Hip pain options
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Hip resurfacing in young athletes
Published on April 23, 2012.
Surgery should always be the last option for a pain or sports injury as once surgery is performed you can never go back.
Despite doubts to its success, many athletes are turning to hip resurfacing or bone shaving as a means to treat Hip impingement syndrome or femoro-acetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome.
Hip pain occurs in athletes when the bone develops “spurs” or rough edges. These abnormalities begin to rub and fray against the ligaments, tendons and other soft tissues of the hips. Pain and weakness ensues. In the long run osteoarthritis.
Why are young athletes turning to this procedure? The belief that they can run again without complication. However: ““Running is possible after hip resurfacing, and runners can even return to some level of competition, but this short follow-up series of hip resurfacing in athletes should be interpreted with caution regarding implant survival.” (1)
The NY Times reported (November 17, 2011) that “sports medicine researchers are asking: where is the evidence that shaving bone helps?”
“The idea is that bone that has rough edges or an irregular shape in the hip is rubbing against soft tissue in the joint, causing tendons to fray or muscles to tear. The hope is that by shaving and smoothing the bone, surgeons can protect patients from further injury and also protect them from developing arthritis. The amount of bone removed varies but can be significant — sometimes, as much as a third of the thigh bone’s top.
One difficulty in assessing the operation’s effects is that it is combined with other procedures to repair torn tissue. When patients say they feel better, is that because their impingement was fixed or because their torn tissue was repaired, or both?”
Why have surgery when rebuilding and restoring hip strength is an option?
We have successfully treated our pro athletes and those with chronic hip pain with regenerative therapies like PRP (platelet rich plasma) and prolotherapy. With prolotherapy and PRP we can address the underlying cause of hip pain and address the reason of why the bone spurs are occurring.We do not think that we can ever recall seeing a patient for hip pain who did not have a tilted pelvis and an unstable hip capsule. We also see weakness in the pyriformis and gluteal tendons. This type of damage is perfectly amenable to prolotherapy and PRP. Furthermore with new regenerative breakthroughs like stem cell treatments, we can do more for patients who have an arthritic hip or labral tear.
1. Fouilleron N, Wavreille G, Endjah N, et al. Running Activity After Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty: A Prospective Study. Am J Sports Med February 1, 2012 0363546511434564
Questions? Contact our office info@drmagaziner.com
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