NY Times reports metallic hip joint replacements are failing. What you need to know

NY Times reports metallic hip joint replacements are failing. What you need to know

A number of disturbing events have occurred regarding people who have undergone hip replacement surgery. It seems that a high rate of failure is occuring with all metal joints (see article by clicking here).

As many people have experienced, when a problem is difficult to diagnose after the surgery, they are bounced from doctor to doctor. The frustrating part of this is that often, either doctors do not wish to get involved in another doctors disaster in the making or they simply do not know. Others, have had problems because the physician did not measure properly, leaving them with a permanently short leg, something they never though they would ever experience.

While the promises of a new hip joint, and the people who have benefited from these prostheses are abundant, the silent minority have failed surgeries, second surgeries which occur at their cost, since these costly devices come without any real warrantee, yet the people who recommend and install them, get paid even if they fail with the device. This creates disability, and sometimes a huge loss of quality of life.

A degenerated hip joint that requires replacement is an impediment to lifestyle, and this is often the best option, however, somehow, we have failed these people by allowing them to go through life with the poor body mechanics that created the problem in the first place.

If it were normal for our hips to wear out, we would all need hip replacements. The fact is, only a segment of the population has this happen to them and others, live and complete their lives with their original joints.

Believe it or not, many of these joint issues could have been prevented had the proper recommendations of proper footwear and inserts to balance out their body mechanics been made.

Some of us are just built better than others, and these traits are inherited. As taken from the book Cheating Mother Nature, What you need to know to beat chronic pain (available on amazon.com), this chapter is an introduction to this idea.

The Cost of Trafficking Body Parts

In our current health care paradigm, doctors evaluate pain and assume it is the problem. Sadly, the typical health care practitioner does not fully evaluate or consider the importance of body mechanics as theultimate cause for painful conditions.

Not surprisingly, the typical health care practitioner concerns himself mainly with the disease and the injury. He approaches the symptomatic problem from his own point of view.

Take for example scoliosis screening. It’s ironic how we routinelyscreen for scoliosis in schools but ignore potential issues caused by body mechanics that can be improved with a simple insert in your child’s shoes.

These are issues that later in life result in chronic foot, ankle, knee, hip,lower back, upper back, shoulder and neck pain.

Checking your children’s feet during scoliosis screening would take just one more minute and offer a developing adolescent the promise of a better quality of life. Before you go thinking this requires a lot of background and training you should know that it is an easy test. Athletic trainers, nursesas well as other health professionals within the school system are already qualified and willing to perform these screens, yet, don’t.

Instead, we spend billions of dollars annually replacing bad knees, hips and treating the symptoms of poor body mechanics that presents itself as chronic pain in joints throughout our bodies.

Unfortunately, in our health care system, there are many who would like to keep the status quo because this is where the money is.

Companies who make prosthetics that replace our original body parts advertise with the drug companies during prime time television to get the public to use their products in the replacement. The non-medical public, as well as your primary care physicians, seem convinced that body parts just go bad. Like car parts…

Well, you get the idea. The chapter goes into much greater detail however, prevention (and yes, bad hips can be prevented in most cases) and the problems with the metal hips are a symptom of a business that exists because doctors have not taken the preventative measures needed when you were younger.

The best cure, of course if prevention. Have your feet checked, and your body style evaluated by a musculoskeletal expert. Look for someone who looks at your body, not just the feet, or the knees or the hips. You do not see these developmental problems by looking at the body style piecemeal.

Have your children checked. These problems can be fully evaluated at the age of 6. Taking the right measures early on can prevent future generations from needing these devices and therefore, never having to worry about the device failing.

What do you think? As always, I value your opinions.