I'm 20 years old and in need of a bilateral total hip replacement due to avascular necrosis grade 4. The docotor's that I have seen advise to wait for the the surgery because of my age. Do you think that this should be put off due to my age, or that it shouldn't matter my age, it should matter my well being?

-- Melissa Suellen Turney (smurf54@earthlink.net), December 20, 2000

Answers

I have had osteochondrodystophy, hip dysplasia from birth. Simpler terms - osteoarthritis. The doctors kept encouraging me to wait until I couldn't stand the pain any longer before having hip replacements. At the age of 41, I had both hips replaced, 4 weeks apart. Recovery was great and I have been leading a pretty active lifestyle (married with family, jobs, church, etc.). Now, at the age of almost 50, I am scheduled for revision, or second time hip replacement the day after my birthday. I am in a quandary because I still want to be as active as I am now, after the second time, and I am not sure that is realistic. So, from my point of view, waiting as long as you can is good because the parts will probably wear out before you do! :)

-- Melba L. Gilmore (hiscalled1@aol.com), January 15, 2001.

I am 30 years old and have had AVN bilaterally for 18 years. I swim for exercise and stretch a lot. I am currently awaiting a replacement that will last 20-30 years and I believe it will happen soon. There are metal-metal replacements- it's just a matter of having enough data to know the long term results. I will probably consider replacements in a year or two. Good luck, Tony Martello

-- Anthony Paul Martello (hammerthead@yahoo.com), May 22, 2001.

Melissa

have you looked into hip resurfacing?

-- ernie mccullough (emccu@telusplanet.net), February 28, 2003.

You should visit this website: http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/hip/hiprepqa.htm

-- Robert Toussie (Robert Toussie@aol.com), March 15, 2004.