Anyone in their thirties have hip replacement and can offer any suggestions?

I was born with hip displaysia and just found this out. The wear and tear on my left hip for my life has caused me to wear out my cartilage and now have arthritis. I have hip pain on most days. I am very active, workout 5 days a week, bike ride, etc. I am 37 andhaven't heard of too many people my age having hip replacement. I will definetely need it at some point, now or later is up to me.

It sounds as though you are still active. Some considerations to make regarding your acitivity include lessening your impact with your physical fitness...changing to biking and swimming as opposed to running or jogging...eating a well-balanced diet that included plenty of water and avoids caffiene and alcholol (dehydrates your body). When you find that even with these modifications that your acitivty is still limited, then it is a good time to consider joint replacement.

Joint replacements continue to improve in technology and technique and I imagine they will only continue to improve. Some surgeons now perform the minimally invasive technique which only requires about a 4 to 6 inch scar and usually only requires an overnight hospital stay. Pain and recovery time is lessened with this technique, but not all candidates qualify for this approach.

If you are at the point where you cannot carry on your normal acitivities and are having a cosultation for a hip replacement, don't let anyone tell you that you are "too young"...yes, you will probably need a revision(s) in the future...but better to do it when you are younger rather than put it off another 20 years until you are so disabled that you've lost all your strength, cannot exercise, have developed a heart condition, have become obese due to lack of exercise, etc.

There are people your age who undergo hip replacement, but it is rare. When it limits your acitivities even with the modifications listed above, that's the time to consider it...otherwise, let the technology continue to progress!

I have had a few patients 40 and younger to have total hip replacements. You will be fine if you follow the doctors instructions and listen to your physical theropist. If the pain is untolerable then get it done but it is a painful recovery but in the end it is worth it. I dont know if you have seen an orthopedic doctor yet but if you are unsure then get a second opinion. I have worked Ortho with a few world renowned doctors so I have dealt with patients from around thw world who have come to my doctors.

I would recommend that you immediately look at the physical exercise that you are doing and modify it so you don't increase the damage to your hip. The issue you are faced with is that being so young a hip replace will only last so many years and that as you grow older you will have to have the prosthetic hip replaced again and again. Each time you have it replaced - the pelvic girdle will become weaker. So put off the hip replacement as long as you can.

I would recommend you put it off as long as you can. Let me give you an example of the hip issue. A old friend went to an orthopedic surgeon whom he liked but the surgeon had a horrible malpractice record.

He had his first hip implanted and the orthopedic surgeon used the wrong size of hip. The patient ended up back in the hospital because the bone structure around the prosthetic hip fractured the pelvic girdle. He had that one replaced in another hospital by an orthopedic surgeon who was supposedly the best in his field. Patient came home and was bleeding when he urinated. He went back to the hospital only to find that they had used a screw which was too long and the tip of the screw had punctured the bladder. The next operation they went in and cut the tip of the screw off and the patient came home and was not bleeding.

The patient short died afterwards due to complications. This is a true story and the only reason I am sharing it with you is to make sure you have made a rational decision that you must go through the operation. Make sure you look at the malpractice record of the orthopedic surgeon you are considering. I wish you well and good luck