Paulina Porizkova Prepares for 'Long-Overdue' Hip Replacement Surgery: 'It’s Bone on Bone'
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Paulina Porizkova is taking a pause from her high-flying lifestyle. The supermodel and anti-ageism advocate is getting double hip replacement surgery, she shared on Instagram today, a procedure she admitted is “long overdue now.”
Porizkova explained that she was born with congenital hip dysplasia, meaning that her hip sockets don’t fully cover the ball portion of her upper thighbones, per Mayo Clinic. Like Porizkova, most people with hip dysplasia are born with the condition. If not corrected in early infancy, it can go on to damage the soft cartilage along the rim of the hip socket, causing the bones to grind against each other instead of moving smoothly.
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In Porizkova’s case, the cartilage in her hips is “worn out,” she says. “And I don’t mean worn out as in ‘worn down.’ No. There is none left. The three doctors I’ve visited all recoiled when they saw my X-rays.”
The doctors said that her hip joints were basically “bone on bone” at this point, joking that “at least we know you’re good with pain tolerance!” The condition has gotten “so bad,” Porizkova continued, that having surgery on just one hip at a time “is pointless. It would actually impede the healing and mobility.”
Porizkova decided to go on one last vacation with her “old hips” — to the Caribbean with her boyfriend, Jeff Greenstein — and now, she says, “it’s time for some new ones.”
It’s not the first time Porizkova has gotten candid about her health and her hips in particular. In a 2022 Instagram post sharing a snippet of her workout routine, the supermodel observed that staying in shape post-menopause “takes a lot of frickin’ work,” especially “when you have wonky hips.” She went on to say that she’d had to cut back on her Pilates routine “because my hips won’t cooperate,” and was doing physical therapy for the symptoms.
Porizkova is now getting ready for hip replacement surgery, which Mayo Clinic notes as an option for older hip dysplasia patients with “severe” damage often resulting in “debilitating arthritis.” It’s possible to correct hip dysplasia in very young babies by using a soft brace, but if doctors don’t catch it then, symptoms sometimes won’t appear until patients are teenagers or young adults.
It sounds like Porizkova is heading into the surgery in good spirits and even shared a “hospital chic” selfie with the post. While she says she’s anxious for the surgery, Porizkova says she’ll have her family and friends by her side and adds that she’s “so grateful this is a fixable problem.”
“I found a doctor I really trust, one who specializes in anterior hip replacements,” Porizkova adds. Her pre-surgery vacation was “amazing,” too, and the supermodel is trying to think of her upcoming recovery as an opportunity for self-care. “Like my sis-in-law said — ‘take a break from kicking ass and let everyone wait on YOU for a change!'”
Before you go, read about other celebs who’ve opened up about their health:
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