re: Knee Pain when Running

quote:

---

The past twenty years have seen an explosion of innovation by orthopedic companies. The new generation of metal-on-metal and ceramic-on-ceramic hip and knee implants are in many ways better than what nature gave us to start with. These new implants not only give mobility back to elderly women with osteoporosis, they let 50-year old distance runners keep running into their 80’s and 90’s. Coupled with new advances in orthobiologics – putties, pastes, and glues that promote bone healing – innovation in orthopedics has inarguably improved the lives of millions of Americans.
The promise of implants in erasing some of the thorniest issues of old and middle age has led to an outpouring of demand for these new procedures. From 2000 to 2009, the number of yearly joint replacement surgeries in the U.S. almost doubled, from 575,000 in 2000 to 1.1 million (est.) in 2009. Look around. One in 30 Americans are now walking around with at least one new joint. Ten years ago that number was 1-in-60.
This kind of medical success story doesn’t come without a price. Ten years ago, Americans spent 54 cents for hip and knee implant surgeries out of every $100 they spent on any kind of healthcare. Today they spend 78 cents. Total costs for hip and knee replacement surgery have grown at 10.2% annually since 2000, with about 70% of the growth driven by the amount of procedures, and 30% of the growth driven by the cost of each procedure.

---