Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Hip Replacement Surgery Can Give Patients a New Lease on Life
Annoying pain in his left hip and the inability to sleep led Randy Williams to the decision to have hip replacement surgery at Sacred Heart Hospital's Joint Replacement Center. "I had a lot of pain in my lower back and left hip," says Williams. "I even had three epidurals, but the epidurals only lasted a few days and then the pain came back and got progressively worse. It ruined my sleep and my golf game!"
Williams, the director of development at the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition in downtown Pensacola, put up with his arthritis-related pain for nearly eight months. Today, he wishes he had had hip replacement surgery when the pain first began. On May 1, Dr. Robert Snowden, orthopedic surgeon at Sacred Heart, replaced Williams' deteriorating hip with a brand new one made of high-grade ceramic, titanium and polyethelene.
After surgery, Williams spent four days in Sacred Heart's Joint Replacement Center, where a dedicated team of nurses and therapists focused on getting him moving again. "I love to play golf," says Williams. "I play about twice a week. And we enjoy traveling."
Hip replacement surgery gave Williams a new lease on a pain-free life. "I'm 77," says Williams. "Dr. Snowden told me I wouldn't need it replaced for another 40 years. I told him to put the appointment on his calendar!"
Dr. Snowden has been performing joint replacement surgery for the past 30 years. "New technology has improved the artificial parts used in joint replacement surgery," says Dr. Snowden. "Current generation ceramics and even titanium provide more durable, longer-lasting components. Computers are being used to guide accurate placement of implants, which can potentially make smaller incision surgery truly less invasive."
Oh, those aching joints! Many people do exactly what Williams did – they suffer with pain until they finally have the surgery and then wish they had made the decision much earlier. Today, even younger people experiencing symptoms of joint pain are choosing to have the surgery done earlier so that they can maintain their busy routines without pain and enjoy their favorite activities. Moreover, joint replacement surgery can improve performance on the job and simply enable one to more easily get up out of a chair.
How do you know when it's time for joint surgery? Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing any of the following:
- Inability to sleep at night because of the pain.
- Use of different medications that don't help alleviate the pain or the medication you have been on no longer works.
- The pain from your arthritis is keeping you from regular outings, or restricting you from getting out of a chair, climbing stairs, getting up off the floor, etc.
If you are considering joint replacement, discuss it with your personal physician and get a referral from him or her to speak with a surgeon who specializes in joint replacement. In the past 10 years, more than 5,000 joint replacement surgeries have been performed at Sacred Heart, where skilled orthopedic surgeons, nurses, specially trained technicians, physical therapists and others all provide a team approach for a quicker recovery. In fact, Sacred Heart performs more joint replacement surgeries than any other hospital in Northwest Florida.
For more information about joint replacement at Sacred Heart, please call (850) 416-1600 or visit www.sacred-heart.org.
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