Health

  When Should You Get a Total or Partial Hip Replacement?  

Haven’t been to an orthopaedic doctor in Singapore? Without a strong musculoskeletal system, you’re deprived of being able to do most of the things you know and love. Playing sports, exercising, and participating in games depends on this system. Even simple day to day tasks like washing the dishes or moving around freely cannot be done without healthy muscles and bones.

How much attention do you give to your hips? The hips are one of the biggest joints in your skeleton and have the task of supporting your entire body. It also enables you a large range of movement and allows you to do most of your physical activities throughout the entire day. Having healthy hips is vital to the average person.

But sadly, though hips are strong and well-protected in your body, you can also be victim to a number of hip conditions that can affect your quality of life as well as your overall health. As you age, your bones, muscles, and joints become weaker, which means that you can still be healthy but have hip problems. Because of this, you might need to look into getting a total hip arthroplasty.

You’re going to need the help of an orthopaedic surgeon in Singapore if you have serious hip conditions. When hip joints or bones get too damaged, there could be no chances of it healing properly. You might suffer from permanent hip injuries, or worse, develop more serious musculoskeletal problems in the future.

What does hip replacement do?

For many people, hip injuries can be treated with natural healing, physical therapy, and the medical guidance of an orthopaedic doctor in Singapore. But certain hip conditions and injuries are too serious to be fixed with these measures. It could be because the bones of your hips are diseased, or the injury may be too severe to heal by itself. Take a hip labral tear in Singapore, for example. The tear can cause immense pain, damage to other tissues, and even lead to a form of arthritis. Hip surgery might be your only option to fix it.

Hip replacement is reserved for the most serious cases. You can usually tell if you need hip replacement surgery when your mobility is seriously crippled and you are experiencing a lot of pain in your hips. If you’re finding that you’re uncomfortable even at rest, then you may need to reach out to an orthopaedic surgeon in Singapore for options about hip replacement.

A hip replacement surgery in Singapore, also known as hip arthroplasty, is a surgical treatment that removes diseased or damaged parts of your hip joint. A new artificial replacement will then be used for your hips. A replacement hip joint can be made from metals, plastics, and other materials, and their main purpose is to reduce hip pain, strengthen your hips, and bring back mobility to your body.

Differentiating total or partial hip replacement

Picture-of-prosthetic-hip

There are two types of hip replacement surgery that your doctor might recommend. One is a partial hip replacement, and another is a total hip replacement. Just because you’re a candidate for partial over total replacement, doesn’t mean your injuries are less serious. Whether you may need a partial hip replacement or a total hip replacement will depend on the nature of your injuries.

A partial hip replacement only concerns the replacement of the femoral head, or the ball of the hip joint. In a partial replacement, or hemiarthroplasty, your orthopaedic surgeon in Singapore will not replace the socket of your hips. The artificial femoral head will now rest and rotate against the natural hip socket.

On the other hand, a total hip replacement will replace both the femoral head and implant a prosthetic shell that protects your natural hip socket. It is done to help protect the artificial femoral head from damage. Getting a total replacement, or total hip arthroplasty, may mean that you have a hip condition that affects more than just your hip’s femoral head.

When do you need total or partial hip replacement?

A-team-playing-soccerYour orthopaedist will assess your condition and inform you whether you need a total or partial hip replacement. Candidates of partial hip replacements are usually elderly patients with hip diseases that affect the ball joint. Doctors will recommend a partial hip surgery if total hip replacement may be too risky. There are fewer complications associated with partial hip replacements because the surgical time is shorter, typically lasting about an hour

However, partial hip replacements may be less favoured than getting a total hip arthroplasty from an orthopaedic doctor in Singapore because of certain factors. A partial hip replacement will still have the artificial joint nested over the cartilage of your socket, and over time, the repeated stresses can damage this. Over time, this could lead to pain. Therefore, a partial hip replacement is best recommended to those with less active lifestyles.

On the other hand, a total hip replacement can be more risky but necessary for those with chronic hip conditions and diseases. If osteoarthritis of the knee in Singapore needs knee replacement options, your hips do too. It’s a degenerative disease that can affect the cartilage between joints, and is just one example of a disease that can be addressed with a total hip replacement.

If you want to enjoy a healthy and active lifestyle beyond your hip replacement surgery, an orthopaedic surgeon might recommend a total hip replacement. Though it may be costly and riskier, it will not have the negative effects associated with a partial hip replacement. The natural ball and socket of your hips will not rely on the cushioning of your natural cartilage to give you mobility.

Learn more about how you can get treatment from a knee specialist in Singapore and other major musculoskeletal concerns at Advanced Orthopaedic and Sports Centre. Talk to a professional by referring to their website.