Signs to Know if You Need a Hip Replacement
How can you determine if getting a hip replacement is your best solution?
Orthopedic surgeons look for particular symptoms and signs that might suggest a hip replacement is your best course of action.
To qualify for this surgery, a patient must have moderate to severe hip arthritis, such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or post-traumatic arthritis, which causes pain and/or limits daily activities.
8 signs will help you determine whether you require hip replacement surgery.
1. You Experience Prolonged and Severe Pain
Hip joint damage can result in severe, persistent pain in your hip.
Below are the following common symptoms if you are experiencing then you should consult an orthopedic doctor.
- To manage the pain, you are frequently taking painkillers.
- Despite taking painkillers, you can’t sleep at night because of your pain.
- You can’t walk or bend over because of your pain.
- Resting does not lessen your pain.
- Traditional therapies haven’t relieved your pain.
- You walk with a limp to control your pain.
- You rely on a walking aid to ease hip discomfort.
It makes more sense to have surgery to restore function to your hip joint if your pain is already significantly restricting your activity.
One of the main reasons patients seek a hip replacement is severe pain, but this isn’t the only sign that you might require hip replacement surgery.
2. Routine Tasks Are Hard for You to Complete Because of Your Hip Disability
How much your injured hip is affecting your life is the most crucial factor when deciding whether or not to have hip replacement surgery.
Even if you can tolerate the pain, severe hip joint disability can make even the simplest tasks challenging or impossible, such as:
- Wearing shoes
- Walking small distance
- Inability to bear weight on or move with the affected leg
- going upstairs
- Bending to get in and out of chairs
3. Your motion in the joint is restricted by hip stiffness
Another sign that your hip may be seriously injured and require replacement surgery is stiffness.
Consult with an orthopedic doctor as soon as possible if you discover that joint stiffness is preventing you from lifting your leg, walking, or bending your hip joint.
Acute hip stiffness after an injury is normal, but chronic hip stiffness requires immediate medical attention.
Acute hip stiffness appears out of nowhere and disappears quickly. On the other hand, chronic hip stiffness never goes away.
4. Alternative treatment is not Reliving the Hip Pain
Hip joint disorders like arthritis do not require hip replacement surgery right away in many people.
Your doctor will likely start by trying conservative measures, such as:
- Physical therapy: Physical therapy increases muscle strength and stability around the hip joint, preserving or partially restoring the hip range of motion.
- Steroid injections: These will block pain signals and help in reducing swelling.
- Anti-inflammatory medications: Reduces hip joint inflammation, which can ease the pain.
- Acupuncture: Increased blood flow to the injured area is encouraged to speed healing, ease tension in the muscles, and reduce inflammation.
All the above therapies can help to reduce pain, but hip conditions cannot be cured with these therapies. They can, however, enhance functionality and lessen hip pain.
Regrettably, there might come a time when these conservative steps lose their potency and fail to offer relief.
Your doctor might then advise hip replacement surgery in that situation. Before choosing surgery, doctors advise these conservative measures unless hip pain is intolerable.
5. Advanced Arthritis or Serious Joint Damage
The hip joint is like a ball-and-socket where the femoral head and pelvic bone socket joint. The friction is decreased by cartilage and synovial fluid.
Hip osteoarthritis (OA) causes the cartilage to deteriorate, resulting in pain and joint damage. Without cartilage, the bones start to wear down and harm the joint because there is no cushion to prevent them from rubbing against one another. In cases of severe joint damage, surgery might be required.
6. Joint pain is exhausting you emotionally and mentally
Hip joint pain has obvious physical effects on your mobility and ability to carry out tasks. But persistent joint pain can also negatively impact a patient’s emotional and mental health.
Even if you can put up with your current level of hip discomfort, after living with it for several months or even years, you might start to exhibit symptoms of a mental health problem.
In fact, studies have shown that chronic pain can worsen the effects of preexisting mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.
7. You’ve observed side effects from medications
You are observing the side effects of the painkiller, such as
- Stomach irritation
- Ulcers
- Weakened immune system
- Tolerance: This occurs when your body requires progressively larger doses of a drug to produce the desired effect
- Addiction: This occurs when you experience notable withdrawal symptoms whenever you stop using it.
8. Less Complex Surgical Techniques Are Not Likely to Be Beneficial
Alternatives to hip replacement surgery include a few other surgical procedures. However, since hip replacement has become very successful for the majority of patients, surgeons no longer frequently perform them.
You may be a prime candidate for hip replacement surgery if your doctor is unsure that you will benefit from less invasive surgical procedures. This category frequently includes severe hip fractures, especially in older people.
Conclusion
You have understood the eight different signs that will help you understand whether you are the right contender for hip replacement.
It may be time for a joint replacement if you are avoiding activities you enjoy, such as walking, exercising, playing golf or tennis, or even simple tasks like climbing stairs, even after trying a variety of treatments like medication, injections, anti-inflammatories, and exercise.
If you have doubts, you should always consult an orthopedic doctor.
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