Brent Ruch, a collegiate basketball center, opted to have his left knee replaced at age 35 after struggling with pain for years.

“Walking with a limp and living with a consistent aching pain was physically and emotionally difficult.  I didn’t want to live like that,” said Ruch, who lives in a suburb of Chicago.

When his doctor told him he’d be playing golf in less than six weeks after the procedure, “I knew knee replacement was my best option,” Ruch said.

Ruch is one of many young and middle-aged adults who are opting for knee and hip replacements earlier in life, experts say.

People might think of the typical joint replacement patient as a senior aged 65 or older, but the surgery is becoming much more common among younger adults with chronic joint pain.

“Hip and knee replacements are no longer for grandmas and grandpas,” said Dr. Richard Berger, the Rush University Medical Center orthopedic surgeon who treated Ruch.

“Twenty years ago, we used to tell younger patients to come back in 10 years. Today, the average age of my patients is 57,” Berger said in a news release. “This age group is typically less apprehensive about getting surgeries because they don’t want to hobble around or live their life taking anti-inflammatories or pain pills.”

About 28% of hip replacement procedures are performed on men and women younger than 55, according to research presented at the American Academy of Orthopedics’ annual meeting in 2023.

And by 2030, people younger than 65 are expected to account for 52% of hip replacements and as many as 62% of total knee replacements, researchers have projected.