As we age, our bodies don't operate the way that they used to. Every day it's just a little harder to get out of bed, and there are new aches and pains to behold. But for some of us, the pain is deeper than that. Joint pain and deterioration can be debilitating to the point that it robs us of our ability to walk and care for ourselves. As we live longer and more active lives, joints which weren't meant to take 60 or 70 years of heavy use start to wear out.

This is why joint replacements were invented, to give people back mobility and quality of life, while reducing pain. If you or someone you know has had their hip replaced, keep reading this article for important information on the Durom implant recall.

If you have always led an active lifestyle and stayed healthy, it can come as a shock when your hip joint begins to deteriorate. This is because unlike other age related health problems, being more active can actually lead to early and more severe hip joint problems that require a hip replacement, such as the Durom implant. For someone later in life, a hip replacement can be a great way to get more active years that have a higher quality of life. But if you are younger when you begin to have issues with your hip joint, in your fifties or early sixties, you face the prospect of one or more future surgeries to ensure that your hip continues to function.

The need for replacement of the first hip replacement was the reasoning behind the Durom implant, and how it was marketed to doctors. While a standard hip replacement will begin to wear and need to be replaced within ten years, the Durom implant was supposedly designed with the younger patient in mind to be long lasting even under an active lifestyle. This would mean that instead of facing the prospect of two or more surgeries related to their hip, a younger patient could have only one replacement surgery, and use the same hip replacement implant for life. As a younger patient, this was sure to sound like the ideal solution.

Unfortunately for patients who have received a Durom implant, this promise has not held true. At a clinic where the implants were used, an astoundingly high twelve percent of patients needed their replacements removed and replaced in under two years. This is a much shorter time span than the traditional replacement, and is no where near the claims made by the Zimmer Durom company. While the company denounced the high rate as surgeon error, in their own studies done under ideal conditions, the replacements failed seven percent of the time, which is still an amazingly high number.

If you or a loved on received a hip replacement before June of 2008, it is time to contact your doctor to see if it was a Durom implant. If so, you may be able to join a class action lawsuit against the company.