Surgery

[jaster]

I'm having a total hip replacement done in December. In addition to the joint pathology, my thighbone's f*d-up from an old injury, so in order for the artificial hip joint parts to line up right, they're also gonna have to saw the femur in half, straighten it out, and brace it with a metal plate & screws. It's like having a fracture, & as a result, it's expected to take longer than usual to heal - they say 6 weeks before I can walk on it without crutches.

I've heard that HGH promotes healing -- I'm also wondering if AS and/or IGF-LR3 would help.

I found the following post by on another board:

I had 8 or 9 (operations) - I dont remember it was some time ago - Im preety sure it was 9 generals without gear & 4 while I was on deca & anavar. Little did I know I was probably on the best possible combo to aid recovery. they both promote collagen uptake & prevent wasting and are easy on the system. You definetly want to stay away from test until youve stoped bleeding, so Ive read. And most definetly STOP the winstrol that is the worst possible that Im aware of. It just stops all collagen uptake hence joint pain and will severly inhibit healing connective tissue. Keep in mind mine was all orthopedic while on gear. You may need to stay away from deca too, with a nerve injurie, too much fluid retention. You need as little distance as possible between conective tissue especialy nerve tissue. gear & general anesthesia was 0 trouble for me. I highly recomend the deca var combo for anyone undergoing orthopedic surgery.

Anyone here know of other opinions or info on this?

[djsf]

jaster, your question is a very interesting one, on the leading edge of use of AAS for health benefits, an area not often discussed due to the taboo nature of steroids and doctors' fear of crossing legal boundaries with such tightly regulated medicines.

I don't think anyone here has enough medical knowledge to confidently advise you, and that goes for most of the other boards too. There are a few of us who could throw out theories and ideas, but nothing solid enough for you to base a "healing cycle" on. For a surgery that serious, we wouldn't want you to mess around with experimental ideas that might possibly interfere with your operation and recovery.

I will add that I have heard that steroid use can potentially interfere with general anaesthesia, so if you are going to be put under while you are on gear, you probably should let the anaesthesioligist know what you are taking so they can make necessary adjustments to the protocol.

Basically, if it was me, I would stay off AAS while doing this operation and recovering from it. The doctors know what they are doing and this is a common procedure a tried and true protocol. Best to just follow the doctor's instructions.

I wish I could prescribe you a gh, deca and test regimen that would increase your healing capacities. In theory such a regiment exists. But I am no place to make any such recommendation for you.

We wish you the best of luck with the operation, and we hope to see you back here rarin' to go after you have recovered.

[jaster]

I appreciate the reply & your candor bro.

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For anyone interested who hasn't seen this, I found the following post on this board:

http://www.forums.isteroids.com/anab...r-surgery.html

Steroids May Improve Tendon Repair After Surgery
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By Merritt McKinney
Thursday, July 1, 2004

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Anabolic steroids are against the rules for professional athletes, but preliminary research suggests that steroids may help repair a shoulder injury that affects many professional and weekend athletes.

In lab experiments using bioengineered tendons, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that tendons treated with an anabolic steroid were stronger than untreated tendons.

"In a highly experimental model, anabolic steroids do appear to improve the quality of rotator cuff tendon tissue," lead author Dr. Spero G. Karas told Reuters Health.

Most likely, steroids help by improving protein production in each tendon cell or by boosting the way tendon cells communicate with each other, Karas said.

But don't expect doctors to start prescribing anabolic steroids to people who have rotator cuff surgery any time soon. Karas cautioned that much more testing needs to be done.

"If enough testing can conclude that this treatment is effective, then of course we could attempt it in humans with difficult rotator cuff injuries," Karas said.

The rotator cuff is made up of the muscles and tendons that hold the upper arm bone to the shoulder. When the rotator cuff is injured, surgery may be performed to repair it. Unfortunately, healing after surgery is often incomplete and many people experience repeat rotator cuff injuries.

Anabolic steroids are known to build muscle mass and boost strength, so Karas and his colleagues set out to see whether steroids might improve rotator cuff healing.

The research involved bioengineered tendons developed by co-author Dr. Albert J. Banes. The researchers collected tendon samples from six people who were having rotator cuff surgery. Cells from these tendons were isolated and used to grow the bioengineered tendons.

Some of these tendons were treated with the anabolic steroid nandrolone decanoate, while others were not. Some tendons were also subjected to load testing, in which the tendons were stretched.

Tendons that had been treated with steroids and subjected to loading were stronger, denser and more elastic than other tendons, the researchers report in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. The steroid-treated tendons also had a more natural appearance than other tendons.

The research will not have an immediate impact on the treatment of rotator cuff injuries, but the research establishes a way to test the effect of mechanical stress and medications on tendon cells, Karas said.

"Any drug can be tested, but we chose an anabolic agent because of its successful background in treating patients with burns and other injuries," Karas said.

Another potential implication of the research, according to Karas, is that it "may permit us to manufacture a matrix of tissue that can be used to replace deficient human tissues."

Karas noted, "We are only in the embryonic phases of this work. We are a long way off, but the potential is exciting."