Young Total Hip Replacement

If you or someone you love under 60 has severe hip pain despite physical therapy AND either had…

• A recent x-ray report says you have “congenital hypoplasia with marked degenerative changes,”

or

• A hip injury when you were younger and now have post-traumatic arthritis….then you need to read this article before Christmas. This can be your last holiday with hip pain and restrictions. Jingle all the way.

Congenital hypoplasia means you were born with a mis-shaped hip. “But my hip never even hurt when I was young!” you object. Of course, you are right. Everything works better when we are young. But your anomaly has caught up with you. And you are not getting any younger.

Post-traumatic arthritis is easier to understand. You fell off the bike, crashed the car… were hit by a bus, for goodness’ sake! You are lucky to be alive. But your hip was not that lucky.

Either way, your hip that has been with you since the beginning, through thick and thin, just is not going to make it to the finale. It hurts to get out of the car, walk upstairs, walk anywhere, even lay in bed. The physical therapist did their best, but every year you have more and more stuff you cannot do because of your hip. So, you went to see an orthopedic surgeon.

And the doctor patiently explained to you that hip implants have a fixed lifespan. Revision is much riskier than the first time. It is better to wait until you cannot take it anymore. The longer you wait, the better. In fact, come back when you cannot walk. The doctor was not wrong. You were just seeing the wrong doctor.

We have known for 20 years that orthopedic surgeons who do a high volume of hip replacements have fewer complications. Nonetheless, even today 93% of hip replacements are done by legacy orthopedic surgeons without the most current tools and approaches, often in unfortunate facilities.

With modern implants, minimally invasive approaches (anterior, superPATH, direct superior), and robotic assistance if your pain is bad enough, then you are NOT too young for total hip replacement. In fact, more and more hip replacements are being done on younger and younger patients.

But how do you know if your pain is bad enough?

I am glad you asked… the HOOS has the answer. This six-question scored survey tells you if your condition is severe enough to warrant going through total hip replacement surgery.

Take the HOOS Survey

I saved the most important thing for last: you really need to find the right surgeon. When celebrities like Kris Jenner need a hip replacement, they go to a high-volume joint replacement surgeon who is fellowship trained, uses registry-proven implants and a robotic assistant. In addition, powerful and connected people have surgery outside the hospital in an ambulatory surgery center. You deserve the best, too. We can help you find it.

As always, our recommendations are free.