To ma­xi­mize the life­span of your ar­ti­fi­cial hip or knee joint, you should ob­serve some ba­sic tips:

Re­gu­lar Check-ups: Un­dergo re­gu­lar pre­ven­tive ex­ami­na­ti­ons to en­sure that your pro­sthe­sis shows no si­gns of wear or loo­sening. Re­gu­lar check-ups in­crease the lon­ge­vity of your pro­sthe­sis and al­low for early in­ter­ven­ti­ons in case of problems. 

Weight ma­nage­ment: A he­althy body weight re­li­e­ves the ar­ti­fi­cial joint and re­du­ces wear. Ex­cess weight can put ad­di­tio­nal pres­sure on the pro­sthe­sis and shor­ten its life­span. A ba­lan­ced diet and re­gu­lar exer­cise help to main­tain a he­althy weight. 

Exer­cise and sports: Choose joint-fri­endly sports such as swim­ming, cy­cling, or yoga to mi­ni­mize stress on the joint. These ac­ti­vi­ties pro­mote mo­bi­lity and streng­then the mus­cles wi­t­hout put­ting ex­ces­sive strain on the prosthesis. 

Avoid Over­load: Avoid sud­den, heavy loads that can over­load the joint. Lift heavy ob­jects with cau­tion and avoid ac­ti­vi­ties that could lead to ab­rupt movements. 

He­althy diet: En­sure a cal­cium-rich diet to pro­mote bone he­alth and sup­port the sta­bi­lity of the pro­sthe­sis. Foods such as dairy pro­ducts, green le­afy ve­ge­ta­bles, and nuts are good sources of calcium. 

What to do if the pro­sthe­sis is worn out and cau­ses pain?

If a hip or knee pro­sthe­sis wears out or loo­sens over time, ex­cel­lent re­vi­sion sur­ge­ries are available to­day. The old pro­sthe­sis is re­mo­ved and re­pla­ced with a new one. It is im­portant to dis­cuss com­plaints such as pain or in­sta­bi­lity early on in or­der to in­itiate ap­pro­priate measures. 

Priv.-Doz. DDr. Ma­xi­mi­lian Kas­pa­rek, MSc, en­do­pro­sthe­sis sur­geon with ex­ten­sive ex­per­tise in hip and knee replacement.

Over the past de­ca­des, en­do­pro­sthe­tics has made re­mar­kable pro­gress. New ma­te­ri­als, im­pro­ved sur­gi­cal tech­ni­ques, and per­so­na­li­zed tre­at­ment ap­proa­ches cha­rac­te­rize mo­dern joint re­pla­ce­ment surgery. 

Priv.-Doz. DDr. Ma­xi­mi­lian Kas­pa­rek, MSc, Priv.-Doz. DDr. Ma­xi­mi­lian Kas­pa­rek, MSc, is an ex­pe­ri­en­ced or­tho­pe­dist and trau­ma­to­lo­gist spe­cia­li­zing in mi­ni­mally in­va­sive hip and knee pro­s­the­ses. His com­pre­hen­sive trai­ning in­cludes a Re­se­arch Fel­low­ship at the re­now­ned Hos­pi­tal for Spe­cial Sur­gery in New York City and a Guest Fel­low­ship at the Cha­rité – Uni­ver­si­täts­me­di­zin Ber­lin. He is curr­ently a se­nior phy­si­cian at the De­part­ment of Or­tho­pe­dics and Trau­ma­to­logy at the Evan­ge­li­sches Kran­ken­haus Wien.

Dr. Kas­pa­rek re­lies on state-of-the-art, mi­ni­mally in­va­sive sur­gi­cal me­thods that enable pre­cise pla­ce­ment of the im­plants and pro­tect the sur­roun­ding tis­sue. His use of ro­bot-as­sis­ted tech­ni­ques for knee re­pla­ce­ment is par­ti­cu­larly no­te­wor­thy, as they al­low in­di­vi­dual ad­apt­a­tion of the pro­s­the­ses to the pa­ti­en­t’s ana­tomy, thus im­pro­ving the func­tion­a­lity and lon­ge­vity of the implants. 

I am available for in­di­vi­dual con­sul­ta­tion and tre­at­ment in my pri­vate prac­tice in the 18th dis­trict of Vi­enna. Make an ap­point­ment to cla­rify your ques­ti­ons and dis­cuss the best pos­si­ble therapy.