Jeff Gaynor 08/01/01 Derek McMinn
July 30, 2010
Well here we are again. It is time for my yearly anniversary post. I got surfed Aug. 1, 2001 in Birmingham England by Derek McMinn.
I am a very active martial artist (jujutsu) and enjoy conditioning as a hobby. You can read about essentially the first year of it all at
http://jqhome.net/hip
I still tango (though not as much as I'd like since it is hard to find a dedicated partner). I train and have zero issues with the hip. Simple as that.
I don't post to surface hippy much mostly because of the invective and agendizing. I do still point to people to it as a valuable resource (and at last count had at least 2 people in my gym who had gotten resurfed after chatting with me, plus I've talked about it with dozens more online.)
So to Ruth, Edith, Alan, Des, Keith and all the other old timers, thanks for your support over the years. May we have many more to come!
Cheers,
Jeff
BHR Aug. 1, 2001
Mr. McMinn
August 12, 2009
Just got back the results of my most recent physical. Everything was just fine and thought you'd all like to know that my chromium levels were exactly average. Since I regularly take a chromium containing vitamin, this is excellent news and implies I have very little, if any extra in my system from the implant.
Cheers,
Jeff G
rBHR Aug. 2, 2001
Mr. McMinn
August 3, 2009
Yo Hippies!
I really don't post much nor do I read the list much either. However, I was one of the earlier ones to get a resurfacing. It happened on Aug. 1, 2001, so I am now on my 8th year.
Generally surfacehippy caters to people who are contemplating surgery. Those of us who are well past it now don't have a lot to offer, since our information is a bit too old. On top of that, it has gotten so loaded with trolls and flamers it's just a chore to read it. Anyway....
Read up on my story here: http://www.jqhome.net/hip.
I also have a webpage with some of my conditioning on it:
http://www.jqhome.net/taiso .
How is it working? Fine! Meaning that I can basically ignore it. That's real progress! For those of you who don't know, I am a very active athlete (martial arts, conditioning) and workout very hard every day of the week. I just got back from a weekend of training martial arts. No hip issues -- the rest of me hurts, but that is just fine.
A few observations from someone who is further along the long haul:
- Be patient if you are within a couple of years post-op. Yes you want your life back now, but it will take some time.
- If you want to really get it right, walk barefoot on uneven ground (like a grassy field). This is the simplest way to fix a lot of gait/posture problems. You might want to get some ultra-thin shoes like these (http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/). Some people claim Masai footware does it (http://us.mbt.com/ which mimics walking on sand). These will help your toes grab a bit, bit still being a shoe your gait mechanics will not be affected nearly as much. This is not something to run off immediately post-op and do. Give it some time and when you feel pretty strong and want to take it to the next level, give it a try.
- Healthy people without hip surgery usually have lousy hamstring/glute activation.
- Healthy people after about middle-age have shortened psoas muscles (front of the hip) and have a hard time standing up straight. Between this and the first point, it means that your average person has poor hip mechanics and therefore poor posture.
- Knee, ankle and lower back pain are most likely caused by poor hip mechanics. (Sure, you can have disk issues or degnerative OA of the knees, but most people with pain have neither of these.) Generally if part of you is weak, the load gets transferred to the next joint up or down the kinetic chain. So a bad hip means you *will* get either back of knee pain.
- Fixing poor hip mechanics is hard. Running (treadmills in particular will actually screw up your mechanics, since the belt pulls your foot through on each step, allowing your entire posterior chain to shut off), weight machines (ok for rehabbing prime movers, but you can cheat massively and even I find getting halfway decent form difficult), biking (works quads pretty well, but not much glut work unless you get the toe clips and actually practice using the gluts at the bottom of the stroke) etc. will not do it. You need to move you in 3 dimensions. It is possible to fix it by swimming, and by swimming I mean actually doing the strokes with correct mechanics, not splashing around in the water. This has a really steep learning curve, taking a good 6 months before most people can really swim. It is well worth it. Free weights are a good bet, but it is rare to find anyone who can coach you adequately (FWIW most "trainers" in gyms do not know what they are doing and should be avoided). The only sure way is to get your legs doing what they do
move you over uneven ground. I suggest... walking barefoot.
Jeff G
Aug. 1, 2001
Mr. McMinn