Arthritis - Surgery?
If you suffer from severe osteoarthritis, surgery may be in
store for you.
Surgery is no small choice, and doctors and the surgeons they
work with are naturally reluctant to operate unless you meet
criteria that they consider important.
Two of the key factors that all surgeons probably consider are
the life-expectancies of the artificial joint and of you.
Historically artificial joints last about 15 to 20 years. New
technologies may extend this, but there's really no one offering
a guarantee that this will be so. For the new technologies, the
long-term data just isn't there yet. (That's why it's called
"new.")
Doctors call the replacement of an artificial joint gone bad a
"revision." And revisions are sometimes more difficult than the
original operation. This also forms one more cause for
reluctance in treating younger patients.
There seem to be two models that doctors and the surgeons they
work with go by.
Model #1: Age and pain intensity.
In this model, the age is a critically important factor. If
you're expected to live, on average, to age 75 or 80, and the
joint is only going to last 15 years, surgeons using this model
will be reluctant to operate until you're 65 years old.
The other parameter is pain intensity. No matter how old you
are, if you need the replacement because the pain is just
unbearable, many (most?) physicians will agree to operate.
Model #2: Add "life style"
In this model, the factors of the first model are still
considered, but to them is added the question of whether you're
sacrificing your life right now in order to have some kind of
"ideal state" when you're 65.
This is clearly a subjective area for both the patient and the
doctor, but in many cases, the evidence is so overwhelmingly
clear that the call for a replacement of the joint is considered
very reasonable.
And there are clear advantages to getting the artificial joint
while you are younger.
* Generally, you're better able to withstand surgery when you're
younger than when you're in your latter years.
* Assuming the operation and recovery go well, you'll have years
of a better life that you can look back on when you're older -
even if at that time you get sidelined because a revision isn't
possible.
* Technology is improving all the time. By the time you need a
revision (assuming that the newer materials do wear out in 15 to
20 years), the procedures may be in place to make revisions much
easier to successfully perform.
Concluding Remarks
This article is a clarion call for arthritis patients to be
advocates on their own behalf and to have a discussion of the
effects that your arthritis is having on your life. If you are
severely restricted in what you can do, if your family is
suffering so as to compensate for your pain, and if you can
imagine what it would be like for you to see your loved ones in
pain and know that this is what they feel about you right now,
then it may be past due for you to have this conversation.
And if your physician and surgeon will not take lifestyle as an
important factor, seek out a second, third and fourth doctor who
will.
For More Information on Arthritis
visit:http://www.healthybodysupplements.com
This is NOT a call for unnecessary or ill-advised surgery. It is
a call for a very important discussion that you should have with
your doctor.