This is true. While any surgery can have complications a lot of the things that sounded super challenging to deal with back when I was growing up are now pretty common and don’t have to have a huge impact.
I had one replaced about 4 years ago. Recovery was a piece of cake. I had the surgery in the morning, PT that afternoon and the following morning, and home the day after the replacement. No pain, no further PT, just a bunch of exercises given to me by my surgeon.
I don’t know if they all do it this way, but for me it was nothing, and a great relief to be able to just get in and out of the bed without help again.
As for surgery type, my doctor recommended a THR, or Total Hip Replacement - that’s the more invasive one. He said I had “bone on bone action” (maybe that’s not exactly what he said but that’s what I heard!). So they’re going to insert a rod with a ball on the end of it on my leg and insert a socket in my hip. The coolest part of that is that if it should wear out again, they can simply replace the ball (something to look forward to when I’m 85!)
As for the person way up there who ended up with one leg longer than the other, some of the documents say the doctor may do that on purpose to compensate for the surgery. I believe they suggest you can get a lift for the other leg to even stuff out. I guess once it’s over and done I will find out the scoop on that front.
Monday I attend JOINT CAMP, which is a 2 hour informational meeting that fills you in with a bunch of info about what you’re going to go thru. One thing I did learn from looking over some of the materials is that you have to start showering with a special soap 3 days before the surgery, I guess it’s to kill germs etc. I also learned that they typically only give you a topical painkiller, so I guess I will be awake for the surgery. Truth be told, I’d rather be knocked out!
I have been told most people have some difference in the length of their legs.
I have a friend (who used to post here years ago) who experienced severe hip problems 18 or so years ago when he was in his mid to late 30s. That was unusual; he had some kind of vascular issue causing necrosis of the hip joints. Because of his young age, he ended up choosing to go with the hemi-resurfacing rather than the full bore hip replacement. At the time that was a fairly new procedure and he had to fight his insurance to get it.
He is quite glad he did b/c the resurfacing has held up surprisingly well over the last 18 years. He doesn’t jog but he does use an elliptical and rowing machine. He tells me his hips are beginning to twinge a bit in recent years and he will probably have to go in for more work (probably the full bore replacement next) but since the surgery he had involved only a partial removal of bone, he has options. So his experience was that the hemi-resurfacing was an excellent option, for him.
I will say one thing, both based on his experience and also my own dealing with joint replacement surgeries as a workers’ comp attorney. For something lasting like this, I believe you should seek a second opinion before committing, even if you have a very high degree of confidence in your doctor. That additional perspective can benefit you in many ways and this sort of thing, although relatively low impact comparatively as many have mentioned, is still a permanent change.
That’s my two cents.
A witch is casting a curse on you while you are at the store. Did you accidentally take her cart or jump in front of her in the checkout line?
This is funny. I wonder what it’ll be like here in another 20 years.
I’m 51 years old and have never thought about my hips in my life.
This thread is terrifying.
A sea of RIP threads, I imagine.
Given how trivial hip replacements are in 2022, by the time you realistically need one it’ll probably be less invasive than getting a tooth drilled.
My friend’s aunt was 98 when she had her hip replaced. She was very upset when the doctor told her that the artificial hips (back then) only last 20 years or so! Shel lived until she was 103. The amazing thing was when she passed we learned she had been lying about her age and was actually 106. : )
I would be very cautious about any surgery requiring general anesthesia after age 85 or so. You can get microstrokes and then you’re never the same again. Happened to my grandpa.
Of course if the alternative is a wheelchair and chronic discomfort, you may want to roll the dice.
My hip was fine until quite recently - last summer I bought a bike and was biking around 50 miles a week with few issues. But right after I retired in January, my hip started giving me issues full-time and it’s led to this!
I had a health professional tell me when my dad broke his hip at age 88 that if there was any dementia involved that he probably had only 6 months to live. They did hip replacement surgery and he was dead 3 months later.
The mind and the body apparently must work together.
I presume they did imaging. There’s structural damage? Not something rehab/PT could resolve?
Keep in mind that anecdotes about surgeries and recoveries are just that, anecdotes. Your personal experience will be, well, personal, and unique. Recovery from hip replacement depends a lot on things like type of surgery, your age, your weight and general fitness, overall joint health, all that jazz. I have colleagues for whom hip replacement was like a breeze, and know other folks for whom recovery was quite a bit more intense and spanned a longer period of time.
Definitely get second or third opinions if you can, as this sort of thing is not exactly having your tonsils out.
As for cost, a few years ago our insurance was billed over $200,000 for both replacements. I loved the “itemized” bills, too, especially the entry for $21,000 worth of “supplies.”
My hip was also bone-on-bone. I also had to do Joint Camp and scrub with a special soap. I don’t know where you heard you only get a local, but this is very invasive surgery, and I can’t imagine it’s true. I know I was put under. The worst part of the ordeal was having to give up the serious opioids I was taking for the pain (Oxy with a morphine chaser) and switching to Tylenol the week before surgery.
The did an x-ray of my hips. So my GP and the specialist both saw them. I’m gonna believe the specialist. Interestingly enough, I chose this specialist because he is the guy who repaired my elbow when I was in a head-on car accident 30 years ago - my joint was fractured and I had a compound fracture of my ulna or radius (don’t recall which!). I had a very good outcome back then and that’s why I chose him for this.
It was in some of the literature I read. I expect to get the real scoop tomorrow at Joint Camp.
I’m 54 and so is my wife. After shattering her ankle late last year she’s also mentioning hip issues now. Let me just say, we went from not worrying about things to suddenly discussing how to handle each other if we aren’t mobile. It’s a sobering conversation.
I’m 63 and the GF is 59. Our mobility is ok but we are a bit creaky when it comes to going from sitting to standing or worse, when we have to get down on the floor for some reason, usually cleaning or maintenance related. It feels to me like it’s mostly loss of flexibility as the cause, though I do have a nagging sense that my balance isn’t as good as it used to be.
Anyway, we just laugh about it.
I practically had to carry or have my wife lean all of her weight on me for a couple of days when she shattered her ankle, then I had to assist her a number of times on her crutches, then the scooter, etc. I think that event is what took us from the same deal, laughing about getting old to, “holy shit what do we do if you go through this?” Don’t get me wrong, we still laugh at each other, we just need some time after that event to get back to feeling the same.
At any rate, getting old sucks and is best injected with as much humor as you can muster. I approve.