Your hip is a ball and socket joint where the thigh bone, called the femur, meets the hip bone, or pelvis. A healthy hip has layers of smooth cartilage that cover the ball-shaped end of the femur and socket-shaped part of the pelvis. The cartilage acts as a cushion and allows the ball of the femur to glide easily within the socket of the pelvis. When the cartilage wears down because of age, injury, arthritis or as a side effect from certain medicines, the smooth surfaces become rough, like sandpaper. As you move your leg, the ball grinds in the socket, causing pain and stiffness.

Total hip replacement is a surgery to replace worn or damaged parts of the hip joint. It involves rebuilding the joint by placing a prosthetic socket in the pelvic bone and prosthetic stem in the femur. Hip replacement is usually done when hip pain and loss of function — caused by osteoarthritis or other conditions such as avascular necrosis, dysplasia or hip fracture — become severe, and when other treatments no longer relieve pain.

You may be a candidate for a total hip replacement if:

• Other treatments, such as medicine, steroid injections and physical therapy, no longer stop your pain or help movement of the joint.
• Pain or poor movement in your hip prevents you from doing normal activities.

Ohio State’s highly skilled and experienced orthopedic surgeons offer hip replacement solutions based on your individual needs.

• Your pain level and day-to-day quality of life are an important part of the decision to have hip replacement surgery, and your overall health will determine the extent of post-surgical care and monitoring needed after your hip procedure.
• Our hip surgeons use a variety of surgical approaches, including:
  • Posterior hip replacement, the most common type of hip replacement surgery, in which a patient is positioned on their side and the doctor makes an incision just behind the hip to get to the hip joint.
  • Direct anterior hip replacement, where the patient is positioned on their back and the doctor makes an incision at the front of the hip.
  • Direct lateral hip replacement, which uses an incision at the side of the hip.
• You should expect to be off work for six weeks and will require six to 12 weeks of physical therapy to ensure a full recovery.

With hip replacement surgery, you can get back to the activities you once enjoyed.

• Ohio State was the first hospital in central Ohio to offer robotic total hip replacement, which uses a robotic arm to help doctors achieve a new level of precision in placing and aligning the hip implant.
• After your surgery at Ohio State, your surgeon, nurses and physical therapists will help you set and meet goals to get you back to your favorite activities. Recovery times and time in the hospital vary greatly by patient.
• At Ohio State, we make sure that every patient is armed with the information they need to heal faster. Your care team will closely monitor your condition and progress as you get back on the move.
• You can enhance your joint replacement care plan using Care Companion in the Ohio State MyChart app, where you'll receive notifications for tasks such as taking your medication, reviewing educational content and answering questions about how you're progressing.