Isn’t it wonderful to be able to walk pain-free again?
Walking is very important to maintain your general health. Immobility, for example, causes adiposity (and diabetes), poorer bowel and lung function and osteoporosis. Many problems with walking are caused by back and hip problems. With physiotherapy and pain medication, many complaints can be resolved. But unfortunately, not in everyone.
A visit to the traumatologist/orthopedic surgeon could be the next step. With an anamnesis, physical examination and an X-ray or MRI scan, a diagnosis can be made.
With a correct diagnosis, a conservative traject, with infiltrations or manipulation can be chosen. If this fails spine or hip surgery should be considered.
For example, nerve entrapment that is progressive is an indication for spine surgery. On the other hand, in the hip, there must be groin and/or hip pain combined with grade 3 or 4 osteoarthritis. This means there is no cartilage left and cyst formation (‘bone on bone’), see picture. If there is bone-on-bone wear, hip replacement is an option.
Surgeries for hip replacements have also evolved last decade. Whereas surgery used to be done only on the lateral side and required the release of the hip muscle, the muscle-sparing, anterior approach has been on the rise for the last 15 years. In this, the patient lies supine and a natural muscle interval is used and muscle cutting is required. In this way, a hip prosthesis can be placed in 60 minutes with minimal blood loss. Also, the patient can stand on his feet the same day and leaves next morning.
At Cenyt Hospital we have a team of professional and experienced traumatologists. Dr. Joris van der Lugt, in particular, started using this surgical technique in 2008, and has been a trainer in this method for many years in The Hague (The Netherlands).
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the quality of hip replacements has improved. Previously a prosthesis lasted 10-15 years, today it’s 20-25 years. Because we use a relatively small prosthesis, it is also always possible to do revision surgery after, say, 20 years because there is enough bone left to place a new one in, see picture.
If your pain prevents you from walking, do not hesitate to make an appointment with this specialist for a diagnosis and for your quality of life to improve considerably.