I am 48 years old. I had a very sucessful left THR 6 years ago. My right hip now has identical pain. I lived with the pain of the left hip my entire life. How long should I wait to have the right hip done? I have no perspective on pain levels.

-- marty todd (marty_todd@condenast.com), October 02, 2003

Answers

Hi Marty,

If you are not having trouble sleeping through the night and your hip pain can be controlled with exercise and medication, then you should try to postpone replacement surgery for as long as possible. At your age, you would likely need a revision of the hip prosthesis and this is never as easy as a first time replacement. On the other hand, do not wait until you absolutely cannot stand the pain, since you may not be able to have the surgery done at once. Discuss your options with your orthopedic surgeon...

-- christina delottinville (seamoregirl@hotmail.com), October 27, 2003.

I had my first total hip replacement done in Nov. 2002. My problem is I was born with hip displacia. The surgery was very successful, recovery was quick but my other hip started to have identical symptoms a few months after the first surgery. I am 51 and will be having my other side done in two weeks. I do not understand the mind set that if the pain is tolerable, work with it till you can't stand it anymore. My husband and I never traveled. For the past three years we are finally able and I have been in pain for two of those years. Why in the world would I want to continue to live like that? Yes, both hips will most likely need to be done again down the pike but non of us know how long we are here for and to live in pain and limitations because we might live a long time is a foreign concept for me.

-- sherry montgomery (marlenesherry@aol.com), January 06, 2004.

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

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