If you can't bend your knees in any of the ways above, try sitting on a blanket or meditation cushion, with your back against a wall, and simply straighten your legs gently out at a wide angle as shown at right, using rolled towels for support beneath your knees.
Hip replacement is currently the most common orthopaedic operation, though patient satisfaction short- and long-term varies widely. The average cost of a total hip replacement in 2012 was $40,364 in the United States, and about $7,700 to $12,000 in most European countries.
Hip replacements cost $6000 per hip; spinal surgery is $5000 and it costs $4500 and $5000 respectively for a knee reconstruction and to have a pacemaker implanted. Dr Kuntz says he once had a client who paid $25,000 to treat a cat for a fungal infection. The treatment prolonged its life by ''two or three years''.