Backpacking after hip replacement
Elk
Has anyone seriously backpacked or meat packed following a hip replacement?
In two years in and my hip is great. Like a teenager again. But I've been wary of carrying heavy loads over uneven ground and have not needed to pack elk quarters since the surgery. I've limited it to 40 lbs for workouts in summer.
I want to get back to backpacking and will kill an elk this year in a place where I'll need to pack the meat out by myself. I can manage the boned loads, but not sure about a 50-60# pack containing camp and gear.
Thoughts?
Jaquomo,
The components of your hip replacement will handle the load. The important thing is your strength, particularly your gluts, abductors and external rotators. These muscles are all cut through as part of a hip replacement. I'm assuming you had a posterolateral approach (incision on the side toward the back of your buttocks). They have difficulty regaining and maintaining the strength needed to carry such a load. Using a walking stick in your opposite hand when packing a load will also help offset some of the force. Bottom line. You should be okay as long as you work to keep your strength up and consider the walking stick. I recently had a gentleman that had a hip replacement and did a sheep hunt in the Yukon less than a year later without problem. It's a good operation.
Thanks for the reply. I had the anterior replacement and was walking gingerly that night, on a bike five days later. Never needed a walker or cane. Was discharged from PT early and within 10 weeks I was hiking with a 35 pound pack.
Fitness isn't a problem, as I work out year round. I was more concerned about the overall strength of the joint when really stressed side-to-side, for instance, with an extra 50 lbs on my back. I do use hiking staffs when carrying a pack, but haven't tested it with serious weight on serious uneven sidehill, for instance.
Thanks for your feedback!
Didn't know llamas had hip replacements!
Seriously, as much as I bounce from spot to spot, probably not an option. Don't know how well they'd follow my ATV for 7-9 miles to where I base camp at a couple spots.
I would think you would be just fine. I had a hip replaced in Dec 2014 and did my normal canoe trip in July of 2015. Although the distance I carried a pack was less then you will be, longest portage was a mile, I had no problems carrying the food pack which is just over 90 lbs. I did use trekking poles which helped on slippery and rocky portages.
Not a hip replacement but repaired with plate, pin and screws October 2012. June backpacked with 30# loads, and September helped pack out 2 elk in Sept 2013. Kept the loads to 50# or less. I'll be 63 next month. Not into big loads anymore.
Not a hip replacement but have a torn calf muscle & wow it can side line a guy, just doing the PT myself, slow & painful. I too am concerned about weight packing abilities for this year. Best wishes for a quick & complete recovery, it's hell getting older.(grin)
ElkNut1
hippy chick.... nuff said....
Oh, I'm all recovered and better than in decades. Hunted for 49 days 7 months after the replacement, hunted and guided 30 days this season after scouting hard all summer. The hip is great.
I only want to make sure it won't fail if I need to carry my hippie chick WY wilderness guide out on my shoulders. The surgeon told me they don't like to do them again. Thanks for the real-world reassurances, guys.
If you had an anterior approach, all the better. Much less upfront tissue damage. Seriously, you'll be fine. Use the staffs to offload the lateral stress on your hip and help control your weight shifting on uneven surfaces. Sounds like you've tested it pretty well already. The prosthesis won't break under load, now crashing an atv or falling off a hillside may be a different story...
Glad to hear you guys are doing well. Only way I've been able to pack heavy for a couple years is to take pain pills about the time the critter hits the ground so I can do the pack.
Sooner or later I'll have to do my left hip.
I always listen to my body----
Start training with heavier weighted pack and see how your body/hip responds...
It has always worked for me
Good luck, Robb
What does the ortho doc say, Lou?
One of my hunting partners carried 100 lb loads of caribou across the spongy and unstable tundra like a champ. And he had his replaced a couple years ago. He backpacks and hauls meat better than ever.
Only concern would be your other hip.
The ortho doc said "no restrictions" other than he doesn't want me to ever run or jump again because of the pounding. And to use common sense, which I seem to lack at times.
He said everyone is different and responds differently. I didn't ask specifically about carrying 100 lb hippie chicks but coincidentally I will be seeing him today after my mom's replacement and will ask.
PT, it survived a mountain bike crash last hunting season. My ribs, not so much...
Lou, I'm in a similar situation even though you are much further along after your hip replacement. I too want to be able to carry a reasonable amount of weight again, even this elk season. My biggest hurdle is I'm stubborn as hell & have a tough time listening to my body. (grin) I have a year around workout program that I'm religious with so I'm like you, determined!
I will walk with a pack on 2-3 months before season with 40# & gradually increase weight to 70# by mid Aug. At first I cover a mile up & back & increase distance little by little to 3 miles total. This should tell me where I'm at & what's reasonable to carry by Sept. I'm sure you can try the same thing so you know what you are capable of handling come your pack-in elk hunt. Doing this has allowed me to carry 100# loads for miles in rugged terrain with no roads or trails. Since you already have a year around work-out program I'm sure it will work for you too. You'll find weighted loads that work & ones that do not work, avoid those! (grin)
One thing to keep in mind that will help you out is having a very good pack, this will help distribute your load throughout your upper body as well as on your hips. If at anytime your hips bother you, you can adjust shoulder straps & apply more of the load on your shoulders & less on your hips, it's more pressure there but not a big deal.
Here's a photo from last year with 102# on this pack, look how high it rides with the weight, it's very important to have the weight up like this for good balance & ease of carrying instead of loads that ride to low & feel like you're being pulled down towards the ground or being pulled backwards. If that happens it will be a constant fight on your lower body to stay upright. You will feel the pack weight fighting you & it can also zap your energy from the constant battle. Get a good pack!
ElkNut1
"And to use common sense"
yur screwed. pretty much everything about even being a bowhunter defies common sense.... or so I'm told...
Something tells me there's a dead bull walking out there somewhere....
ElkNut....what pack are you using in the pic?
I do wave training with varying pack weights and distances. It's part of an overall senior fitness routine for mountain hunters that was developed by my friend Kevin Steele, who is a senior bowhunter, personal trainer, and weight lifting record holder.
The entire routine, including wave training, will be in my senior fitness feature to be published in early summer.
Magnus, it's the Exo 3500 Pack.
Lou, what magazine is this, I'd like to check out the article, I'm all for being in the best shape possible, I've not heard of wave training?
ElkNut1
Had mine replaced in 2004. I try to slow down so i can minimize the slips and sudden jolts. I simply try to reduce the impact on the joint. I feel that my prosthesis is strong and solid. I go in in great condition and hunt hard. However, impact reduces the life of the prosthesis so we need to protect and save the joint. I'd rather make two trips than risk damage by carrying too much weight.
Lou, I'm afraid your days of jumping off 100+ foot cliffs and running 30mph are over.
Ha,the highest cliffs I ever dove from were 50 footers!
I knew my days of dunking a basketball were over long before the replacement when I tried one on a dare after a high school game in my early 40s and nearly dislocated my shoulder..
:)
Sfire, that's pretty much what my ortho advised too. My mom got a hip replacement this morning at age 92. I'll have her in elk packing shape by September.
Wow, 92... It was hard for me at half that age.
My workout consists of lots of revolving stair machine and spinning classes. Those workouts help with leg strength and endurance. Then I mix in light weights but more reps for general strength. I've never had a problem come sept. I can hunt/move/climb all day with a daypack and pack out an elk when it's time.
LIsten to your ortho...
put an 80 lb pack on and find out
Great advice, boone. I see your Harvard education is serving you well.
Jaquomo, I would just train Maggie to come to elk camp. She could take a few pounds off of your hips.
I have nothing to add....but following this closely as when I'm backpacking with someone they keep referring to the ratchity gate sound emanating from my hips and knees
Hey Lou,just give me a hollar,me and the mules will pack out any elk you kill
Randy, were definitely going to hook up this summer. It was great talking with you at the banquet!
For those with hip replacements, how long do you expect the improvement to last? training for elk season( even minus running) can take quite a toll. Do your surgeons expect more than 10 years at an elevated activity level compared to the regular Joe with a hip replacement?
Plates and screws here, love following the old guy threads. What is wave training Lou? Are you coming out with a DVD series for old farts?
Had mine replaced in 2004. No issues yet although i do experience some occasional achyness in my upper thigh area where the stem is inserted into the femur. Generally, you should get 20yrs out of a replacement but that time frame is dependent on lots of things (any impact will decrease the life so low-impact exercises are strongly encouraged). Unfortunately most studies are of older people who are less active. I believe it's reasonable to assume that the younger more active you are the less likely you'll get 20yrs out of your prosthesis. I take great care to minimize the damage that impact can cause. I want my hip to last. Again, I spend lots of time on a revolving stair machine and in spinning classes. Those two things greatly help my preparation/conditioning for elk hunting.
My ortho estimated at least 20 if I avoid high impact stress like running. I told him I do a lot of hiking and bowhunting and he said to go for it. But he also said there have been huge improvements in the devices in the past few years too. Mine is only two years old. So I do a lot of biking outdoors in summer, and on an indoor bike with a 40 lb wheel this time of year. I also hike regularly with varying weight packs at different distances and steepness because I live in the mountains and can do it out the door.
I do kettlebells, free weights, band resistance every other day, as I mentioned earlier. Kettlebells are a wonderful low impact-high benefit workout that's great cardio too. Whole body, including core, and builds endurance along with strength.
Wave training is when you start with a low pack weight and shorter distance, work up with increasing weight and distance, then drop back before starting to " wave" up again with a bit more weight at the end before dropping back again. My personal trainer/bowhunter friend who put together the overall senior fitness program also has a metal hip and is 60.
I would go into more detail but I keep reading on here about how the internet is putting magazines out of business, except the magazines send me checks and the Bowsite hasn't done that yet. So I guess you'll have to invest in a Bowhunter magazine this summer to learn the specifics. :-)
Forgot to mention that the wave routine we describe in the article is a specific 8 week program to get in shape for mountain hunting. It presumes we are in basic "good condition" prior to that 8 week period before the season starts.
