General Chat

At the age of 57 my poor old left hip has decided to give up the ghost, I went to see a consultant a couple of weeks ago who intends to replace it as a matter of urgency. He is going to use an "Exeter" replacement which he tells me is the most longlived and reliable of the choices available at the moment. Has anyone else had this done? How long were you in hospital? How long did recovery take? I must admit that with all the talk of MRSA and other problems in the NHS I am cacking myself!

hi Andy, my friend got both hers replaced aout 3 years ago at the age of 44 - it has made such a difference to her life - and she felt she could have returned to work earlier than she did.

Hi Andy My Dad had his hip replaced 2 years ago, he was 55 at the time. He had the Birmingham joint. Before he had his hip replaced he was in constant agony, he had no bone left, luckily he was able to go private as if he had gone on the NHS it would have been a two year wait and as his job is a very active one he wouldnt have been able to work while waiting as he was in that much pain. After my Dad had his hip replaced, he was a new person. They had him up walking the same day - with a zimmer frame, and he was out of hospital after about 3 days. He wasnt allowed to drive for about a month which drove him up the wall, but he was back to work within about 8 weeks. Good luck. Karen

Hi Andy, I've heard similar stories from friends who've either had it done or knows someone who has. I've not heard one bad thing about it. Go on, go for it! Glenys (who lives an hour away from "Exeter").

Blimey Jenny, you poor soul; I never realised you were in such pain. All I can say is Good Luck, and hope they do something about it. Take care, Glenys x

Hi Jenny, apologies for the delay coming back to you. From the symptoms you describe it does sound to me like osteoarthritis in the hip. It also sounds rather severe. Very often the pain from hip problems is referred to other parts of the leg. I damaged my knee in a motorcycle accident when I was 50, for years the doctor and various consultants were treating me for osteoarthritis in the knee which I undoubtedly have. It was only a couple of years ago a rather good physiotherapist told me that the actual problem was arthritis in my hip! You will find GPs will be prepared to fob you off as long as possible. They will tell you that they can't perform the operation because you're too young, that replacement hips only last 15 years, which is wrong, the manufacturers now say up to 30 years for the "Exeter" joint. I think the fundamental requirement is that the GPs act as batsmen to fend off members of the public costing the NHS £7,000 for hip replacement until the last moment! I suggest you go to your GP and insist you have your hip x-rayed. If the results come back saying "severe osteoarthritis" again insist he sends you to a consultant. If he won't do that insist upon a second opinion. If you can afford it suggest that you are prepared to pay for a private consultation. Now, painkillers. Ever since my motorcycle accident I have taken Voltarol. For the last three years I have been supplementing that with Codamol which you can buy over-the-counter, but please do follow the instructions and do not overdose. I now have 60 mg pure codeine tablets to take at night but I'm not very happy about that as firstly, they Zonk you out, and secondly being an opiate they are addictive. Good luck with it, I know how severe pain can be very debilitating. To everyone else thanks for the encouraging advice, I just want to get the operation over as soon as possible!

You poor soul.... i have a friend who has had both hips replaced twice and she's just turned 44.... apparently she wouldn't hesitate to have it done again if necessary as it now means she has a lot more mobility than she used to.... Good luck honey and i hope it's not too painful!!