Hip Arthroscopy, Not Just For Major Professional Athletes

As many people know, hip pain can be just that ... a pain. This type of pain can affect anyone in any walk of life from major professional athletes to weekend warriors and right down to the every day working person. In the past, people either just hoped that the pain would either subside, be treated with medicines, physical therapy, or eventually hip replacement surgery. But what if someone is diagnosed with a torn labrum in the hip? Fortunately, there is a fairly new and popular surgery that more orthopaedic surgeons are using to cure the pain and allow people to be active again without having hip replacement surgery..

Welcome to Hip Arthroscopy.

We know about this surgery performed on two high profile major league baseball players, New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez and Mike Lowell of the Boston Red Sox.. It has worked amazingly well for ARod and also quite well for Lowell. But what is hip arthroscopy? A doctor can describe the surgery much better than me. Therefore, I will take snippets from a press release passed on to me by Mr. Andrew Russell, for Ethos Marketing and Design in the Portland, Maine area.

The press release is about a golf professional in Portland, Maine that was diagnosed with a torn labrum in one of his hips. The operating doctor is Dr. Benjamin H. Huffard, an orthopaedic surgeon at the state of Maine's premier orthopaedic practice, OA Centers for Orthopaedics in Portland, Maine.

All in bullets are from the release.

***PORTLAND – Ron Bibeau first felt the pain in his groin last year. The pain made it difficult for him to swing a golf club – an alarming prospect since he’s the head pro at Portland’s Riverside Municipal Golf Course.

Bibeau thought he had a hernia. His primary care physician suspected nerve damage. Finally, Bibeau met with Dr. Benjamin H. Huffard, an orthopaedic surgeon at the state’s premier orthopaedic practice, OA Centers for Orthopaedics in Portland. Huffard diagnosed Bibeau with a torn labrum, and identified him as a prime candidate for a new type of hip surgery.***

***Bibeau underwent surgery on Jan. 5, 2009. Today the 48-year-old South Portland resident is pain free and playing the best golf of his career. He won the first two out of three tournaments he played in this year and has consistently ranked among the top six in all his contests this summer.

In Maine a growing number of people are taking advantage of Dr. Huffard’s skill in hip arthroscopy at OA Centers for Orthopaedics. Dr. Huffard studied the surgery with A-Rod’s doctor, Marc Philippon, at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colo. He says the surgery offers hope to patients who historically had to live with the pain until they needed a hip replacement.***

A quote by Dr. Huffard,

***“For a long time there have been young people who have had hip pain, and the only thing we could do was wait until they were old enough to have their hip replaced,” said Dr. Huffard, a 2001 graduate of Yale University School of Medicine. “Now there are good, effective treatments that make it so we can get people back to athletics.”***

Here is a synopsis of what hip arthroscopies are:

***Hip arthroscopy allows surgeons to diagnose and repair the injuries through tiny incisions in the hip instead of larger incisions like those needed for replacement. This less invasive approach usually means less pain and a quicker recovery for the patient.

The best candidate for the surgery is someone who is relatively young, with no arthritis in the hip, and wants to return to heavy activity. And it’s more than just athletes who benefit: some people are bothered by sitting, or driving in a car. Sometimes the pain is so severe that simple things like climbing the stairs or bending to tie shoes are difficult.***

Some more information and a quote from Dr, Huffard:

***Since joining OA Centers for Orthopaedics in 2007, Huffard has done about 120 hip arthroscopies and now averages 1-2 surgeries a week, the most in Maine. Hip arthroscopy was recently featured in an article in USA Today. The injuries to Lowell and Rodriguez have also focused attention on the surgery. “It seems like there are more patients every month,”***

Since having hip arthroscopy, Bibeau has won 2 tournaments and has been in the top six in all his events. Bibeau quotes; ***“The surgery was the best thing I ever did,” he said. “I feel better now than I did when I was 25.”***

As you can see, hip arthroscopies can be a far better alternative to hip replacement surgery. For more information about Dr. Huffard and about OA Centers For Orthopaedics, follow the hyperlinks provided within the blog.

If you would like a copy of this press release, email me at the address provided a the end of the blog.

Again, I thank Mr. Andrew Russell, for Ethos Marketing and Design in the Portland, Maine area,for allowing me access to the press release.

Send email to dlafrance2@207me.com