Some things you need to know about joint replacement

Thinking of undergoing joint replacement surgery? If you've been identified by your doctor as a candidate for hip or knee replacement, or even the less invasive knee resurfacing, then you are so much better off going through it sooner than later.

Joint replacement surgery, also known as replacement arthroplasty in orthopedic jargon, is a procedure wherein a surgeon replaces the arthritic, damaged, or dysfunctional joint with an orthopedic prosthesis. In the US, this procedure is gaining some ground as more and more Americans are having their joints replaced. More than 770,000 Americans have their hips or knees replaced each year since 2009, according to a survey. This procedure is most commonly undertaken by people 60 years or older, as well as younger people with persistent joint injuries that come with severe pain and dysfunction that cannot be addressed by less invasive therapies.

Your doctor may recommend a joint replacement surgery if you have any or all of the following signs:

You have unbearable joint pains that keep you up all night, or even awakens you. Your joint pains significantly limits your daily activities such as walking, doing household

chores, bathing, etc. You have tried physical therapies, eating healthy, medications, and other treatments but

nothing worked.

In hip replacement surgeries, hip replacement surgeons will replace either the hip socket or the upper side of the thighbone, or both. In knee replacement procedures, the prosthesis will be placed in up to three surfaces in the knee joint such as: in the thigh bone's lower end, shin bone's upper end, and knee cap's backside. At times, doctors can recommend the less invasive knee resurfacing procedure (instead of a full knee replacement surgery) when only a small part of the knee joint is damaged. By preserving the undamaged parts of the knee, patients can have faster recovery times and can go back to an active lifestyle in as little as 4-8 weeks, rather than 12 weeks after a full knee replacement surgery.

If your doctor prescribed joint replacement surgery, you will do yourself a great favor by undergoing it as soon as you can. By delaying any joint replacement surgery, you are at risk of deformities that can develop within the damaged joint; or you can experience greater pain as a result of weakened ligaments and muscles surrounding the problematic joint. A long overdue joint replacement surgery may make the operation so much longer and require a longer time for you to be under anesthesia. Moreover, people who have spotted and addressed knee joint issues early on can be subjected to a knee resurfacing procedure only, instead of a full knee replacement surgery.

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