Luna recently had the privilege and opportunity to sit down with Dr. Christopher Boone of Proliance Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Seattle to talk about what patients need to know when considering hip or knee replacement.

Here are Dr. Boone’s answers to commonly asked questions by patients considering surgery to manage their hip and knee pain:

Why do patients need hip or knee replacements?

Dr. Boone: "I get this one all the time: 'Why do I need my hip/knee replaced?' Very simply, because your [hip/knee] is worn out. People think of arthritis as something you 'catch,' but you don't 'catch' arthritis. Rather, arthritis represents the loss of the smooth gliding surface within a joint. Hips, knees, and other joints have a special surface that degenerates and wears out over time – that's arthritis. With the loss of that surface, you end up rubbing two pieces of bone together, which feels very painful – a lot like rubbing two pieces of sandpaper together, that's how I describe it. When that pain sets in, that's when it is time to consider a hip/knee replacement."

As a patient in pain, when should I consider having hip or knee replacement surgery?

Dr. Boone: "More bad days than good days? That's a question I typically pose to my patients. More specifically, I ask them how joint pain affects their day-to-day activities – what we call ADLs (activities of daily living). For example, does it hurt to go to the store? Do you have pain at night? Does it hurt to come into my office? Do you have a limp? Are you grouchy? Pain puts people in a bad mood. It can causes depression, frustration, and anger. Oftentimes I will ask patients about their sleep hygiene. A lot of patients with arthritis have difficulty sleeping, which turns into a vicious cycle of not getting sleep and then not being able to function the next day, and it just kind of gets worse and worse from there."

What should I expect after knee or hip replacement surgery? When can I get back to my normal life? Or to sports?

Dr. Boone:  "I tell patients to take people's input with a grain of salt. Surgeons have different approaches, technology is constantly changing, etc. Patients will say 'well my cousin had this done five years ago and they said they rode their bike home from the surgery and walked Mount Rainier two weeks later.' It is important to keep in mind that the farther you get away from a traumatic event, the less traumatic it seems in retrospect. If someone tells you that they had their knee replaced ten years ago and it was a walk in the park, that's not necessarily true.

That being said, there is nothing better than talking to someone who has had a joint replacement – it provides a good frame of reference. But just realize that everyone responds to things differently and everyone has a different experience than they remember. Talk to a caregiver who went through it with someone – they may have a totally different experience than what the patient recalls.

The goal is at one year, you forgot you had your joint replaced. That's what we are looking for – you're walking down the road and you forgot you had your joint replaced. What happens in-between is different from patient to patient. The goal is to be doing great at one year."

What activities should I avoid in the first 6 weeks after knee replacement surgery?