Good morning @srwolfe and welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm sure you have a lot of people here scratching their heads and thinking "What's metallosis, and what does it have to do with hip replacement?" - But that's the beauty of having 100,000 plus members to ask - some member on here is likely to have had experience with just about any issue you can name.

For those not familiar, there was a period when, instead of the traditional metal/ceramic/polymer hip implants, which typically wear out in about 20 years, it was believed that implants made entirely of metal would prove longer lasting, especially for younger or very active people. Sadly, for about half of the implant recipients, the rubbing of the two surfaces wore off an extraordinary amount of metal, which deposited in the tissues around the hip and eventually made it into the bloodstream. This resulted in metallosis, often referred to as chromium/cobalt poisoning, and resulted in pain, hip instability, implant failure, and many other unpleasant symptoms. The only cure is to remove and replace the implants with more traditional materials.

Eleven years ago, I had my metal-on-metal hip implants replaced for this very reason. Instead of pseudo-tumors, my muscle & fat tissue had just degenerated into something the surgeon described as "lumpy gray oatmeal." And yes, there was quite a bit of discomfort as the tissue healed. It gradually subsided until at 6 months it was completely gone. As I recall, the things that helped were temporarily replacing one walk a day with some simple stretches, gentle massage of the sore area and ice 3 times a day. After the second replacement, I got quite a bit of PT, including in the pool, and "gait training" to correct the imbalances the bad implants had caused, and I had to replace my shoes - especially the walking shoes. At my check in May I was told the new replacements look great, and they feel fine too.

Which implants did they remove for you? How long did you have them, and what brought you to the surgeon? Did you treat yourself to new walking shoes for your rehab?
Sue