Dr Testa is an Italian Orthopaedic Specialist, who had to give up sports due to arthritis in both hips. After bi-lateral Hip Resurfacing, he is back to a high activity level and has even run a mini-marathon.
I am an Italian physician, specialising in Orthopaedics and with a particular interest in the field of the Rehabilitation. Sport has been a passion of mine for many years, and for about 16 years I was a competitive middle and long distance runner, including marathons. However, I stopped running in 1993 because both my hips had started giving me problems. This had started slowly, but gradually worsened over a period of years, until I was forced to stop running.
Eventually, the arthritis was so bad that I developed a pronounced limp, and my daily life was badly affected. I couldn’t even ride my motorcycle anymore – another great passion of mine for many years. It was time to get treatment, and I was aware of the relatively new Hip Resurfacing
procedure through my orthopaedic
contacts. At my age (44), I was not prepared to have a
conventional Total Hip Replacement, with the limitations
that would continue to place on my lifestyle.
I had heard of Mr Krikler through a friend of mine, and was eventually booked into the Warwick Nuffield Hospital in November 2000, flying over from Italy the day before the operation with a medical colleague, who was to keep me company, and actually watched the procedure.
Because of the problems of distance, I had elected to have both hips done at the same time – a so-called bilateral hip replacement. Surprisingly, Mr Krikler did not think this would affect my recovery time. Indeed, I was sitting up in bed the morning after the operation and walking that afternoon. The improvement was quick. Already I was walking better than before the operation, and managing stairs well, although reasonably slowly and cautiously at this stage! Just four days after the operation, I flew home to Naples, well ahead of what one would expect for conventional hip replacement.
After a couple of days rest, and less than a week after the operation, I started my rehabilitation - this being my specialist area, I had a planned programme prepared which I hoped would get me back to a good level of activity in a relatively short time. I started with swimming and progressed to an exercise cycle, then to actual cycling, using my mountain bike, and doing exercises designed to improve my gluteus muscles and generally strengthen my legs, which had not been used like this for years.
I continued the rehabilitation and exercise programme, was back driving less than
three weeks post-op, and back at work full-time in 37 days. I still had some stiffness, but no pain, and already had back about 85% of normal motion.
Today I lead pretty much a normal life, both at work and at home. I have returned to some level of sporting activity and once again I am able to ride my beloved motorcycle. I do avoid unnecessary risks, and have replaced jogging and running with cycling. Twice a week I do a long ride – between 60 and 100kms.
Although Mr Krikler would certainly not have approved, in January I took part in a competitive mini-marathon, running the 9km race in just over 38 minutes and finishing 256th out of over 6,000 participants. I have to say that gave me the most enormous feeling of satisfaction, after almost
ten years of being unable to run at all.
I believe my physique has helped me to recover so well (I am 1.76m tall and 64kg), and in spite of my disability had maintained a good general muscle tone by keeping up swimming and cycling as best I could in the period preceding the operation, and only using painkillers when really necessary. I am sure this approach would benefit other patients planning to have this operation. My advice is to keep yourself as fit as possible, and keep your weight under control even if your activity is limited. That way, Hip Resurfacing can give you back a great quality of life.
