I have been diagnosed with ON in both hips with my left hip more advanced. I went to two doctors. The first said that I will need hip replacement which was confirmed by the second doctor. The second doctor said that I may need surgery in two months or it could be several years. My question is if I continue to participate in certain sports - particularly running and softball, will this accelerate deterioration of the joint?

-- Tony Hopkins (thopkins@huntjacobs.com), March 29, 2004

Answers

I'm 34 years old & have been diagnosed with stage 3 AVN (ON) of the right hip. I was told not to run or do ANY high impact sports (which was very upsetting to me). This will certainly accelerate deterioration of the joint. I learned this from experience...prior to my diagnosis I was working with a personal trainer & doing lots of running (& weight training/squatting with heavy weight). It definitely accelerated collapse of my right femoral head/right hip, causing much more pain.

Now...I do very low impact exercise (Pilates, biking,etc.) Definitely check with your Dr. before starting (or continuing) any activity.

I guess the trick is to avoid doing any further damage, & delay getting a hip replacement for as long as possible (or until you can't tolerate the pain anymore).

Hope this helps. Good luck. Susan

-- Susan (soozt@hotmail.com), April 21, 2004.

Any impact on the joint is going to affect it , try to do non impact activities even avoid carrying heave items.

-- Raul l (raziaro@yahoo.com), October 07, 2004.