Have any paddlers had to have surgery to repair hip cartilage?
Its beginning to look likely that that is my fate. How long am I likely to be unable to paddle after surgery?
Am I best getting any overnight trips for the summer out the way before I have surgery (hip doesn’t hurt much whilst paddling but does a bit afterwards as a result of sitting angle in yak… Not enough to stop me paddling though).
I wish I could say…
that you’ll be fine and not to worry, but I really don’t have a direct answer. Here is what I can say:
Repair should not have the same magnitude of impairment than, say, replacement. I know paddlers who have had replacements and those I know seem to do fine. Are they as solid as they were before the surgery? Probably not, but they are well enough skilled that they brace and roll with the rest of us without obvious issues. Unless one of them actually gives you specifics, however, I can’t speak for them.
I paddle with a replaced right knee and aside from range of motion issues when getting into the boat, it has not been an issue (this means that my right leg MUST go in the boat first since it will not bend far enough for entry otherwise - the difference in bend between the two legs is probably not much more than an inch, but it is enough).
Knees, however, aren’t hips, so your situation is different. Good luck. I expect the repair will have minimal impact on your paddling, but one never knows until it happens.
Rick