l am 45 yrs old and after 25 yrs of twisting on my right leg shaping l have worn my hip out. This means it is a square peg going into a round hole. Pains not unbearable but constant, and the Doc told me to comeback when l can't bear it anymore. How will l know l asked? You will know he said, $105 for 5 minutes. Well can l wind surf after it, what is the best type of hip, Titanium?. l am allergic to epoxy so l figure a glue in one may be suss, can any one please educate me from their experience. l still want to wave ride , happy to jump but no loops, leave that to Jaeger.

Thanks but l use a 64 litre most the time, l weigh 75 kilo so up hauling is out, bad for you back any way.

Thanks again, l have private and already seen a specialist. l am just doing my homework to make sure of the best way to go. l have heard of them now relining the ball joint too. Its a bit like buying a new video camera l geuss, next week its outdated but l doubt it will be half the price. Money is not the issue though, ripping up the waves is,l really want to maintain what l have. l could not handle sailing in straight lines.

Mark, you could try posting on rec.windsurfing, if you can get (newsgroups). It's mainly Americans, but it does have a world wide audience, and in the past I've seen medical questions answered convincingly.

holgs post is spot on .
Don't fix it until it is unbearable with painkillers.My mother has had on e and it is really not designed for sports.

Hi Stonesurf

I will turn 37 in a couple of weeks and I had a hip replacement back in 2001. Long story as to why, but lets say bullets and hip joints don't mix.

I did the rounds of Ortho docs and got the same answers as you, "you are too young, come back when you can barely crawl"...etc. It wasn't much of an option for me with my wife expecting a baby and a fairly active lifestyle. In the end I came across a "hip" called the birmingham cup which was specifically designed for young active people.

The basic premise is to resurface the ball joint and install a cup into the pelvis. There are two advantages. First is that it most closely resembles what was originally there and is therefore more stable than the typical hip replacement. The second is that by resurfacing the ball joint, they do not have to cut off the neck of the femur, which in the end means that you can have more than the two or three (if needed) hip replacements down the track, which is what the older style offer.

When I had mine done, they hadn't worn any out yet. They had "bench" tested them for 15 years plus, and they had fitted them in a competitive long distance runner and Tae Kwan Do bloke.

Since I have had mine I have been into mountain biking, snow skied and took up windsurfing last year. I am far from being any good but it certainly doesn't slow me down. The only thing keeping me from water starts is practice.

I am not really sure what it is all made of but I can honestly say that the only thing that reminds me of the whole thing is a pretty cool scar. Definitely no pain, and the Docs words, after asking him what I could and couldn't do, when he discharged me were "the gloves are off".

I hope you find the right one for you. I remember what the the pain was like before I had mine. If you want to know anymore, I'll keep an eye out here.

All the best
Bart

I knew there had to be a positive in stuffing my knee.Those shopping centre trips will have to wait until FULL recovery.

hey stoney,
Its Dan here (myself and matty bourke took those boards back to perth 3 weeks ago). My girlfriend's dad is an orthopeadic 'salesman' and sits in on the surgeries making sure that all goes to plan. From what I understand, wait as long as possible, there is no epoxy, titanium and there are good and bad specialists so pass the name on to me and I'll ask him if you like. I'll press for more info on the action side of things when I see him next.

You may just need to take up kiting mate!!

Cheers
Dan