Long Island man bounces back after joint implants, and others do too

Playing sports and being active has always been part of 74-year-old Mark Hanlon’s life. He mostly powered through any injuries he received along the way. But at some point, they started to catch up with him.

“When I was about 40, I noticed that my wallet always bothered me when I was driving a car,” said Hanlon, a lawyer who lives in Port Washington. “Eventually, I realized it wasn’t my wallet. It was my hip.”

He underwent hip replacement surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan more than 20 years ago. That was just the start.

Since then, Hanlon has had another hip replacement and two knee replacements as well as undergone treatments for injuries to his ankles and shoulder.

While the majority of people don’t get all four hip and knee joints replaced, Hanlon’s determination to keep playing tennis, swimming, skiing and biking as he ages is becoming more common.

About half (54%) of older adults report getting moderate to vigorous physical activity at least weekly, according to one study conducted in 2024. Additionally, adults 65 and over reported they had started more health-related activities over the past 12 months than those between 50 and 64.

As the number of seniors pursuing an active lifestyles into their 70s and 80s grows, so does the number seeking joint replacement surgery. And experts say the procedures and recovery time have improved — thanks to a combination of better implants, surgical techniques and motivated patients.

“We’re working longer, we’re working harder,” said Dr. Fred Cushner, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in knee replacement at the Hospital for Special Surgery who performed both of Hanlon’s knee replacements in 2024. “When you finally retire, you don’t want to miss your opportunity to do the things you enjoy.”

The percentage of U.S. adults 65 and older who meet federal physical activity guidelines almost doubled from about 16% in 2011 to 29% in 2023, according to the United Health Federation, which used federal data. Those guidelines call for 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes or vigorous aerobic activity and two days of muscle strengthening per week.

“I have people in their 70s playing pickleball, golfers, tennis players,” said Dr. James Germano, vice president of Northwell Orthopedics and chair of orthopedics at The Orthopedic Hospital at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream, who is not associated with Hanlon’s care. “People want to do everything and still enjoy their life, and they come to me all the time looking to make that better.”

SKIING AGAIN

Staying in shape has allowed Hanlon to bounce back from his surgery and resume sports. Four months after his second knee replacement in 2024, Hanlon hit the slopes in Vermont with his family. This summer he went on a trip to Chile to ski with his sons.

“I feel great,” he said, sitting with his wife, Emily, on the deck of his apartment overlooking the water and the boats in Port Washington.

Doctors caution that not all patients will recover as quickly or have the same results. And all surgery comes with risks.

“Not everything is correctable,” Cushner said. “You could fix the arthritis in the knee, but they might have arthritis in their spine. They might have other health issues. So there are many things that can limit the recovery after a joint replacement, and not all those can be addressed just by fixing the joint.”

A LIFE ON THE MOVE

Hanlon grew up in Poughkeepsie, taking his rowboat all around the Hudson River and riding his bike to play baseball.

At New England Law School in Boston, he met Emily, who was also a student. Several years later, they married and lived in Queens before moving out to Port Washington in the late 1980s.

The whole family engaged in activities, whether it was skiing upstate or taking trips on a sailboat docked in Huntington.

Hanlon said he was in his mid-to-late-60s when “both knees started to get creaky.”

Joint replacements are generally needed when the cartilage — strong tissue that acts like shock absorbers for the joints — starts to disappear, a condition known as arthritis. Another cause is rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that tricks the body into attacking its own tissue. Without healthy cartilage, the bones are left rubbing against each other.

Cushner said the reason for knee replacements vary for each patient.

“You could have an old football injury where you tore your ligaments and the years of having a loose knee gave you arthritis,” Cushner said. “Or it could be genetics. Some people do get arthritis while others don’t. People are living longer and parts wear out.”

According to the 2025 American Joint Replacement Registry annual report, there were over 2.2 million knee replacement surgeries and 1.4 million hip replacement surgeries between 2012-2024, an increase of 17% over the 2012-2023 totals of 1.8 million and 1.2 million.

More of these procedures are done on an outpatient basis.

“I remember when people would stay in the hospital for seven days and take a long time to recover,” said Cushner. “Now 60% to 70% of my patients go home the same day of the surgery.”

He said there has also been a resurgence in two techniques that may hasten healing in some patients.

Some joint replacements can be done without cement in a way that encourages healthy bone to grow around them.

Another technique, called muscle-sparing surgery, allows the surgeons to access the knee without cutting through muscle and tendons.

“I think that’s what we’re really seeing now is that all these things are really coming to like a climax, a pinnacle where we’re seeing all the changes,” Germano said. “The fixation of the implants is better than it ever was.”

When bone grows into a replaced joint, instead of using cement, it could last for the patient’s lifetime, he said.

Attitudes have changed as well, Cushner said. Replacement surgery had been seen as a last resort, but waiting only caused a patient’s knee to deteriorate further.

“Now you’re dealing with a much more deformed joint and expecting miracles in regards to recovery,” he said.

Sometimes patients can be too eager in their quest to recover quickly.

“Limit your steps, let the inflammation come down,” Cushner said. “I’m not saying don’t get out of bed. I’m saying go for a walk but don’t look at your cellphone and say, ‘I need to get 10,000 steps one week after the surgery.’ ”

SURGERY AS A ‘50/50 DEAL’

People who undergo knee and hip replacement surgery also face risks including blood clots, infections and pain.

Being in good health physically before the procedure is key, Germano said.

“It’s really important for the physician to go over that with the patient,” he said. “If someone comes in and they have a bad back or they had a stroke, that person is not going to be running around. . . . But if they were playing golf a week before surgery, they will probably be playing golf in six weeks.”

Germano said other factors that help with recovery are having a support network of friends and family, keeping a positive mental attitude and following post-operative instructions for physical therapy.

“I tell every patient, surgery is a 50/50 deal,” he said. “I have to do my job right, but you have to do your job too. We are a team, and working together is really important.”

Hanlon has persevered through additional injuries that might have convinced another person to take up more sedentary hobbies. He said he  developed a serious infection at a Utah hospital where he was being treated after his Achilles tendon ruptured, the side effect of a medication he was taking. Doctors sent him back to New York, saying he would heal over time, but his condition worsened. Hanlon said it took several surgeries at HSS to find the site of the infection in his bone and treat it.

Another time, his tibia snapped in half while he was skiing upstate with family. Recovery included a long leg cast for months. He continued his work as a trial attorney while in a wheelchair.

“The day I got my cast off, I went to the swimming pool and started swimming right away,” he said, adding that he has no intention of slowing down. “I’m pretty thickheaded.”