How to Stay Strong & Active to Delay Joint Replacements?

Possibly physical therapy. If you can get referred by a doctor. I think that could be your best bet.

@lbmiller112 Welcome to Mayo Connect. We are a community of patients and caregivers trying to live our best lives despite the challenges life throughs our way. We frequently hear that "getting older is not for sissies" - so true. Especially when we have 50-60-70 years of wear and tear on our bodies. We hurt more, we recover more slowly and sometimes it seems illnesses hit us harder than our kids or grandkids.

Mayo Connect has support groups and discussions on many topics, but I think yours is special - trying to stay strong and active while delaying joint replacements. @geri317 suggested physical therapy, of which I am a great fan, but I have a longer reply.

First, start with a comprehensive physical for each of you, including heart, lung, blood, and joints. An Internal Medicine doc or Geriatric Doc is a great place to start. This can give you a "look ahead" at what each of your risks is as you age.

Second, realize that 90% of your health "care" is in your hands. What you eat and drink. Managing weight, blood pressure and stress. Whether or how much you smoke, vape or drink. How much you sleep. How much you move each day - yes, exercise, but also day-to-day activity. How many hours you spend in front of screens - TV, computer, games, all of it. How much you socialize with others (a huge factor in well-being as you age.) Whether you faithfully follow the recommendations made about diet, medication and exercise by you health care team. How you manage the aches and pains that inevitably come as we get older.

Third what are your goals beyond wanting to "stay active"? That can mean anything from running marathons to taking cruises. What you hope to do is part of the plan.

Let me share a little of my story. I am a decade older than you, a veteran of 5 hip replacements, and live with a chronic lung condition, arthritis and chronic pain. My husband is a bit older yet, with a number of health conditions. We always tried to keep on top of things, but the chronic pain was interfering seriously with our lives. We were waiting for a new camper to be delivered, and were wondering if we would be able to continue to travel.
We sought help from a pain rehab clinic within our health care group, where we worked with a pain doc, a Physical therapy group, a psychologist, a doctor of pharmacy, and were referred to other specialists based on other health issues. We are in month 5 of our comprehensive journey, now working hard on strength and balance after changing and adjusting many medications, learning to be mindful of how our bodies are behaving, and becoming more intentional in both when we are active and when we need rest. Along the way we have also become more mindful and intentional about what we eat (we were always pretty careful.)

What is the result? We are each taking fewer (and in some cases completely different) medications. We are feeling better, in less pain and with more energy - we can even keep up with our young grandsons on hikes and in the water. It feels kind of like we turned back the clock 5 or more years. We still both have pain , but we are in control of it now - instead of letting it control our lives. So we may no longer take day long hikes in the mountains, or 60 mile bike rides, or dance every dance for 4 straight hours, but we find plenty of fun...

Sue
PS Joint replacement when appropriate can give you a new lease on life. We just spent the last 2 days with my very good friend, who has 2 replacement knees, 2 replacement shoulders and one new hip. She kept right up with our grands and us.

Physical therapy is a good choice. Also, pick activities you enjoy, like waking or biking, to maintain your fitness levels.

In my case, physical therapy was ineffective and I underwent hip surgery surgery nevertheless. I was in constant pain from degenerative arthritis stemming from a long ago car accident. It would have deteriorated further without surgery.

Now I’m looking forward to resuming those activities I dropped due to the pain—XC skiing and weight lifting.

Good luck!
Bill

Make that “walking”, not “waking”.

Regrets.

Have you had cortisone injections? I did that for many years and it delayed the hip replacement. I did have it done 1.5 years ago and it is good. Stay active and work with a physical therapist.

I'm a 68 y/o male and in 2022, I had both knees replaced. I ran many marathons in my 30s and 40s, but what damaged my knees was osteoarthritis. I did see a surgeon who recommended I first work with a trainer to strengthen my quads and hamstring muscles.

I did that (I still work with a trainer), but my knees were bone on bone and painful. My surgeon used the Stryker/Mako robotic assistant during the replacement surgery.

My life has changed dramatically, and for the better. I'm in the gym 6 days a week - 3 days cardio on a rowing machine and 3 days of weight training for lower and upper body, and core exercises everyday.

Find a good ortho surgeon - ideally someone in his/her mid 30s to mid 40s, with a solid pedigree from a medical school or residency, using the latest technology. You might not need any replacements yet. Give exercise a chance. Either way, I think it will work out fine.

Finally, ignore most of the posters on here with bad results from joint replacements. Most of these are due to not getting in shape ahead of surgery, and not doing the required therapy/exercise post surgery.

All the best!

Hi,

Conditioning before surgery seems to be critical. I was fortunate to have 20+ years of weight training before my hip replacement. I believe having that foundation has helped my recovery thus far.

My surgeon has 15+ years experience with joint replacements and uses current technology for all his patients.

Using my recovery time to recover my energy levels—at 70, I have less than I’d like. Also will be pursuing a real estate career to become financially independent— and will need energy for that, since I’m competing with folks who could be my grandchildren.

Bring it on!
Cheers,
Bill

I am 73 years old and I’ve been fairly physically active most of adulthood but had begun to slack off in my 60’s because I began volunteering full time and just couldn’t seem to work it all in. Then the covid pandemic hit and with the quarantine, I had extra time so I began walking 3-5 miles a day 5-6 days a week. Last September I began to feel and ache in my right hip joint and by the end of November, I began to limp when I walked due to pain. I went to see. an orthopedic physician who took did a scan and showed me that the problem was osteoarthritis and that I needed hip replacement surgery. I scheduled an appointment with a well- respected orthopedic surgeon who confirmed the recommendation and surgery was scheduled for March. He prescribed physical therapy to prepare me for surgery and I began that immediately. In the same timeframe, I decided to begin working out with weights in an effort to build bone since I discovered that I have osteopenia. In order to function, I was taking 1200mm + of Advil daily.
I started weekly sessions with a weight trainer, for upper and lower body and after a few weeks my pain began to subside. I was so surprised to find that I was close to being pain free. I postponed my surgery to August. When August arrived I was still walking 5 days a week and lifting weights 1-2 days a week, with only occasional hip pain that I would say was only a 1 on the pain scale. So, I have postponed it once again to January. I only take 200-400mg of. Advil a day now. I highly recommend physical therapy to improve alignment and then weightlifting…as well as continuing movement such as walking. It has worked for me and may work for others. I know I will have to have the replacement surgery at some point and my orthopedic surgeon is a part of the renown Andrews Sports Medicine group so I am postponing the surgery rather than canceling it to avoid a longer wait when I finally need it.

You have the right attitude Bill. I'm right behind you at 68. Had both knees replaced last year and now I'm in the gym 6 or 7 days a week. Maybe I'll eventually get old, whatever that is, but I'm going down swinging!

Outstanding attitude and plan. And when/if the day comes and you need surgery, you'll recover in a NY minute.