Hip and knee replacement surgery improves bedroom relations

Osteoarthritis of the hip or knee limits sexual activity (unsurprisingly) but now research has found that hip and knee replacement operations improved relations in the bedroom by 90% of people.

A total of 68 men and 78 women with an average age of 58 years old who were due to have a knee or hip replacement operation answered questionnaires before surgery, six months after surgery and one year after surgery. Before surgery, 67% of people reported physical problems with sexual activity and 91% said they had psychological issues related to their osteoarthritis.

After surgery, 42% had improvement in libido, 41% had increased intercourse duration, 41% had increased frequency, 84% had improvement in their general wellbeing and 55% in self-image.

In total, 90% of those who had hip and knee replacements reported improved overall sexual function (hip operations were slightly higher than knee operations and more women reported improvement after hip operations than men).

“This study emphasises the importance of including sexuality and sexual activity as a component of evaluating the functional outcome of total hip and total knee (replacement),” says lead author Dr Jose Rodriguez.

Because 16% said that surgery had adversely affected their sexual function (mainly because they were worried about damaging the replaced joint) “it is important for the health care provider to discuss the functional status of each patient in terms of sexual activity and overall sexuality,” reminds Dr Rodriguez.