It’s 22 years since I had a total hip replacement, needed because I was born with hip dysplasia (DDH). Hip replacements of that time last about 15 years, so I feel lucky that I’ve had over 20 from mine. But over recent years, walking without sticks has become more difficult, and in December I learned it’s time for the hip revision surgery.
What is hip dysplasia?
Dysplasia means abnormality. In short, my hips didn’t form properly. When I was born, the socket was too shallow on one side, which means it doesn’t rotate properly. But on the other side, the socket and part of the pelvis were just missing. I spent my early years in and out of Sheffield Children’s Hospital, with open and closed reduction surgeries and in a hip spica between them. You can read more about that in some of my previous blog posts – from my early memories of surgery, to my leg lengthening, my hip replacement and a stabilising knee replacement in 2022. Like many people born with DDH, surgery is just part of my life.
Why does a hip replacement need revision?
Quite simply, the parts, and the fixings, start to wear. Just like a real hip. We humans take a lot of weight through our pelvis and hips, and they are made to move. Don’t know about you, but it’s quite for me to actually stand still. Should have been a jack-in-a-box!
The polyurethane lining in the socket starts to wear, just like with cartilage, and the tiny bits of plastic get into the bone tissue around the hip joint. This causes something called Lysis – which means the bone stops forming so well, and softens around the fixings. And so the socket starts to get looser and some of the parts need replacing.
I mean really, it’s a bit like a shelf. Nice and secure when you first put it up, 20 years later it’s come a bit loose and so needs taking down, some filler and new rawl plugs (if you’re lucky) or if not so lucky, you have to drill in slightly different places and plug the old holes. If anyone medical reads this I apologise for the massive oversimplification of your immense skill.
But it’s kinda what my hip revision surgery is going to be. So, the shaft into my femur is still secure, so my surgery will focus on replacing the ball, the socket and the polyurethane liner. And using bone filler to secure it in place and plug any holes.
A ‘3D printed’ bionic hip
Tech can be frustrating (someone changes the button you knew on Microsoft Teams LOL!). But it’s also amazing what it’s enabled in the medical field. So my new hip has essentially been ‘custom printed’ to fit my strange little pelvis perfectly. How amazing (again, if a little simplified). And how lucky to live in a country where I get to have that surgery.
Four days to go
So I’m now on the final prep journey, with 4 days to go until my hip revision surgery. I’ve had my pre op assessments, had the handover at work and I’ve been swimming as much as I can, and sorting out my home for what I’m told will be a “no picnic” kind of rehab. More on what’s involved in that, and some unusual places to get what I need, in my next post.
Until then, I’m hoping for as much sunshine as possible whilst I can still get out and about. Hope the weather is kind to you all too, wherever you are reading.
Until next time….
Jill Pringle was born with bilateral hip dysplasia in 1971. After an early childhood in a hip spica and various surgeries, she now writes about her experiences of living with her DDH, her surgeries and her walking challenges to raise money for Steps.
