Thanks Peter. I'm glad your hip replacement went so well. I've had both knees replaced, with terrific results, and I'll get my right hip replaced in June 2025.

As far as your lumbar and cervical spine - are you getting fusion, or something less intrusive? 10 years ago I had laminotomies at S1, L5, and L4 - a hole was drilled in those vertebrae to make more room for the sciatic nerve and relieve some of the pressure caused by stenosis and scoliosis. So far so good. I also maintain a very strong set of core muscles, and my surgeon tells me this is the best thing I can do for my spine (to avoid fusion).

As for anterior v posterior hip replacement, my understanding is that with a posterior incision the gluteus muscles have to be cut to get to the hip. Apparently these aren't minor cuts, and it increases post-op pain and takes longer to recover (or so I'm told).

With the anterior incision, the muscles are pulled apart to reach the hip. Someone mentioned that nerves were cut. I don't think this is ever intentional, but can happen in just about any surgery. My opinion is that anterior is better. I'll find out.

Surgeons choose a posterior incision for two reasons - 1) the surgeon simply doesn't have experience with the anterior approach, and/or 2) the patient may be carrying a lot of weight in the torso/belly and it's not viable to go the anterior route.