It Was An Accident, But You Need An Attorney

Is Something Wrong With Your Hip Implant?

The ability to replace crumbling joints has innovated medical science for thousands of people. Without the option of replacing deteriorating hip joints with artificial devices, many people would be immobile. When a hip joint is unable to bear weight, a total hip replacement (THR) usually does the trick. While the surgery itself has been around for many years and is largely very successful, the quality of the artificial device can vary and some can even be defective. Read on to find out what can go wrong with an artificial hip joint and what can be done to assure compensation from the manufacturer.

What to Know About Artificial Devices

The hip joint is made up of a ball-shaped bone and an opening where it rotates known as the socket. Due to medication, age, disease, injury, or just wear and tear, the hip joint can begin to wear down creating bone-on-bone pain. Those two components along with a shaft that extends into the thigh bone make up artificial hip joints. Most devices are made of plastic, cobalt, ceramic, metal, or chromium – all lightweight but strong materials. The metals used vary but may be anything from steel to titanium. The devices that contain metals may be problematic. Some hips with metal components can gradually shave off tiny amounts of metal flakes into the bloodstream. This then sets off a few potentially troublesome medical conditions like toxicity and metallosis.

Get Compensated For Your Damages

While the majority of artificial hip recipients have little to no problem with their implants, the ones that do may need to have quite a bit of medical care as a result. If you are experiencing pain, noises, stiffness, swelling, and other issues, speak to an orthopedic surgeon immediately. Once you have been diagnosed with a defective hip implant, take the following actions:

  1. Contact the medical facility or surgeon that performed the THR originally and verify the manufacturer and model of your device. You are entitled to this information. In the future, set aside this information after a surgery.
  2. Find out what needs to be done to correct the problem. Unfortunately, a second or even third hip replacement surgery (known as a revision) is probably necessary and that might address only part of the problem.
  3. Start making entries in your pain journal. Use a notebook to record the way your bad hip is affecting your day-to-day life.

Speak to a personal injury lawyer about your defective device. No matter how long ago it was implanted or if you have already had it replaced, you might be eligible for several forms of compensation.