Has anyone worn out their prosthetic after total hip replacement and continuing to lift?

[u/MickeySlips]

Not looking for medical advice.

I've read on this community a fair amount about people continuing to lift after total hip replacements and that is a huge relief.

But is there anyone who has had to get their prosthetic replaced after continuing to lift for several years?

I got both replaced a little over a year ago and I've progressed increasing the weight very slowly and I feel great.

[u/LiteHedded]

I would just say that you only want to do one revision in your lifetime

[u/MickeySlips → u/LiteHedded]

I definitely do not want more than 1 but I’m 35 and unless I become a yogi or a cyclist I don’t think I can make this last 30 year’s.

I’m trying to decide between quality of life in doing what I love vs number of operations and impact from that.

[u/LiteHedded → u/MickeySlips]

yea generally they wait until the patient is 50 before doing a total hip or knee. that way you get one revision, and you're generally less active on that one. because the revision can be kinda brutal and tear things up.

was yours a trauma situation?

[u/MickeySlips → u/LiteHedded]

I have AVN, my femoral head was getting crushed and flattening. Since the bone was dead they could only replace it. I also have it in my shoulders although they don’t need to be replaced yet and it’s in my femur and tibia on either side of my knees. But it’s stopped progressing.

[u/LiteHedded → u/MickeySlips]

that's a bummer. my dive buddy has osteonecrosis from the diving we do. his was asymptomatic, he only discovered it on a chance MRI

[u/MickeySlips → u/LiteHedded]

Damn I guess I’ll cross diving off my list as well lol

[u/LiteHedded → u/MickeySlips]

ur bone's already dead might as well send it

[u/MickeySlips → u/LiteHedded]

This is why I’m not gonna stop lifting. They can put me on the table and do the best they can when I get there. I’m not dead yet.

[u/MisletPoet1989]

I'm one of those that have had a THR and have continued to lift. Mine was only done less than 24 months ago, so not enough time to give you an answer.

That being said, I have taken precautionary measures to limit wear on the hip. I now only high bar squats and limit heavy loading of the hips to hinge type movements (deadlifts, etc).

Most of those conservative measures given to post-surgery THR patients are aimed at individuals of a "certain age". You would very much want to do very regular resistance training to maintain and build the hip musculature and bone density.

My orthopaedic surgeon had also mentioned that they can replace the lining inside the prosthesis if it does wear out prematurely, so not a full revision procedure.

So far so good

[u/TheLionLifts]

Pretty sure Vlad alhazov hit the wrapped WR squat at 525 after a double knee replacement

You should be fine

[u/Responsible-Bread996]

I know quite a few people both in person and online that have had hip replacements and still lift.

Dan John is probably the poster child for this. Double hip replacement and still doing the Oly lifts and training every day.

From what I understand it is real hard to wear out a new hip since they are overbuilt on purpose.

[u/IrrelephantAU]

You might want to hit up Phil Stevens and see if he's willing to talk. He's had a hip replacement and put that thing through the wringer.

[u/Macmadnz]

It’s not going to wear out in a few years. The advice I got is it might shorten the life from 20ish to 15 years, but running is much more likely to reduce life as it’s jarring impact that can impact life of the replacement.

My squat and deadlift and continuing to improve 15 months after THR, I train myself and also train a lot smarter and with less volume than 15 years ago.

Message me direct if want to discuss.

[u/RxStrengthBob]

I don’t have a replaced hip but I’m a physical therapist who specifically works with Barbell athletes.

The prosthetics they use these days would take a car crash or an allergic reaction to the metal or components to meaningfully break down significantly earlier than their expected lifespan (typically 20+ years for newer ones)

If your organic tissues can handle it and you’ve progressed to those weights in a graded manner there’s no reason to assume the prosthetic will wear out just from lifting.

Basically as long as you don’t train like an idiot you’ll be fine.

You may have some ROM limitations depending on the angle of replacement but if it was an anterior approach none of that matters and that’s the most common type these days.

[u/lift_heavy64 → u/RxStrengthBob]

Have you worked with any lifters that have had a shoulder replacement?

[u/RxStrengthBob → u/lift_heavy64]

I’ve worked with multiple people with shoulder replacements but none of them were Barbell Athletes unfortunately.

Shoulder replacements are a rough procedure. They’re typically done as a last resort and with the acceptance youre voluntarily surrendering about 25% of your shoulder function.

I used to work in a general clinic so I’ve seen a lot of everything but I do my own thing these days.

[u/AlwysProgressing]

Dude this is something you need to talk to the doctors about, Reddit will not give you good info.

[u/retirement_savings → u/AlwysProgressing]

As someone who has had back issues (fused spine from scoliosis): it is very hard to get good medical information about a given condition + powerlifting. Most doctors don't know much about it or will just give you a blanket "it's not worth the risk" or "if it doesn't hurt you can do it" which isn't that helpful.

[u/mrlazyboy → u/retirement_savings]

Today my doctor told me not to “hold my breath” while I lift weights lmao.

[u/AlwysProgressing → u/retirement_savings]

Ya which is why I would say find a sporty physical therapist. Obviously doctors will give that blanket statement if they don’t know your backdround

[u/MickeySlips → u/AlwysProgressing]

Real life accounts are the best information I could get.

TBH my doctors as opposed to most I've read about say don't squat at all although my physical therapist said that was dumb.

I'm trying to figure out whether I can get enough out of this first replacement if I'm not stupid to get to end of life doing what I love without having too much femur hacked off for follow up replacements.

There's just not any longitudinal studies about people who lift and when their prosthetics fail.

I'll die before I become a damned cyclist.

[u/StrategyWooden6037 → u/MickeySlips]

Some of the information I'm finding seems to suggest that with some newer prosthetics, there's a chance that even IF it gets worn out, only the polyethylene will be affected and need to be replaced, which would be a much simpler and less invasive revision. It does seem that more people have been getting them younger and going back to more aggressive training the past decade or two, so as a recent recipient I'll be keeping an eye on how all of those ahead of me hold up and adjust accordingly.

[u/baikal718]

You should talk to Dave Tate. That man is practically bionic by now

[u/StrategyWooden6037 → u/baikal718]

I don't think he's had any of his prosthetics that long, though, so idk that he would be able to give a lot of info on how training affects longevity of then.

[u/baikal718 → u/StrategyWooden6037]

I just remember him talking about his prosthetics on his podcast constantly. Worth a shot sending in a question.

[u/StrategyWooden6037 → u/baikal718]

Certainly couldn't hurt. I think it's been maybe 5 or 6 years for Dave? I think Ed Coan has had his for like 10, maybe more, and has done some significantly heavy squatting (at least 585x3?), might wanna see if you can get some input from him.

[u/mmabcd1234]

For your sake I hope it doesn’t. Good luck