Knee and hip replacements

If you have your joints replaced in your 50s, make sure you get a joint with a 40 year life expectancy.

Joint replacements need to outlast the person, or you are looking at fucked up surgery in your olden years...

My 37 year old colleague had a knee replaced in June. She is rough on her body (competitive roller skater, mountain biker), but dayum. That's really too young and it was completely caused by her conscious actions. Her first ACL surgery was when she was 22.

Three people I know have got them in their 50s after running every day for 20-30 years. They were so pompous and precious about running so much and now they can barely walk without pain. Lionel Shriver is a famous celeb example of this.

Here is the deal with the joint replacements:

Use them IMMEDIATELY! Do the exercises, do not go into rehab because they will baby you and say they did all they could when your healing is fucked up.

Joint replacements are like NEW SHOES. If you do not make the healing tissues accommodate normal use, you will never get full use of the joint.

I have worked my mom, the infamous 92-year-old, through 2 hips and 2 knees. She has full range of motion. Ignore the pain, work through it and you will feel like you never got a joint replaced.

Also, get the most expensive joint you can.

Ask your surgeon if he is the kind that fills in porous bones with epoxy of if he only does the joint.

Ask him if he is going to retire. Better to have both knees, eventually, done by the same surgeon.

DO RESEARCH!

My father is 85, has weighed 165 lbs all his life and has done no organised exercise except for walking, digging in his vegetable plot and mowing his huge lawns. He has no joint issues whatsoever and is still mowing and digging.

My mother had a hip replacement at 90. Good news is, the hip is great. Bad news is my mother's brain slipped a few more notches. It seems the older you get the more anesthesia is a dementia risk. As poster above says, do your research. I remember asking the nurse what downside there was to a 90 year old getting a hip replacement. She paused. Started not to answer, then finally told me about the dementia risk. I told my parents, and they pooh-poohed it. Of course, my mother has dementia so why would she care?

OP, why is there no option for "No, and I am between 45 and 65"?

R6 My impression is that a lot of surgeons and anesthesiologists are in denial about the risks of general anesthesia, especially in the elderly.

In your case for example you shouldn't have had to ask a nurse; the doctors should have made the risk clear at the outset without your having to ask.

sorry - forgot that, r7.

I'm an R7.

My knee replacement was done on local anesthesia, I was happy with his decision, general anesthesia always makes me vomit.

I snicker when I see people over 30 jogging or running on the treadmill. They'll get theirs!

I am happy never going faster than a brisk walk.

Advice for the young'uns here: Do not jog downhill.

Yes, one hip done at age 81, the other at age 86, just a month ago. Both were just routine age wearing out the joints. The first, after recovery, I forgot I had a new hip. All was well and the other side wore out within five years, as doctors said it would, so I had a replacement as soon as safe ….. this July. They do a cut and paste, the next day you are up walking, two weeks of physical therapy happen, you learn again movement, weight placement, become more active and two-three months later you are upright, no problems.

After surgery you walk on a rolling walker. There are exercises you must do. Apply yourself. All say take it slowly, let the bones knit, drive in six weeks, even more.

if you fell and x-ray showed a broken hip, are you supposed to get the hip replacement surgery immediately or is it ok to wait a few days?

I’ll probably have to have my right hip replaced. I have FAI but don’t want surgery because it doesn’t seem to help, on forums I read.

So much money to be made.

Please please abuse your body in as many ways as possible - not enough exercise or too much exercise - so we can rake in the dollars.

R4 “ Ask your surgeon if he is the kind that fills in porous bones with epoxy of if he only does the joint.” Can you elaborate on this?

My observation after working at University of Washington Medical Center is to hang on to your knees and your back before considering surgery. Remember, doctors make mega bucks from surgeries. And no, doctors do NOT have your best interests in mind. They have THEIR be$t intere$t$ in mind.

I was an idiot OP- I am really tall (like 6’10) and used to run for hours every day when I was in my 20s. At 30, my doctor ordered me to stop doing this (which I had to on certain days because my arthritis was getting bad), and at 35 I had both knees replaced, which at my height was not an easy recovery.

Am glad I did it, but the pain is was pretty bad 😞

I'm another R7 -58 and all joints fine, no signs of any problems. I do a lot of exercise, but not running or jogging. Mainly cycling, swimming and walking

[quote] My knee replacement was done on local anesthesia, I was happy with his decision, general anesthesia always makes me vomit.

Local? Local anesthetic are you mad? What is this. eastern Europe? I want full sensory deprivation and back up drugs!

My brother just had a hip replacement at 56 and it was outpatient surgery! Local not general anesthesia. He had gotten multiple opinions before proceeding. His doctor said they could do endoscopic surgery to fix his issue but it would be a short term solution and he'd be back in 3 years for a full hip replacement. Doctor also said most people wait too long to get a hip replacement and the recovery is easier in your 50-60's versus 70 and older. My brother was out grocery shopping 2 days later.

Steroid injections can cause cartilage to break down and contribute to the need for joint replacements.

Swimming is the gentlest on your joints yet it's great for aerobic benefits.

I've tried to be protective of my joints starting in my 30s. When I had later gained weight, my knee started hurting and after I started losing weight and doing safe exercises just strengthening my quads and my hamstrings strengthened my knee and the pain was gone.

I don't know nothing about my hips.

No, and I'm between 45 and 65.

r19, wow, from last August!

My mom had a surgeon who knew she was osteoporotic and when he replaced her joint, he filled in the holes in her bones with epoxy to extra strengthen the bones. It makes for a more stable and longer wearing replacement.

R23 It's a spinal. You're completely numb from the waist down. You may feel some tugging and such and you'll hear things of course but that's it.

So much better and quicker recovery than GA. In particular, no lung problems.

But many surgeons prefer to have you completely knocked out for their own convenience, so you may have to fight for a regional anesthetic.

Good read in NYT. One of the assertion is that there's "no evidence that running causes either short-term or long-term damage to knee cartilage." It's behind paywall but you can toggle to reader view. If a page is available in Reader View, you can access Reader View from the Menu bar when the Menu bar is enabled, by clicking View then Enter Reader View. Alternatively, you can press the keys Ctrl + Alt + Rkey F9keys command + option + R to toggle Reader View.

I’d love to respond, but there is no appropriate response for me.

It appears one can be very active without having joints replaced:

AND: running likely also fortifies and bulks up the cartilage, the rubbery tissue that cushions the ends of bones. The findings raise the beguiling possibility that, instead of harming knees, running might fortify them and help to stave off knee arthritis.

R23 It was actually done in a top NYC hospital by a highly respected surgeon. I was completely out of it, didn't feel and don't remember a thing.