What is all this about metal ions?
What is all this about metal ions?
Wear of metal on metal bearings should be extremely slow, so most hip resurfacings will never wear out in any human lifetime. They do produce wear particles, however, which are extremely small, and broken down into ‘ions’ or the single atoms of metal that are used in our body naturally. Cobalt ions are part of vitamin B12, while Chromium ions are in haemoglobin. The level of circulating cobalt and chromium in our blood stream is usually very low. After a hip resurfacing the levels rise, as the particles from the hip are dissolved into ions. These particles are then excreted by the kidneys into the urine. So a normal hip resurfacing actually is self-cleaning, with any wear particles eliminated from the body naturally every day.