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When I used to hear of hip replacements, I automatically think of the nursing home. Thinking of hip replacement conjured up images of my grandma's house, complete with the whiff of camphor oil and crocheted doilies under the lamps. In the middle of the night, when my pain shrieked at me the loudest, I'd contemplate getting a new joint, imagining all the grisly surgical tools required. It was like considering a possible terrorist attack. I didn't want to think about it but I felt like I had to be ready for any eventuality. I sensed I wouldn't heal with rest but I still couldn't imagine myself with a joint replacement. I was 41 years old when I noticed difficulty stretching. At first I thought it was just a tight hip flexor. It wasn't like finding a lump in the shower or anything. I'd been exercising vigorously my whole adult life and was used to different body parts aching. I kept doing what I was doing, teaching lots of cexercise classes and trying to stretch mor. Nothing really changed how it felt. After a short while the tightness presented in my groin and hurt me the more I walked, although the limping was yet to come. Ironically, we have a good friend who is a hip surgeon for HSS in New York City and I've always been fascinated by his work, not because he does hip replacements, but because he operates on many New York City Ballerinas who have developed hip problems from years of turning out their foot stance. We had talked a lot about ballet but never about THR. As I continuously got worse, I asked him about my pain and he had me come in for x-rays. My diagnosis was dysplasia or shallow hip sockets. Prior, I thought it was only inbred dogs who got dysplasia. Actually there may be some German shepherd on my father's mother's side. My femur was shallow in it's socket, so it wore down the cartelage whcih led to arthritis. This is when the pain set in. Another interesting thing about my diagnosis was that my "good" hip-the one with more cartilage was the one hurting me and the "bad" hip-the one with bone-on-bone pressure did not! But at any rate, I continued for the next 2 years to endure the daily and eventually nightly pain. I modified my exercise routine so I was only teaching yoga, which helped a bit but my theory on that is that it settled my mind and reduced the stress of living with the pain. I was also still teaching spinning classes which seemed to help for a few hours afterwards. This was ude to the feel good hormones like endorphons, the by product of working out. At the point when I could no longer walk my kids to school (5 blocks away) and had to consider getting a wheelchair for airport walking or Disneyworld visits, I was ready to make my own terrorist attack. I was desperate. Getting a THR was the best thing to happen to me. I wake up every morning and actually feel the presence of no pain. Life is a gift and I am back to living it like I want. Being a Libran who is naturally indecisive, this was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. But if you are struggling to sleep through the night and are riddled with thrumming pain or if you are limping around like an 80 year old, even though you are half of that, find the best doctor around; a doctor who knows his stuff. Change your hip and change your life.
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Penny Love Hoff, 25 year fitness professional, who has had a bilateral hip replacement, is the author of the revolutionary CD workout program"Does My Marriage Make Me Look Fat?", an eight week fitness program for couples to radically change your body and reawaken your relationship.You can find her at www.newhiptips.com
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