Sailing and hip replacement

C

ChrisE

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www.simpleisgood.com
MrsE will be having a HR in the near future and she's concerned about the impact of sailing upon said op. Clearly, there's a recovery period of xx(to be filled in by consultant) months and we were wondering about the longer term effects after that. Thinking specifically of getting on and off boat on a swinging mooring.

Any experience out here?

TIA

Chris
 
Sense of deja vu here! I was in MrsE's position back in May. Since then I have had BOTH hips replaced..... After the first one I was back on the boat, we liveaboard, after 4 weeks. Within 6 weeks life was pretty normal-as far as you can move and be careful not to dislocate. I am now 8 weeks post the second hip. Back on the boat at three weeks. Recovery is good. Can now get on and off the boat unaided, everything except the bending! Fortunately him indoors has taken on scrubbing the decks.

My surgeon fully expects me to be able to continue cruising and his only warning was about twisting and heaving on lines at the same time-not something I tend to do anyway!

We have a pretty solid boarding ladder and I can now manage that with care. Intending to go back cruising again next summer, approx a year after the first op.

Good luck to your wife, I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I was straight after the op and have coped pretty well with the slow but steady recovery.
 
Many thanks, Gerry, MrsE will be very encouraged by your experience. She's certainly looking forward to an end of the discomfort she's felt for the past few years.

Cheers
Chris
 
ChrisE said:
...

Any experience out here?
Click to expand...

Not me personally, but I have been sailing for years with a chap, a widower now in his mid-seventies, who has two replacement hips and one knee. Several times a year he drives from mid-France where he lives to the UK in order to fly to the Mediterranean for a fortnight's charter. He also does Atlantic coast classic-yacht rallies.

Admittedly he takes daily medications, but so do many people of that age. The primary times his prostheses are noticeable are at airports when he sets off the scanners!

Mike.
 
Pal of mine had to be assisted (lifted) onto my boat a couple of years ago for a very gentle trip around the bay.
Then he had a hip and a knee replaced and after the recuperation period joined me for my Irish sea crossing as a valued member of the crew. He was so well that when it came time to recover a lost rope up the mast it was he that was chosen to be hoisted to the top.
Just do as you are told by the phisio and keep moving.
Best of luck.
Capt. RoN
 
Friend of mine had both hips done in his early 50's. A few months later he was back dinghy racing, strenuous sitting-out stuff too, and frankly you'd never know he'd had anything wrong with him.
 
I have 3 climbing friends who have had hip replacements,all 3 were climbing at a high standard again within a couple of months of the ops, so I suspect clanbering on and off a boat will not be a major issue.
 
SWMBO's parents were racing their Contessa 32 well into their seventies with younger crew to help on the winches. It was my mother-in-laws third hip replacement that finally prompted them to stop. (She wore out the first one after about 10 years and had to have it done again!)
 
I've had a hip replaced and continue to sail, mostly single-handed, without problem.
I was warned by the surgeon to avoid heavy foredeck work in rough weather as this might lead to awkward twisting under a load and this had caused a problem to one of his patients, but so far so good. Just take your time and exercise the normal level of caution when doing tasks around the boat and forget all about the hip.
 
Friends left their boat in the Caribbean and flew back to UK for the lady to have a double hip replacement. After a suitable (but pretty short) recovery period, they flew back out and sailed the boat back to UK double-handed as they had been for the rest of their circumnavigation. The dinghy was their usual method of getting ashore and back so no problems there - although their sugar scoop stern might have been an advantage. Apparently these new fangled ceramic hips are just the thing for climbing the mast too!
 
I know people who are a lot more active sailors than me after hip & knee jobs.

I would recommend fitting pelican hooks on the guardrails to make boarding easier - for anyone - and considering a snap shackle carabiner under the mainsheet block & strong topping lift to use the boom as a derrick, but hopefully that would only be required on bad days !
 
Have had both hips done with the metal re-skin versions that are in the news a lot.
No problems sailing or other activities.
Was advised not to go leaping about on the fore deck with spinnakers for the first year, jumping off the yacht onto the pontoon or take part in breast stroke swimming races. Otherwise all thing allowed but to take a bit of caution in first year as the bone grew around the metal.

Took about 6 months after each operation before I wanted to get really going, the first few weeks sleeping on my back only was difficult and you soon learn how to shuffle on and off beds in those restricted weeks.

However the joy of being pain free is unquantifiable.
Only downsides are :
Setting off the detectors at Airports and Eurostar
Hip's feel cold inside sometimes
Having to go each year to find out if the metal surfaces are grinding away at each other and filling me up with metal sludge. However my surgeon has had none of his fail - makes you wonder if installation technique comes into it .

Brian
 
SWMBO had a replacement hip fitted about 13 years ago now. Frankly, if you didn't know she'd had it done, you wouldn't know she'd had it done, if you follow me..... We live on board pretty much full time and she manages better than I do most of the time. Follow the advice given by the physio and surgeon about recovery and you should have no problems at all. Enjoy sailing again!
 
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