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I am no doctor, but my mom has recently had both her hips replaced. The doctor above in this post mentioned doing research and being comfortable with the surgeon, the hospital and everything about the procedure. I couldn't agree more.
For her first hip replacement she went to a small local hospital. The surgery went well, but the post op care and physical therapy were absolutely atrocious. She was in and out of the hospital a couple of times with issues (allergic reaction, blood clot, etc). Not a good experience at all. We completely underestimated everything that comes after the surgery.
The second hip replacement we got wise. Went to a much better hospital in a suburban area that specializes in joint replacements (we went to the Anderson Orthopedic clinic and got one of the best surgeons there). He did a relatively new type of hip replacement using what they call the "anterior approach." I'll let the doctor(s) say more about this, but in short it doesn't cut through muscle so the healing process is much faster. I'm not kidding when I say that the surgery took 55 minutes and she was standing 8 hours later in her hospital room. She was home in three days and is now living her life normally.
If you do decide that having a total hip replacement is right for you, consider the surgeon and method - but also really think about the care you'll receive afterwards.
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