A question

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amberpep

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I have what is probably a dumb and meaningless question. Is the healing from a hip replacement faster than for a knee replacement? I would have thought it would take longer, but due to several things I've read and heard, I'm wondering.
Insight? Thanks much.
abby
5/24/11 - RTKR
 
No question is dumb or meaningliess!!!

Hip replacements generally are less difficult to recover from than a knee replacement. People think of the knee joint as basically a hinge, but it is SO much more than that! It is a very complex joint with lots of muscles, ligaments and tendons that are impacted by the surgery.
 
It is a very complex joint with lots of muscles, ligaments and tendons that are impacted by the surgery.

If you were designing a human being from scratch, it would have been a ball and socket joint like the hip and shoulder. I guess it's because we used to walk on all fours and the design criteria were different.
 
Thank you both so much. This is surprising to me .... guess I thought because the hip seems bigger, it would be a tougher healing.
abby
 
From what I have read here from other knee Smarties THR is usually an easier recovery. That said - my recovery from THR has taken over one year. It all depends on how bad the joint was prior to the procedure and if there are any other problems that might be aggravated by THR (i.e. my back problems).
 
The hip joint is actually about 30% the size of a knee joint but it has an awful lot of great big muscles around it. The knee as almost none. And anatomically, the knee joint is the biggest joint in the body.
 
Wow Josephine .... I had no idea the knee joint was the largest one in the body! And to think the pounding they get from everything we do to them (jogging, too much weight, gymnastics, etc.) it's a wonder they last as long as they do.
abby
5/24/11
 
You got that right!
 
I didn't know that either, about the knee being the biggest joint, now I know why it screamed at me so much!!
 
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