Trouble when flying with artificial hips. Any advice?

Avoid a lot of hassle and stripping by carrying the implant card. Ask your MD

I also had bilateral hip replacements and have been patted down a few times. When the alarms go off I just say "oh, yeah, I have titanium hips and laugh.The TSA has not been rude or rough an we have traveled outside the country as well as across the country. I do n't bother with cards or letters. But I also don't get upset when they do their job.

Former weekly flyer here.

Go early. Ask for a private screening. They cannot make you stand in the clear box, if you want to be behind a closed door. This will take extra time (which is why I say go early)

You can't avoid it, but you can be more comfortable. Also, look into TSA Pre. It won't eliminate the issue, but it may help smooth things. www.tsa.gov/TSA-precheck

Sophe509, I talked to a TSA official this evening because of my curiosity of that plastic box with the holes in it.... it is a scanner. Anyone who has artificial hips or similar health devices are required to go through this scanner. Only thing that shows up on the scanner are the metal artificial devices. TSA Officers are so busy they are just looking for the metal, not looking at anything else.

Everyone who triggers the metal detector has to either use the scanner or be patted down. Be glad that secondary scanner is around, many a person who had presented doctor notes turned out to be carrying firearms. And be glad that secondary scanner is around thus you don't need to strip down.

I've had pat downs during my flying days because I had one-way ticket, not round trip as my trips were open ended. No big deal because with the hundreds of people at the airport boarding planes, no one is going to remember you were that lady standing in the scanner. If you fly enough, it becomes routine. But I can understand your frustration.

Terrorist knows no age limit, no race, no religion, no nationality. Everyone needs to be checked. Even the people who work at the airport in the restaurants and gift shops on the secure side of the airport need to go through security. Even the TSA Officers have to go through security.

FreqFlyer...Yes, one would hope that choosing to go through the whole body scanner and presenting 'hip cards' would help your cause, but there's a quote from another person (a writer) familiar with the time-out plastic box: "Passengers are sometimes herded to a secure holding area, which functions like a penalty box in a hockey game. You can see who is in it, and by being in it, you're assumed to have done something wrong. It's embarrassing, and the TSA agents keeping you in the box know it." huffingtonpost/christopher-elliott/3-troubling-ways-the-tsa-_b_2435503.html

Is there anything else besides going through the naked machine and presenting hip cards and a note from the doctor that I could to to reassure the agents?

I second what cwillie had written.

Sophe509, so sorry you went through that, but what happened to you is so very uncommon. As for the see through plastic box, I never heard of it. And you said it is at the Orlando International Airport? This makes me curious.

I found this on the TSA website:
www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/metal-implants

Metal Implants

Travelers with Disabilities and Medical Conditions

If a passenger has metal implants, such as artificial knees or hips, he or she should inform a Transportation Security Officer (TSO) before screening begins. Passengers can use TSA’s Notification Card to communicate discreetly with security officers. However, showing this card or other medical documentation will not exempt a passenger from additional screening.

Many passengers with metal implants that regularly alarm a metal detector prefer to be screened by imaging technology in order to reduce the likelihood of a patdown being necessary. A passenger can request to be screened by imaging technology if it is in use and available at the checkpoint.

If a passenger cannot or chooses not to be screened by imaging technology or the passenger alarms a walk-through metal detector, the passenger will be screened using a thorough patdown procedure.

They seem to say that you shouldn't need a patdown if you opt for imaging. I do know of one gent who complained about the hassles of flying with his artificial hips, but his wife just kept booking flights anyway...