At what point should you consider undergoing reconstructive hip surgery? "If your pain is constant and interferes with your daily activities, when it keeps you from falling asleep or causes you to wake up during the night, when youve tried all of the nonsurgical treatments and nothing has helped, you should certainly think about it," advises Peter Brooks, M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon at Cleveland Clinic. Its risky, he notes, to put off surgery until the pain from your ailing hip becomes overly agonizing. "Things are only going to get worse," says Dr. Brooks. "Your back is going to suffer and youll start to limp, which will affect your other hip and your knees. The pain will be bad for your emotional health as well-it will affect your whole outlook on life. Theres no point in toughing it out, since a cure is available."
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