The first time John Johnson’s artificial hip squeaked, he was bending down to pick up a pine cone in his yard in Thomasville, Georgia. Johnson looked up, expecting to find an animal nearby.
Susan O’Toole, a nutritionist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, who first squeaked going up stairs after getting home from her hip-replacement surgery in 2005, said she thought the banister she was gripping needed repair.
And Edward Heary, an apprentice appraiser in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, said clients sometimes look with embarrassment or concern at their floorboards when he walks though their homes.
As those three patients – and hundreds of others – discovered once they pinpointed the source of the noise, they had become guinea pigs in an unfolding medical mystery. Their artificial hips are made of ceramic materials that were promoted as being much more durable than older models. But for reasons not yet fully understood, their hips started to squeak, raising questions about whether the noises herald more serious malfunctions.
Could make for some uniquely musical sex.
there goes any hopes for a career as a ninja
A squeek is caused by slip/ stick. So I would think that there would be damage over time.
They’re old people, their joints’re supposed to squeak.
Hmm, they tried a new untested over the long term device, and then wonder why there are long term unknown side affects.
They will prolly now sue for millions in damages and tens of thousands of people will then not be able to get artificial joints becase a few of them squeaked.
I’m all for developing new technology. But just like in the tech world, early adopters of new technology have to understand that there are going to be problems that will only surface after long term use in the real world.
Don
It’s not a bug, it’s a feature!!
It squeaks so you know when Grandma’s walking down the stairs. If it stops squeaking you know she’s fallen and she can’t get up!
Maybe they just need a grease fitting installed. With all the noises coming out of my joints these days, maybe I need a grease fitting installed.
It’s great that you young guys won’t get old and have to be annoyed by stuff like this.
FYI plenty of people have hips replaced for reasons other than age. What a drag to have the thing squeaking wherever you go. Try to imagine how tired you’d get of the endless dumb jokes.
#6 . How do you post with an image? I tried a couple of things and nothing happened
Readers can’t post images. If the editors see a link to an image, we usually post it for you.
Let me see…small risk of “squeaky hip” versus pain and suffering with original hip…hmmmm….squeak, squeak, squeak…
#8, Dallas,
Only good looking people can post images and videos. Which is why you don’t see my images and videos posted.
#10, Denver,
You have a point. Remember though, that squeaking is a sign of friction. Not a good thing for a mechanical part.
#11 Mr. Gawd…
Remember, though, the mechanical nature of the original hip would have been worse to require the surgery. The end result is a redo hip sooner than ideal; however, trading really bad for not as bad is not SO bad, despite what the lawyers may tell you.
#12, Denver,
… the mechanical nature of the original hip would have been worse to require the surgery.
Most likely. I’m not aware of people having hip joints replaced for the fun of it. As the joint wears, all lubricating material is worn away causing the bone to degenerate.
… trading really bad for not as bad is not SO bad, despite what the lawyers may tell you.
That concept works if it is someone else. If I pay several thousand bucks for a hip replacement, it should work correctly. If the socket squeaks, it isn’t working correctly.
The downside to this is that an artificial joint can not radiate pain so the wearer will not know the joint is failing until it becomes catastrophic. That has the potential of causing much more serious damage.