3 ms·

As a child I had Perthes disease (a rare, degenerative disease of the hip), and it has given me pain for 3 decades now. I've known that a joint replacement is i

As a child I had Perthes disease (a rare, degenerative disease of the hip), and it has given me pain for 3 decades now. I've known that a joint replacement is in my future for essentially my entire life, and I was told as a kid to wait until the technology was better. There has long been talk about biological replacements, but nothing seems close to panning out, and the standard still seems to mean sawing off parts of your bones and replacing them with metal. The biggest change seems to be in the plastic parts and the addition of ceramics in places. My understanding is that both hip and knee replacements have benefited.

henry_bone 3y ago
My father has had both hips replaced in the fast few years. Both surgeries were very successful and he has retained full hip joint function. He no longer has pain in his hips. His surgeon used an approach that minimised damage to the muscles in the area. If I recall correctly, this meant he gain access to the hip joint via the posterior side of dad's upper leg, and went between muscle and tendon, rather than needing to cut muscle to get to the joint. I don't know if I'm remembering correctly, but dad healed up pretty quickly.
- calvinmorrison 3y ago
  From what I understand joint surgery especially knees and hips have a great ratio of benefit to cost
- zabzonk 3y ago
  hip normally works very well - it's just a ball and socket joint. knee is a bit more tricky.
  - wizerdrobe 3y ago
    I used to roll BJJ with a 50-ish year old man. As a teenager he suffered a debilitating car crash and hip replacement at the time, resulting in his having a cane until his second replacement circa 2020. This allowed him to walk cane free and practice marital arts. The technology is there for hip replacements, it would seem.
    - zabzonk 3y ago
      as i said, hip replacement normally works very well. my 80+ mother had two after two bad falls, both worked really well physically, but she went off the rails mentally after the second. apparently there is a theory (sorry, can't find link) that doing surgery like replacements releases a lot of fat into the bloodstream that can drive you nuts. that seems to be what happened to my mum. i don't suggest anyone should not get a replacement based on my non-medic and probably wrong information.
      - bookofjoe 3y ago
        >Postoperative Delirium and Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients with Elective Hip or Knee Arthroplasty: A Narrative Review of the Literature https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8878498/#:~:text=Postoperative%20delirium%20(POD)%20and%20postoperative,stay%20and%20increasing%20medical%20complications https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8878498/#:~:tex....
    - financypants 3y ago
      Practicing marital arts is serious business, this is surprising!
      - exhilaration 3y ago
        Very true, functional hips are very important in the marital arts!
      - JoBrad 3y ago
        You just have to make sure your spouse is ok with you practicing with other folks.
        inglor_cz 3y ago
        That would be extramarital arts, sir.
tomcam 3y ago
Thanks for sharing, and goddamn, that sucks.
kaplun 3y ago
I got one hip replaced in my thirties with titanium and ceramic. I am so glad I did it. I can't run too much but, beside that, I got back entire mobility after couple of months. More than 10 years have passed and it's like not having a prothesis. Ceramic was suggested by doctor as it lasts longer (though it's more fragile in case of accident).
- silverquiet 3y ago
  Thank you for sharing that - it seems to be the rule that everyone I've talked to who has the surgery recommends it, though I have not known anyone who had it done in their 30's. My understanding is that ages are averaging down for a few reasons. I had a co-worker who had it done in his early 40's back at a time when that was nearly unheard of. He wore it out after 22 years but also had a successful revision. That was before ceramics or newer plastics so there's reason to believe that the current ones might last much longer, but it is still daunting facing the prospects of multiple surgeries; something I'm sure you must have grappled with.

henry_bone 3y ago

My father has had both hips replaced in the fast few years. Both surgeries were very successful and he has retained full hip joint function. He no longer has pain in his hips. His surgeon used an approach that minimised damage to the muscles in the area. If I recall correctly, this meant he gain access to the hip joint via the posterior side of dad's upper leg, and went between muscle and tendon, rather than needing to cut muscle to get to the joint. I don't know if I'm remembering correctly, but dad healed up pretty quickly.

calvinmorrison 3y ago
From what I understand joint surgery especially knees and hips have a great ratio of benefit to cost
zabzonk 3y ago
hip normally works very well - it's just a ball and socket joint. knee is a bit more tricky.
- wizerdrobe 3y ago
  I used to roll BJJ with a 50-ish year old man. As a teenager he suffered a debilitating car crash and hip replacement at the time, resulting in his having a cane until his second replacement circa 2020. This allowed him to walk cane free and practice marital arts. The technology is there for hip replacements, it would seem.
  - zabzonk 3y ago
    as i said, hip replacement normally works very well. my 80+ mother had two after two bad falls, both worked really well physically, but she went off the rails mentally after the second. apparently there is a theory (sorry, can't find link) that doing surgery like replacements releases a lot of fat into the bloodstream that can drive you nuts. that seems to be what happened to my mum. i don't suggest anyone should not get a replacement based on my non-medic and probably wrong information.
    - bookofjoe 3y ago
      >Postoperative Delirium and Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients with Elective Hip or Knee Arthroplasty: A Narrative Review of the Literature https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8878498/#:~:text=Postoperative%20delirium%20(POD)%20and%20postoperative,stay%20and%20increasing%20medical%20complications https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8878498/#:~:tex....
  - financypants 3y ago
    Practicing marital arts is serious business, this is surprising!
    - exhilaration 3y ago
      Very true, functional hips are very important in the marital arts!
    - JoBrad 3y ago
      You just have to make sure your spouse is ok with you practicing with other folks.
      - inglor_cz 3y ago
        That would be extramarital arts, sir.

tomcam 3y ago

Thanks for sharing, and goddamn, that sucks.

kaplun 3y ago

I got one hip replaced in my thirties with titanium and ceramic. I am so glad I did it. I can't run too much but, beside that, I got back entire mobility after couple of months. More than 10 years have passed and it's like not having a prothesis. Ceramic was suggested by doctor as it lasts longer (though it's more fragile in case of accident).

silverquiet 3y ago
Thank you for sharing that - it seems to be the rule that everyone I've talked to who has the surgery recommends it, though I have not known anyone who had it done in their 30's. My understanding is that ages are averaging down for a few reasons. I had a co-worker who had it done in his early 40's back at a time when that was nearly unheard of. He wore it out after 22 years but also had a successful revision. That was before ceramics or newer plastics so there's reason to believe that the current ones might last much longer, but it is still daunting facing the prospects of multiple surgeries; something I'm sure you must have grappled with.