Millions of us struggle with pain and loss of motion due to joint damage, often caused by arthritis. If other treatments fail to offer relief, you may wonder about turning in your worn-out joints for new ones.

Each year, U.S. doctors replace more than 300,000 knees and 300,000 hips with artificial joints. Surgery shouldn’t be your first option. However, total joint replacement may offer a solution when pain grows so severe that it’s disabling.

Total joint replacement surgery results are good to excellent for more than nine out of 10 patients, says Charles Bryant, M.D., INTEGRIS Health orthopedic surgeon and clinical assistant professor at the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center. Patients get relief from pain and can resume normal daily activities

Should you have surgery?

Stephen Davenport, M.D., one of a very few Oklahoma City physicians with fellowship training in reconstructive surgery of the hip and knee, says joint replacement should be a final step in treatment.

“We’ve become accustomed to getting instant relief,” he says. “Sometimes people ask for surgery before they give other treatments such as pain medication, losing weight and reducing physical activities that cause pain a chance.”

When do you need surgery?

For the typical joint replacement candidate, joints cause severe pain during activities such as walking or getting up from a chair, night pain, or pain while standing or sitting. “When pain grows so severe that it’s disabling, and patients have gotten little relief from medications or lifestyle changes, total joint replacement is an option,” says Davenport.

What can you expect?

Total joint replacement involves a short hospital stay. Typical hip and knee patients can walk the next day using a walker. Dr. Bryant says you’ll likely be discharged for rehabilitation on the third or fourth day. Within a few months, you should resume most of your normal daily activities unaided. However, you may still need physical therapy.

The Joint Replacement Center at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center offers a fine-tuned, comprehensive program to patients suffering from hip and knee problems caused by advanced arthritis. The seamless program includes physical therapy and rehabilitative services in a warm group atmosphere, truly speeding the time of healing.

Join the staff of the INTEGRIS Joint Replacement for monthly health information seminars to find out whether joint replacement is the right answer for you. For more information or seminar dates available, please call the INTEGRIS HealthLine at (405) 951-2277.