By JointReplacement.com

When arthritis causes chronic, debilitating joint pain prevents you from performing daily activities, you may consider joint replacement surgery. Joint replacement surgery is an elective procedure. Along with your doctor, you will decide when the time is right for this surgery.

Your doctor may have treated your condition with pain medications, anti-inflammatory drugs, physical therapy, or a walking assistance device such as a cane.

But the pain of arthritis may progress despite these treatments and become so severe that nothing helps. You cannot sleep or turn over at night because of the discomfort. You will also begin to feel discomfort in the other hip as it works harder to carry the additional burden. With your surgeon's guidance, you are the best judge of if and when you will need total hip replacement surgery.

When the pain becomes constant and so debilitating that even medication does not seem to help, you will know you are ready to consider surgery.

Hip Replacement Surgery

Suffering from chronic hip pain? Considering hip replacement surgery? Knowing what to do can be hard, when all you want to do is get back to your life. But, you should know there is an option to the traditional procedure: minimally invasive hip replacement.

Traditional hip replacement surgery typically involves a procedure leaving patients with a 12-18 inch scar and a hospital stay of up to 3-5 days. However, you may be a candidate for minimally invasive hip replacement surgery. This technique uses the same implants as traditional hip replacement surgery, but allows surgeons to avoid disturbing as much muscle and tendon tissue. This technique may also provide potential benefits to patients such as:

• Smaller incisions.
• Smaller, less noticeable scars.
• Shortened hospital stay after surgery.
• Reduced recovery time.
• Reduced post-operative pain.

Only an orthopaedic surgeon can determine if this hip surgery option is right for you

Knee Replacement Surgery

Knee replacement can help women and men with chronic knee pain get relief – and get back to the activities they enjoy. Research shows that early diagnosis and treatment can result in better outcomes,¹ it’s important to seek assistance from an orthopaedic specialist if you have knee pain that is disrupting your life.

Are you a candidate for knee replacement surgery? Answer yes or no t the following questions to find out.

I have knee pain and discomfort when doing the activities below:

• Standing
• Sitting
• Walking up stairs
• Walking down stairs
• Rising from sitting
• Rising from lying on a bed
• Bending to the floor
• Sleeping through the night
• Getting in or out of a car
• Kneeling down like in gardening or picking up a small child.

If you have checked one or more of these activities, you may want to use this discussion guide to talk to an orthopaedic specialist about your knee pain or learn more about women and knee replacement. If you need to find an orthopaedic specialist, you can use the surgeon locator on www.kneereplacement.com to find one near your area.

To learn more about hip replacement surgery, please visit: www.hipreplacement.com