Joint replacement is becoming an increasingly popular option for patients dealing with arthritis, even patients in their 20s and 30s, says Dr. Richard Berger, an orthopedic surgeon at Midwest Orthopedics at RUSH.
“We'd like to think of arthritis as a grandma's disease, but it's not. It's affecting all of us,” Berger said.
While it’s not clear why arthritis is affecting some people earlier, Berger says it’s leading to joint replacement surgery earlier in life.
“I operate on patients now in their 50s, 40s, 30s, 20s and even teens,” Berger said. “People are wearing out there joints quicker for lots of reasons. One is the increased activity level that we're doing now.”
Many Americans are engaging in organized sports at an earlier age and continuing to play sports and exercise regularly into their 40s, 50s and 60s.
Berger says the good news is joint replacement surgery has evolved too. He uses a minimally invasive technique with replacement parts that can last for decades.
That’s one of the reasons that Pete Sturm, 35, opted to have his left hip replaced earlier this month.
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“Shock is usually the initial reaction that I get out of everyone. I'm still dealing with the shock, so it makes sense,” Sturm said.
A two-sport athlete in high school, Sturm has completed two marathons, despite intense pain caused by degenerative arthritis.
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“It's bone on bone, pain I've been dealing with the last couple of years, so I had to pull the trigger and finally give in and get it done,” he said.
With a baby on the way this spring, Pete and his wife, Mallory, are glad he acted now.
“It's not as daunting as maybe you might think,” Sturm said.
“Patients simply wait too long to have surgery. They're either afraid, they don't know what's available or they think it's going to be a long downtime,” Berger added.
Sturm went home from the surgery the very same day and is already seeing improvement less than two weeks later.
“It's far beyond what I would have expected. I don't feel any pain. I feel a lot more flexibility and mobility,” Sturm said.
“Once you recover from the surgery, you can really do anything you want, get back to anything,” Berger added.
