It’s no surprise that as the baby boomer generation ages, the joint replacement market thrives. An emerging trend in joint replacement however, is the amount of younger patients going under the knife. Fifteen or twenty years ago, knee or hip replacement surgery was reserved for patients over the age of 65, most of who suffer from arthritis. Now, patients much younger than 65 are heading in to their doctor’s office for a consultation on having joint replacement surgery.

There isn’t one factor necessarily that is contributing to this trend, rather a unique combination of them. There is no doubt that materials used in joint replacement have been vastly improved upon over the decades. The technology used by surgeons now is on a level never before seen in this field. There are some implants that developers are saying can last a patient up to 20 or even 30 years. With this improvement in technology, younger, more knowledgeable patients are turning up willing to have the surgery. Another contributing factor is obesity. The obesity rate in the United States is staggering and among other health issues, obesity wreaks havoc on a person’s joints.

The final factor in the increase of younger patients having joint surgery is an increase in activity levels. There are more people over the age of 50 that are staying active longer than ever before. More focus has been put on staying healthy, exercising and being active no matter what your age. While this can help shed extra pounds and increase overall health, the possibility for injury is also increased. All of these factors have been working together as a majority of our population ages giving a larger range of patients suffering the option to regain their lifestyle.