For many patients, undergoing hip replacement surgery is a great option for maintaining, or returning to, an active lifestyle.
The operation can be more extensive and the recovery more extensive than some people realize, though.
Dr. Slade Moore, orthopedic surgeon for Novant Health & Sports Medicine in Kernersville, clears up common misconceptions about hip replacement, while offering candid advice for those wondering if surgery is the right path for you.
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Myth #1: Surgery is my only option.
Any surgery is a last resort. There are several things that can be done before surgery that can help treat arthritis hip pain. There are nonsurgical treatments like losing weight and exercise and there are anti-inflammatory medicines, and at times, cortisone injections, which can be very helpful in reducing pain and inflammation in the joint.
Myth #2: I shouldn’t exercise on my sore hip.
It’s a total misconception. People get afraid, “I'm going to wear the joint out.” Exercise is probably one of the most important things to do on a daily basis and can help manage arthritic symptoms. You want to choose an exercise that puts relatively lower stress on the joint – walking, riding a bike, the elliptical or swimming, but you also want exercise to strengthen muscles in the area, which can help symptoms.
I tell my patients all the time, “Don't be afraid to exercise. You’re actually going to feel better usually.”
Myth #3: Losing weight won’t make a difference.
A pound of weight loss is anywhere from four to 6 pounds (of pressure) off the hip joint. So a 10-pound weight loss is 40 to 60 pounds of stress off the joint. It can make a huge difference.
Myth #4: I should take pain medicine every day to treat joint pain.
I tell people to take medicine to the point where it’s beneficial to you, but you don’t need to take it every day. Maybe you only need to take it every third day, or every other day to manage symptoms. If you’re considering daily medication for pain, consult your doctor first.
Myth #5: You can get injections to help grow cartilage, the connective tissue in joints.
Be wary of places that advertise injections for the hip and knee arthritis that will help grow cartilage back. I have people who have come to me and spent thousands of dollars on injections and they were never going to help. I had a patient come to me who had spent $7,000 on injections and her hips were terribly arthritic. She really needed to consider surgery. What they were telling her was just not true.
Myth #6: Having hip arthritis means I’m destined for hip replacement surgery.
The reason to do surgery on the hip or the knee is because of pain that's not manageable by other means to the point where you don’t have a quality of life that you want. Maybe you are unable to walk on the beach or not able to exercise anymore because of the pain. Then it’s time to talk about maybe cortisone shots or surgery. It's usually a progression of things.
Myth #7: A hip replacement will make you feel better than ever before.
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It is a prosthetic. It’s not going to function exactly like a normal (joint) but it’s very good. Over time, hopefully people will have the forgotten they actually had the hip replacement because it feels so good.
Myth #8: Having a hip replacement means you can go back to marathon running.
There’s a misconception that you can do anything that you want on a hip replacement. I wouldn't recommend marathon running, or high impact activities on a routine basis. I would recommend more like riding a bike, hiking, swimming, cross-country skiing, those types of things, but running for mileage I would recommend against.
Myth #9: Hip replacement recovery is harder than knee recovery.
That's probably the most common thing I hear from people: “Oh, I thought the hip would be harder.” Actually, it’s significantly easier; it’s opposite ends of the spectrum as far as a typical recovery. My hip replacement patients are faster to recover. There's less pain, there's less rehab. They get to the final recovery endpoint a lot quicker.
I would say the vast majority of patients are feeling better in the first two to six weeks. They're still recovering beyond that, but I have people coming in at two weeks where their pain is significantly better than it was before surgery. With knee replacement, there are studies that show people are still improving anywhere from 12 to 18 months after a knee replacement. It’s longer to get to the end product, and it's harder to get there.
Myth #10: After hip surgery, patients have to meet with physical therapists for months.
For the hip, a lot of people will do a very limited amount of therapy with a therapist – anywhere from two to six weeks. Then they can often do it on their own because it’s just easier to recover. After a couple of weeks, I usually tell patients, if you feel comfortable doing it on your own, you can do that.
Myth #11: You should have both hips operated on at once.
I’ve only done one bilateral hip operation. It’s easier than it would be with the knee, but I usually recommend staging one then the other. If there’s one that doesn’t hurt as much, do the other one. You might find that with the one side feeling a lot better, you’re able to take some of the stress off the other side and avoid surgery for a while.
