Treatment options for hip and knee arthritis include medications, braces, injections (steroids, PRP, anti-inflammatories, stem cells), physical therapy. Which treatment is right for you? Come in to discuss your case with Dr. Clegg and he will work with you to come up with the best choice.

This answer depends on a lot of variables. Dr. Clegg will work with you to develop the best treatment for your individual case. In general, when the pain you are experience is starting to keep you from doing the things you need to do or the things you enjoy. No one wants to live in pain, so once other treatment options have failed, joint replacement is a great option for decreasing pain and improving your quality of life.

Contrary to what many people think, a worn out, painful, arthritic hip typically presents with pain in the groin and upper thigh area. This pain may make getting shoes and socks on difficult. This pain may also be worse when getting in and out of the car. The best way to find out if your hip is worn out with osteoarthritis is an exam from a trained specialist and an x-ray.

When your cartilage in your joint wears out, this leaves bone on bone interaction in the joint. This bone on bone contact causes pain, inflammation and poor function. During the joint replacement surgery, the worn our cartilage is replaced by a specially designed prosthesis to match your anatomy. This eliminates the bone on bone contact and improves/ eliminates the pain. Because only the worn our surface of the joint is replaced, joint replacement is sometimes referred to as joint resurfacing.

These procedures have been dramatically improved over the last several decades allowing longer lasting results with quicker recovery.

• A 98% chance of success at 10 years post-surgery
• After 20 years, a 94% chance that your replacement joint will be functioning well

The answer is that approximately 90% of Dr. Clegg’s patients are candidates for having their joint replacement done as an outpatient. Using less invasive techniques with minimal blood loss and very little pain immediately following the procedures, most patients are up and walking within hours of the procedure. This allows for patients to go home and sleep in their own beds!

There are a number of benefits to anterior approach, muscle sparing, minimally invasive hip replacement:

• Less pain after the operation
• Decreased muscle damage allowing for a quicker recovery
• Less chance of dislocation of the hip joint
• Less chance of legs being different lengths after the surgery
• Decreased infection rates
• Quicker return to work and sports