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ARTHRITIS OF THE HIP JOINT
| WHEN
SHOULD YOU HAVE HIP REPLACEMENT SURGERY? |
If your symptoms are mainly from an arthritic hip, and you are
physically fit enough to undergo surgery, when should you consider
having your hip replaced? Hip arthritis is not a life-threatening
condition: the procedure is “elective.” There are possible
complications associated with hip replacement surgery (see
Complications of Hip Replacement Surgery) and Dr. Huddleston
will only offer it as an option for you to consider. The decision
to have the operation is a highly personal matter, and only you
can make that decision. If you are confined to a wheelchair
and in constant pain, it is a decision that will be quite easy for
you to make, even though the operation (any operation) involves
taking a certain amount of risk. If your disability is great enough,
the potential benefits are worth the risk. If your arthritis is
responding to conservative measures, and you can still walk long
distances without a cane, you don’t need a hip replacement.
Here are some facts
to help you make your decision:
- Once you have hip
arthritis it will never get better. It won’t even stay the
same. It will generally progress as time goes by. There are no
exercises, diets, vitamins, or minerals (except, perhaps, chondroitin
sulfate) which will make any difference. Copper bracelets will
definitely not make any difference!
- The rate of further
deterioration varies greatly from person to person. The pain may
become unbearable within six months for one person, yet drag on
at a tolerable level for several years in another person who has
the same degree of arthritis.
- You will never need
a hip replacement if you are willing to live with the pain.
- You may believe that
it is better to delay having the operation in hope that the technology
of hip replacement will improve with time. However, the rate of
progress in this area is extremely slow, so this is something
to consider only if you are very young, or your arthritis is mild
and you can easily live with your symptoms.
- More than 98% of patients
who have a hip replacement operation have no major complications
which leave them in any way dissatisfied with their replacement.
- The main arguments
against waiting too long are:
- The longer your
arthritis forces you to “sit around” the softer your bones
become,and the weaker your muscles.
- If your pain and
disability are not responding to conservative measures, and
you realize that you are going to have to have the operation
sooner or later anyway, you may reasonably conclude that there
is no point in waiting. Why put it off for another year or
two when you could have spent that time enjoying your life
free of pain!
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If you are in doubt about whether or not you should
have the surgery then a second opinion may give you the
reassurance you need. You may also discuss your hip problem
with your family physician or a rheumatologist, and other
people who have had hip replacements. The nice thing to
know is that you need never be crippled because of your
hip arthritis, because of the option of hip replacement
available to you.
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On to the Next Section
of the Manual:
Total Hip Replacement Surgery
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How to Become an Orthopedic Surgeon
Arthritis
of the Hip Joint
copyright © 2005 Herbert D. Huddleston,
MD.
Arthritis of the Knee Joint copyright
© 2005 Herbert D. Huddleston, M.D.
Dr. H.D. Huddleston
The Hip and Knee Institute
5525 Etiwanda Ave., #324
Tarzana, CA 91356
Tel: 818.708.9090
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