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It's Hip to BePain-Free(1/2)

Advances in surgery are now helping younger patients

Hip surgery options make a world of difference

The first time Danielle Giessman's leg started to hurt, the solution was simple. She stopped kickboxing. But while searching for the source of the pain, she learned that both of her hip sockets were deformed, a condition called dysplasia.

Once, doctors would have had few options for her. But advances in hip surgery are helping patients such as Giessman, now 27. She is pain-free after undergoing two hip surgeries in the past two years.

Hip surgery was once considered treatment for the elderly. But thanks to better imaging techniques and improved surgical techniques that can correct problems without replacing the hip, surgery has become a viable option for younger people.

New procedures

The hip is a ball-and-socket joint with a ring of cartilage around the joint. A variety of problems can occur here. Some of those problems are present at birth; others develop gradually. But in the past decade, new procedures have come to the forefront:

Hip arthroscopy: Considered ideal for young, active people, it's used when there's a tear in the joint.

Osteotomy: Commonly used to treat dysplasia, a surgeon repositions the bones around the hip.

Hip replacements for younger people: In the past, maybe 80 percent of hip replacements would last for 20 years. For younger, more active patients, that figure could decrease by half. Now, with stronger materials such as titanium, surgeons are hoping that replacements for younger patients will also last for 20 years.

And that's what Dr. John C.Clohisy, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine says makes his job so rewarding, "A lot of [younger patients] are at their wit's end, and we tell them there's a new treatment, and we're able to help them out."

Vocabulary Focus

hip (adj) ---aware of the latest ideas and developments; in style (slang)

deformed (adj)---with a shape that has not developed normally

at (one's) wit's end (idiom) ---completely unsure of how to solve a problem

Specialized Terms

kickboxing (n) ---拳击有氧;踢拳a form of boxing that includes throwing punches and kicking with your bare feet

dysplasia (n) ---发育不良an abnormal development of a part of the body

ball-and-socket (adj) ---球臼关节relating to a joint consisting of a round end and a hollow socket that fit together and move easily

cartilage (n) ---软骨a type of strong, stretchy tissue found in humans in the joints

titanium (n) ---钛a light, strong, metallic element

orthopedic (adj) ---骨科的the treatment or study of bones which have not grown correctly or which have been damaged

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