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You used to jump out of bed to take on the day, but achy hips are making getting out of bed more difficult, never mind moving around once you’re on your feet.
Our in-house hip specialist here at Western Orthopaedics, Dr. Brian White, and the rest of our team, certainly understand how your painful and stiff joints can affect your life. While we make every effort to preserve major joints like your hips, there are times when joint replacement might be the wiser choice.
Of course, the decision to undergo joint replacement surgery is one that only you can make, and we want you to be comfortable with your choice. Our goal here is to provide you with a few points to think about when considering your options for regaining pain-free movement in your hips.
One of the primary reasons why most people opt for hip replacement surgery is that there’s too much damage in the hip joint.
Under normal circumstances, your hip relies on healthy cartilage to protect the surfaces of the bones that meet within the joint — namely the top of the femoral head (the ball) and the acetabulum (the socket), which is located in your pelvis.
If you have a condition that causes the cartilage to break down, such as osteoarthritis, it’s important to understand that these tissues don’t regrow. With hip preservation, we do what we can to repair and reconstruct the soft tissues inside your hip. But if the damage is too great and there’s nothing to repair, a hip replacement may be the best option.
So, if your ball and socket are rubbing against each other — bone on bone — there’s no more natural cushioning inside the joint. This means that no amount of physical therapy or other conservative measures will be able to restore smooth function inside the joint.
The other main reason why our patients opt for hip replacement is to relieve the pain. When your bones rub together, the result is pain and inflammation that can make everyday tasks unpleasant. This pain won’t go away, and it will likely get worse over time.
Whether you’re tired of not being able to climb up the stairs comfortably or you hate being sidelined from your favorite activities, hip replacement is a viable road to relief.
Joint replacement surgery like hip replacement is the most predictable and successful surgery we offer in orthopaedics. When the hip joints are used responsibly, 80-90% of hip replacements should last 15-25 years.
When it comes to pain relief, one study found that 90% of patients with moderate hip pain before their first hip surgery had only mild or no pain after five years.
We can go on about the many benefits of hip replacement surgery, but this is your decision. Of course, we’re here to guide you and to manage expectations, so we invite you to come in and talk with Dr. White to see whether hip replacement is right for your goals.
To get started, you can contact one of our offices in Arvada or Denver, Colorado, to set up an appointment.
