It's not written in stone that your hips will give out on you as you age. Learn how to avoid hip pain as you get older.
Common wisdom holds that as you age, you are destined to face a multitude of ills, including hip pain and possibly hip replacement surgery. In fact, hip replacement surgeries do increase after age 65.
Yet this does not have to be your future, say orthopedic surgeons. There are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of hip pain and surgery as you age.
Hip Pain: It’s Not Inevitable
“Most people don’t get old and wear out. The hip joint is one of the best mechanically designed things that we’ve got,” says Steven Stuchin, MD, director of orthopedic surgery at the Hospital for Joint Diseases of New York University Medical Center and associate professor at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. “The hip is a round ball in a round socket, and nothing is better equipped to deal with stress and motion. For most, hip pain is not a product of aging — it is a product of injury or disease.”
One possible reason that the numbers of hip replacement surgeries appears to skyrocket as people age is that after age 65, Medicare coverage makes long-awaited joint replacement surgeries possible — an individual may have been coping with hip pain for years without insurance to cover the surgery.
Hip Pain: A Matter of Time
It is true that the longer you live, the greater the incidence of arthritis,” says Thomas Parker Vail, MD, professor and chairman of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. “Your risk of having arthritis is greater, partly related to genetics, partly related to injury, partly related to factors that we don’t completely understand about why joints deteriorate.”
Dr. Vail says that as people age, their cartilage, which acts as the cushion between bones that allows them to move freely in a joint, loses its ability to hold water. “It’s the water that cartilage contains that allows it to act like a shock absorber. Cartilage can begin to wear down just like any other shock absorber. When the cartilage wears down, becomes thinner, and loses its mechanical resiliency, that leads to inflammation and fluid in the joint — all of which is perceived as being uncomfortable,” explains Vail. If this process continues, the perfectly designed ball and socket do not match or move as well as they did in earlier years. Yet Vail and Stuchin both stress that many people in their 80s have no hip pain at all.
Hip Pain: Limiting the Risk Factors
Although hip pain may be related to factors beyond your control, like genetic inheritance or structural problems from birth, there are several steps you can take to reduce your risk of hip pain:
A change in lifestyle, not age alone, is probably what led to hip pain for Joan O’Connor, a 62-year-old small business owner in San Francisco with osteoarthritis. For most of her working life, she held a desk job; then several years ago she decided to open a home decor and antiques store.
“When I changed my job and started my own business, I became much more active physically, climbing a ladder, carrying stuff. I would come home after work and my joint was so painful. I had no idea what was going on,” says O’Connor. Walking through the uneven streets of San Francisco didn’t help — two falls in a year led her to try acupuncture, chiropractic interventions, and, eventually, a total hip replacement.
Understanding how age, weight, and other factors may influence your hip pain can help you make decisions about preventing it or, if you experience it, seeking care early.
Common wisdom holds that as you age, you are destined to face a multitude of ills, including hip pain and possibly hip replacement surgery. In fact, hip replacement surgeries do increase after age 65.
Yet this does not have to be your future, say orthopedic surgeons. There are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of hip pain and surgery as you age.
Hip Pain: It’s Not Inevitable
“Most people don’t get old and wear out. The hip joint is one of the best mechanically designed things that we’ve got,” says Steven Stuchin, MD, director of orthopedic surgery at the Hospital for Joint Diseases of New York University Medical Center and associate professor at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. “The hip is a round ball in a round socket, and nothing is better equipped to deal with stress and motion. For most, hip pain is not a product of aging — it is a product of injury or disease.”
One possible reason that the numbers of hip replacement surgeries appears to skyrocket as people age is that after age 65, Medicare coverage makes long-awaited joint replacement surgeries possible — an individual may have been coping with hip pain for years without insurance to cover the surgery.
Hip Pain: A Matter of Time
It is true that the longer you live, the greater the incidence of arthritis,” says Thomas Parker Vail, MD, professor and chairman of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. “Your risk of having arthritis is greater, partly related to genetics, partly related to injury, partly related to factors that we don’t completely understand about why joints deteriorate.”
Dr. Vail says that as people age, their cartilage, which acts as the cushion between bones that allows them to move freely in a joint, loses its ability to hold water. “It’s the water that cartilage contains that allows it to act like a shock absorber. Cartilage can begin to wear down just like any other shock absorber. When the cartilage wears down, becomes thinner, and loses its mechanical resiliency, that leads to inflammation and fluid in the joint — all of which is perceived as being uncomfortable,” explains Vail. If this process continues, the perfectly designed ball and socket do not match or move as well as they did in earlier years. Yet Vail and Stuchin both stress that many people in their 80s have no hip pain at all.
Hip Pain: Limiting the Risk Factors
Although hip pain may be related to factors beyond your control, like genetic inheritance or structural problems from birth, there are several steps you can take to reduce your risk of hip pain:
- Maintain a healthy weight throughout your life. A review of charts from 305 adults between 18 and 59 years old found that obesity significantly increased the likelihood of having a total hip or total knee replacement.
- Protect the health of your bones. Developing osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become weakened through loss of calcium, can lead to hip pain as a result of fractures and falls. Stay active, eat calcium-rich foods, and get recommended levels of vitamin D throughout your life to help maintain strong bones.
- Learn about fall prevention. Falls are more likely as you age for a number of reasons, ranging from loss of balance to the side effects of medications. Seek advice for preventing falls at home and at work.
- Seek medical help early. Whether your hip pain is due to arthritis or a repetitive stress injury from sports, talk to your doctor. She can help you make a plan to manage your hip pain.
A change in lifestyle, not age alone, is probably what led to hip pain for Joan O’Connor, a 62-year-old small business owner in San Francisco with osteoarthritis. For most of her working life, she held a desk job; then several years ago she decided to open a home decor and antiques store.
“When I changed my job and started my own business, I became much more active physically, climbing a ladder, carrying stuff. I would come home after work and my joint was so painful. I had no idea what was going on,” says O’Connor. Walking through the uneven streets of San Francisco didn’t help — two falls in a year led her to try acupuncture, chiropractic interventions, and, eventually, a total hip replacement.
Understanding how age, weight, and other factors may influence your hip pain can help you make decisions about preventing it or, if you experience it, seeking care early.
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