Hip-replacement surgery

Treating ankylosing spondylitis usually means medication and physiotherapy. But sometimes it may mean hip-replacement surgery. When I first read about it, I thought it was the treatment of last resort. To my relief, not one of my doctors has ever mentioned it as an option -- but that might simply mean that my case is not severe enough and has not progressed enough. As a result, I'm surprised to find that at least three of the people who have written to me about this site or who've signed up here have had, are facing, or have considered hip-replacement surgery. Either they have a much worse case of AS than I do (which is quite likely given my progression to date), or the hip-replacement option is much more prevalent than I had thought.

I'm curious, so I thought I'd poll the rest of you. Have you had it done? Has your doctor recommended it? If so, how far along had the disease progressed and what other options had been exhausted before surgery was proposed?