Do You Need A Hip Replacement?

The National Center for Health Statistics reports that hip replacements among people ages 45 to 54 have more than doubled from 2000 to 2010. Is this younger, active age group on to something?

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), osteoarthritis is the most common condition that leads to hip replacements. It doesn’t appear that younger adults are experiencing osteoarthritis any more now than in the past. These adults, whose pain may also stem from childhood health conditions or hip injuries they sustained when they were younger, may simply want to remain active without the disabling pain of a bad hip.

Doctors used to recommend people wait until their 60s or later to have their hips replaced, because those adults are less active and put less stress on the artificial joint, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).

However, thanks to improvement in artificial joint technology and design, hip replacements hold up better to activity and thus last longer than they did decades ago, NIAMS reports. AAOS data show that prosthetic hips can work well for as long as 35 years.

The AAOS advises using the extent of your hip pain, not your age, as a guiding factor for hip replacement. Does your pain:

• cause you to stay still when you would rather be moving?
• fail to improve with medication or injections?
• make daily activities challenging or impossible?
• wake you in the middle of the night?

If your hip pain meets any of these qualifications, consider speaking with your doctor about hip replacement. It’s never too soon to take care of your joints.

Surgeons typically perform hip replacement procedures using two different approaches that allow them access to your hip from different angles and through different muscles. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), both have similarly positive results.

The posterior approach involves fewer anatomical challenges. The surgeon reaches the bone by cutting through the gluteus maximus muscle. To reach the hip bone using the anterior approach, the surgeon does not cut muscles but rather goes between them.

Talk with your surgeon about which approach is best for you — and remember to follow his or her advice about preparation and recovery. How well you prepare for surgery and adhere to a recovery plan are just as important as how the surgery is performed.

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