The first thing they should do is talk to their doctor about it and ask the doctor to have a blood test, a simple blood test, to check on their levels of cobalt and chromium in their system. Most people that haven’t had a metal-on-metal hip implant have cobalt and chromium levels of 1.0 or less in their system. People that have had an implant should have a normal cobalt or chromium level of 2.0. Now, what we’re seeing with literally hundreds of clients is people having off the chart numbers for cobalt and chromium, 12.0, 15.0, 20.0, 100.0, 180.0, 480.0 and there’s a direct correlation between how high your cobalt and chromium levels are and what problems you’re having. So that’s the first thing people should do is get a blood test, even if they’re not having symptoms, so that they can establish a baseline to see if six months or a year later the cobalt and chromium is ticking up.

Then they should watch their symptoms very carefully; aching, stiffness, soreness, swelling, redness, grayness, blackness. All of those things we’ve had patients have, clients of ours, have. They should keep an eye on those things, clicking, limping, symptoms with the hip. They should report it to their doctor and work with their doctor carefully about how to manage it and treat it, or perhaps have it removed.