newest techique now calls for one, or two, small incisions with only 1-2 days in the
hospital. Recover is also much quicker.
4. Find someone who does a lot of these.

Tell your friend good luck and keep riding!!

Bill

"Ben" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I have a good friend who is having hip replacement surgery in November. He's been looking at bents
> and is wondering how people with hip or knee replacement are doing on recumbents.
>
> Any experience? I'll forward your comments to him.
>
> Thanks, Ben
>
> >>>>>Burley Canto>>>>>
>
>
>
> --
> >--------------------------<
> Posted via cyclingforums.com http://www.cyclingforums.com

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"Bill & Gerri" <[email protected]>
> 3. The newest techique now calls for one, or two, small incisions with only 1-2 days in the
> hospital. Recover is also much quicker.

Wow! Back in 1977, things were a little different. They were so concerned about infection that I was
half in and half out of a tent, in which the air was completely exchanged every 30 seconds. You were
given a spinal and kept awake. They cut you open pulled down all the skin, muscle etc. down to your
midline. They even sawed off pieces of bone, where tendons attached so they could move muscles out
of the way. Then wired the bone back in place to grow back together. The wire broke and was a
constant irritant as long as the 1st prosthesis lasted, only 4 years. (My latest one is predicted to
last 14-18 years and the parts attached to the bone will stay inplace and they'll just bolt on new
ball and cup.)

Then they used a chisel to roughly hollow out a hole for the cup which was put in place with
cement. The county coroner is a friend of mine and waited till after the surgery to tell me that
sometimes the cement would get into the bloodstream, and cause fatal blockages. He'd done 2
autopsies on such cases, so no telling how many nationwide. The cement took 2 months to harden
enough to support your weight.

Because of the trauma to your body, you were really messed up afterwards. It was 10 days till they
could stand me up and the nausea from all the painkillers was a bitch. I basically had to relearn
to walk. 3 weeks in the hospital, and another 4 weeks before I could go back to work.

Ain't progress grand.

> 4. Find someone who does a lot of these.

Definitely!!!! Due to potential problems removing the previous one, they had 2 surgeons in
case of complications for my last replacement. Between them they do 50 per month. I had a very
easy recovery.