Walking without a hip joint

At the beginning there was much pain, even with a Cane. I could not walk far distances and i needed much pain medication. But in a few month the pain disapeard and finally i put away my cane. Your Body can compensate the missing hip joint very good, if you work for it every day. But for all this effort you get a nearly normal life back. I live in the 4th floor and i still have no elevator.

Yes I’ve had significant leg length difference. I have always worn a shoe with a lift but we had to increase it. It has been almost a year since last surgery where I was left without a hip. I’m doing very well though do need a walker. I might be able to advance to 2 canes. Still some limitations but wow after 8 years no more infections!

Please, if anyone has bern anle to walk without a hip please tell me your ecperience. I have been told it is possible if you PT hard and develop muscle and scar tissue which compensate gor missing hip. Nancy

Hi @starstruck, you'll notice that I moved your message to the discussion of the same name where you were connecting with others like @tlserenity @koala78 @anonymous122054 @rayban33 about walking without a hip.

You mention you heard that working physiotherapist to develop muscle and scar tissue can help compensate for the lack of hip. Can you tell us a bit more about where you heard this and how it works?

@dzoneill I am sorry to hear of your situation and I can totally relate to your situation however mine came in a different form. In 2005 I was in a head on collision with a semi which caused my left hip to dislocate (along with numerous other traumatic injuries) they were able to put my hip back into place without surgery however a couple weeks later when doing physical therapy it became dislocated again. So the decision was made to put hardware in to try and stabilize it from dislocation, which worked until my femoral head became necrotic a year later . At that point they decided to do the first THR ...it was great ...but it only lasted two weeks and then I got Staph infection and it had to be removed. So then they put in a concrete hip spacer.. Needless to say we went back and forth like this 4 times over the course of 7 years ...everytime they put in a new hip I would eventually get MRSA/staph and they would remove it. Finally when hip replacement 4 became infected I was referred to Mayo Clinic .
Their recommendation was to take everything out and leave it out for at least a year. If I could go at least one year without infection they would try one last hip relplacement .
It was a long recovery process plus learning how to walk with a hanging hip but i actually stunned doctors a year later when i was walking without any assistive devices (i probably shouldve been using my cane at least lol) of course I had a major limp since my left leg was so much shorter but i made it work not only for one year but for 4 years!
Finally last year I went back and told them it was time, my lower back had been killing me so bad from my uneven gait.
June 6th I recieved my "Hail Mary" 5th total hip lol and I am so happy to say that so far (fingers crossed) i havent had any problems with infection. Im only 34 years old so I know its a life long battle but at this point in time thing are looking up!!

I was born with a congenital hip dislocation and had 3 surgeries between the ages of 2 and 15. At the age of 26 (1985) I had a THR. There were 3 revisions, the last in 2006 at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. In 2013 I was admitted with sepsis, a massive mrsa infection which later mutated into visa. March 2014 the prosthesis was removed and I spent 2 1/2 years in a wheelchair and on IV antibiotics most of that time. Last summer my case was taken over by another surgeon who deemed it unwise to try another revision and we agreed. A new infectious disease doctor changed antibiotis and I am now mrsa/visa free. I have no hip and no spacers, the femur is significantly shorter, leg length difference is 3 1/2 inches. The new surgeon has me walking with walker and crutches and a 3 inch lift on my shoe. 3 months physical therapy to strengthen muscles atrophied from so much time in the wheelchair. I am about to move to one crutch, and the goal is a cane. Xrays show excellent build up of scar tissue supporting the leg. My original question was wondering if there are others having the same experience.

Hi @starstruck, you'll notice that I moved your message to the discussion of the same name where you were connecting with others like @tlserenity @koala78 @anonymous122054 @rayban33 about walking without a hip.

You mention you heard that working physiotherapist to develop muscle and scar tissue can help compensate for the lack of hip. Can you tell us a bit more about where you heard this and how it works?