Hip Replacement---complications Are Too Few & Success Rate Is Great

By Author: Hilary Smith
Total Articles: 14
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Hip replacement: When do you need it?
Hip replacement is a surgical procedure to help you get back the easy mobility that was lost due to the deteriorating hip joint over the years. Obviously the matter has not worsened overnight. The statistics show that the majority of the patients procrastinate in consulting orthopedics when the problem is at a very nascent stage. They mostly rely on the pain killers to lessen their suffering but such delay only deepens the crisis. The root cause of hip pain is hip arthritis which disturbs the normal functioning of the hip. The doctors usually avoid hip replacement surgery in case, the patients are too young. The young patients are advised to be on medication and regularly practice a few freehand exercises to keep the problem under control. Losing weight also helps in reducing pressure on the hip and thereby relieving the hip pain to some extent. An expert medical practitioner can only tell if total hip replacement surgery will do any good to a patient.

Hip replacement: Will it improve the quality of your life?
The doctors suggest hip replacement only when there is ...
... no other alternative way in vision to improve the quality of the life of a patient. The unbearable pain in the hip area also affects the free functioning of the other parts of the body, mainly the knee joints. The patients tend to lean on the other hip which is in good health just to take the stress off the other one which is causing problem. But the excessive pressure on the other side can also damage the healthy hip. Walking with a lame gait affects a patient's personal and social life. He or she cannot do any work with the same level of ease or efficiency. Therefore, hip replacement becomes the only medial solution to this tremendous suffering.

Hip replacement: Success rate
The success rate in case of hip replacement is quite impressive. Over the 80% of the patients, undergone the replacement surgery have been able to lead normal life as before without experiencing any kind of complication. Surgery in the hip area is not a new concept. The continuous research in the medical technology has improved the surgical technique and lessened the surgical risks. The advanced replacement surgery assures lesser amount of blood loss and speeds up the recovery pace for the patients.

Hip replacement: Complications
Any surgery is associated with some risks and in some cases, it involves complications too. Most of the patients will prefer to hobble rather than opting for the surgery if they come to know that they are likely to develop complications at the post-operative stage. But, in case of hip replacement only 20% of the patients, mostly the aged persons, experience one or often more than one complications after the surgery. The nerve and vascular damage is a major complication often complained about by the patients after the surgery. The damage may be of permanent nature causing a great physical suffering and mental trauma for the rest of life. If the damage is of temporary nature, the suffering will gradually cease, though sometimes the rehabilitation period becomes much lengthy. Femur fracture and discrepancy in the length of the legs also pose great problems for the patients even after the total hip replacement surgery.