New Hip Replacement Alternative
By Christopher Caile
A new orthopedic innovation now offers an alternative to traditional
hip replacement.
Hip replacement surgery is serious stuff. It’s expensive, but it
can eliminate a lot of pain in aging, arthritic hips or where cartilage
is replaced by bone on bone. When the damage is severe it is even difficult
to stand on a damaged hip, much less stand on it while executing a kick.
For some the pain even makes sleeping difficult.
But there is a negative side to hip replacement too, especially for those
in karate, taekwondo or kung fu. Artificial hips have limited mobility
which restricts certain types of high kicks and certain stances.
A good friend of mine had both hips replaced. One doctor said he had
to give up karate, so he changed doctors. He is now back in karate, but
he keeps his kicks low.
Now, however, there is an alternative. It’s called the Birmingham
Hip Resurfacing System developed by Dr. Derek McMinn, a surgeon in Birmingham,
England and just approved for the US by the Food and Drug Administration.
Like total hip replacement, resurfacing also requires a similar surgical
incision if 5-6 inches. Recovery takes six to eight more weeks of therapy
and exercise to return to normal activity. Resuming martial arts training
will take longer and is probably measured in months, not weeks.
The surgery is not suitable for those who have an allergic reaction to
the implant materials, or who have hip deformities, loss of bone density
or cysts on their femur. But the procedure is a good choice for those
who are young and active, who are often not classified as good candidates
for total hip replacement due to the potential need for a repeat of the
replacement.
Hip Resurfacing the hip joint, rather than replacing it, involves shaping,
then capping a small surface within the hip joint. The implant made of
cobalt chrome holds out the promise of being longer lasting than total
hip replacements. And since the resurfacing implant is smaller than the
femur head used in total hip replacement, the extra benefit is that it
offers greater hip stability which increases the range of motion while
also reducing the risk of dislocation – something martial artists
are concerned about.
About the Author:
Christopher Caile is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief
of FightingArts.com. He has been a student of the martial arts
for over 43 years. He first started in judo. Then he added karate
as a student of Phil Koeppel in 1959. Caile introduced karate
to Finland in 1960 and then hitch-hiked eastward. In Japan (1961)
he studied under Mas Oyama and later in the US became a Kyokushinkai
Branch Chief. In 1976 he followed Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura when
he formed Seido karate and is now a 6th degree black belt in that
organization's honbu dojo. Other experience includes aikido, diato-ryu
aikijujutsu, kenjutsu, kobudo, Shinto Muso-ryu jodo, kobudo, boxing
and several Chinese fighting arts including Praying mantis, Pak
Mei (White Eyebrow) and shuai chiao. He is also a student of Zen.
A long-term student of one branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine,
Qigong, he is a personal disciple of the qi gong master and teacher
of acupuncture Dr. Zaiwen Shen (M.D., Ph.D.) and is Vice-President
of the DS International Chi Medicine Association. He holds an
M.A. in International Relations from American University in Washington
D.C. and has traveled extensively through South and Southeast
Asia. He frequently returns to Japan and Okinawa to continue his
studies in the martial arts, their history and tradition. In his
professional life he has been a businessman, newspaper journalist,
inventor and entrepreneur.
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