Your hip has to be bad enough to cause hip pain and stiffness that significantly limits your daily activities and reduces your quality of life.
If the hip pain and pain associated with a bad hip prevents you from walking, standing, climbing stairs, sleeping or even doing other essential tasks then you will likely qualify for a hip replacement.
If you have bone touching bone then that is a sure sign you need hip replacement.
The average age for hip replacement is 65 years old.
However the age for a hip replacement can vary depending on the persons overall health and the severity of the pain and disability.
People in good overall health might be eligible for hip replacement surgery at a younger age and people with severe pain or limited mobility may require hip replacement surgery sooner.
The signs that you need a hip replacement are you have limited range of motion, are constantly falling, cannot stand too long, you have persistent and debilitating hip pain or stiffness or difficulty walking, limping constantly, experiencing pain even when resting or when trying to sleep or when other treatments like medication and physical therapy do not provide enough relief.
In these cases a hip replacement might be your best option.
The pain before you need a hip replacement will often be felt in your groin, hip joint, buttocks and thighs.
The pain associated with needing a hip replacement is often deep in your inner thigh, near the junction of your leg and pelvis, around the ball and socket of the hip, on the outside of your hip and the pain when you need a hip replacement may also radiate down your thigh, especially when walking or climbing up stairs.
Other signs and symptoms that indicate that you may need a hip replacement are pain that radiates into your knee or lower leg, pain which is present at rest, pain which gets worse with activity, clicking or grinding sounds in your hip joint, difficulty walking or standing on one leg and stiffness in your hip.
When you have hip arthritis the pain is often felt in the inner part of your thigh, near the junction of your leg and pelvis and along your upper thigh, radiating from your hip joint and on the outer side of your hip and in some cases the pain from hip arthritis can extend down to your knee.
The hip arthritis pain might be constant or even intermittent and can get worse with certain activities like climbing stairs, bending over and walking and it may also cause stiffness, a clicking or grinding sensation and even difficulty with your range of motion.
The symptoms of a worn hip joint are pain, stiffness, limited range of motion, swelling, clicking and popping sounds, weakness, difficulty walking, night pain and having difficulty with your everyday normal activities.
When your hip joint is worn out, tasks such as driving, using the bathroom, getting dressed etc, can become difficult.
Pain with a worn hip joint may also become more severe at night, especially when you lay down on the affected side.
The pain or stiffness with a worn hip joint may also make it challenging to walk or stand and the muscles in the surrounding hip can become weak and swelling may also be present around the hip joint.
With a worn hip joint, the joint when it moves can produce grinding sounds or a snapping or clicking sound and with a worn hip joint you may also have reduced ability to rotate or to move the hip joint.
A worn hip joint can also cause difficulty with movements like bending, squatting or getting out of bed or out of a chair.
And the pain with a worn hip joint is often located in your hip, groin, or upper thigh and the pain with a worn hip joint can get worse with activity, sitting for too long of periods or even standing on one leg.
A worn hip joint is also called osteoarthritis.
If you think you may have a worn hip joint you should see a doctor.
In some cases you may need to consider a hip replacement when the hip pain and stiffness limit your daily activities and reduce your quality of life significantly, if other treatments doesn't help.
If the pain with the worn hip joint prevents you from walking, sleeping, climbing stairs or doing other essential tasks it may be time to talk with your doctor about hip replacement.