when I first had a phsician on hip pain I was sent for Xray; when that was read I was told to take ibuprofen - but with a warning about possible stomach effects but no info about dosage.
So it reduced hip pain, and since I had absolutely no stomach discomfort I went on the theory that I needed to set up - and maintain - an ibuprofen reservoir ; but I was also working on the theory that the pain would go away with diet, exercise and weight loss and that I wouln't be needing surgery.
I tried physcal therapy, glucosamine, and acupuncture - didn't get worsebut didn't get noticeably better either. But the acupuncture MD let me know about his kidney specialist friend who is making a living dealing with patients whose kidneys are destroyed by too much ibuprofen.
My self-chosen dose amounted to 16 200mg pills a day, which amounts to something like one kilogram of the stuff in a year, and the info is that 3 kilograms accumulated destroys kidneys.
So I stopped cold - now take one 200mg pill only when the pain warrants - perhaps once a week or once avery 10 days.
So there's the warning.
Michael
PS: Did my pre-op with Dr. Boyd April 10. He has no hesitation about resurfacing this 78-yr old, but cautioned that IF he found the bone structure substantially weakened by cysts he would install a cemented BFH "Big Femoral Head" -- see www.wmt.com - which needs a larger stem than the resurfacing ball, but otherwise doesn't seem to involve more trauma than the preferred resuracing.
Surgery on April 24