How Old shoud you be to have Knee Replacement Surgery?

Question

My mother has bad knees but the doctor told her that she needs to wait till she is in her 60's to have the surgery.Any body ever heard of this or what age have you had it done.

Answer 1

Joint replacement surgery is about a lot more than age. First you need to realize that most joints have a life expectancy of 10-12 years. Then you need to take into consideration the state of the joint to be replaced. Then comes the weight factor, is she over weight, has she been asked to reduce her weight? If over weight and been told they will not replace until she has lost a few pounds. Add on any underlying health problems, cholesterol, blood pressure. Add on lifestyle issues, smoking. The Doc has to weigh up all the reasons for a replacement and all the reasons against replacement.
While age, as in other health conditions, is taking into account, it is not a clear line like a start or finish line, joint replacement at 70, 60, 50, 30, 20, many factors are taken into consideration, including the Patients attitude, fear, fearful and so on.

Answer 2

There is no age limit but, the doctor may be guessing how long it will be before she really needs the surgery. If she's having that much pain tell her to ask the doctor why he wants her to wait.
Keep this in mind too. There are now artificial knees for women, many people don't know this but a stereotypical knees has been used for years for both men and women but, a woman's knee is quite different. Now the new woman's knee is much more comfortable then the generic knee.

Have her see a orthopedic surgeon and have MRI's or CAT's scans and see what he says.

Answer 3

The point is not the age. I know girls who had their knees replaced at 18 (yay, for dance. That's the main reason I quit).
Her doctor just doesn't want her to have to go through this really difficult surgery until she absolutely has to. It's actually really wise to wait.