Eric Bronkala Had His Hip Replaced and is Now Running Pain Free!
“Don’t wait to move forward. Don’t underestimate the possibilities.”
Eric Bronkala
That’s what Eric Bronkala would tell you if he had the chance to give you some advice about chronic pain, especially chronic hip pain.
After suffering fifteen years from hip pain, Eric finally decided to get the problem under control by having hip replacement surgery in March of 2016.
The Pain Started Early
Eric’s problems started when he was just 32 years old. His hip pain was constant, a 2 or 3 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Eric said that after about 10 minutes of running in those early days, he wouldn’t feel any pain because of “the endorphins or the pounding or whatever.”
So he continued to run.
Over the years, he’s tried many things to help with the pain: hyperbaric chamber, trigger point therapy, chiropractor adjustments, compression sleeve for his thigh, and Hoka shoes. None of those aids alleviated his pain permanently.
They were just short term solutions.
Eric even tried Celebrex for pain relief but that bothered his liver, and he had to be taken off it.
Hip Replacement Required?
In 2015, Eric saw a surgeon for his hip pain.
Not long after that, on March 7, 2016, he had hip replacement surgery.
Eric had the full support of his family which was very important to him. They didn’t want him to have to give up doing something that he loved so much.
Eric Bronkala and His Family
A Rapid Recovery
Recovering from hip replacement surgery has gone fairly rapidly for Eric.
Eric attributes this to the way his doctor did the surgery, spreading apart the muscles instead of cutting through them, and to being in such good shape from years of running.
Just three days after his surgery, he got rid of his walker and started using a cane.
Two weeks after that, he got rid of the cane.
Nine weeks later, he started shuffling on the downhill parts of his walks.
Then just twelve weeks after his surgery, he was cleared to run.
At first, he ran three days a week for thirty or forty minutes at a time.
And incredibly, in April 2017, only thirteen months after having hip replacement surgery Eric will attempt a marathon.
Not only will he attempt the marathon, he would love to qualify for Boston like he did in 2013!
Enjoy this episode with the “Bionic Man”, Eric Bronkala!
After total hip replacement, @bionicrunner is #running pain-free for the first time in years! #runchat Click To Tweet
Make sure you follow Eric’s story on his blog, and connect with him on Twitter and/or Facebook.
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