Blog

As an orthopaedic surgery center, Orthopaedic Specialty Group treats a diverse group of people: young men and women with bone or mobility disorders, elderly people with worn-out joints, and people of all ages recovering from serious injuries.

Despite helping a wide range of patients, hip surgery has a bit of an outdated reputation as a life-changer. It used to be that hip surgery was the domain of the elderly or infirm, that getting hip surgery spelled the end of an active and agile life.

Here’s the thing: that’s just not true anymore.

People can get arthroscopic hip surgery and return to their normal lives within weeks. How do we know? We’ve seen it firsthand—and we’ve seen elite athletes return to their “normal” routines in less than a year.

Tyson Gay – Olympic Sprinter

In the middle of competition season, elite sprinter and Olympic favorite Tyson Gay couldn’t ignore his hip pain anymore. He bowed out of the London Games and underwent arthroscopic hip surgery for a labrum tear in 2011. Within a few months, he was already jogging and in the midst of recovery—he eventually went on to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Nicklas Backstrom – Hockey Star

The lead scorer for the Washington Capitals had to undergo arthroscopic hip surgery in 2015, but was expected to recover before the beginning of the 2015 season. The following year, he played 82 games and maintained his role as lead scorer during the regular season and playoffs.

Alex Rodriguez – New York Yankee

Alex Rodriguez underwent hip surgery in 2013 in a two-hour procedure followed by a six-month recovery. Following a season-long suspension in 2014, he returned to the field in 2015—and started playing one of the best seasons of his career. Sports historians have called it one of the best career comebacks in baseball history.