Playing after hip replacement.
A generation ago, hip-replacement surgery meant you had one foot in the . . . well, let’s just say it probably wasn’t at the baseline. But that’s changed. Jimmy Connors had a hip replaced in 2005 after being plagued by back, leg and hip pain and was reportedly back on court six weeks later. And the procedure isn’t just for former pros. Frank Trulaske, 61, CEO of True Fitness Technology in St. Louis, was an avid runner and doubles player for 20 years, and at age 53 he began playing singles. Then his right hip started to bother him. He ignored his pain for a couple of years—“It pretty much went away after I warmed up,” he says— and had physical therapy and cortisone injections. But when an MRI showed bone rubbing on bone, his doctor told him that a joint replacement was on the horizon.
Trulaske had a total hip replacement in 2008. Though he won’t blame his high-impact activities, it’s likely they played a role. Even though the hips are among the body’s largest joints, they’re still vulnerable to wear and tear. The most common cause of chronic hip pain is osteoarthritis, which is largely hereditary. “Tennis players are at particular risk of hip problems because of the constant accelerating and decelerating,” explains Dr. Matthew L. Jimenez, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and a clinical associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Hip-replacement surgery, which involves replacing both the ball and socket, used to be the last resort. But advances in technology have made it more common. It’s less invasive, and the ball of the implant is larger and sturdier.
Recovery is also less intense. Depending on your fitness and dedication to rehab, you might be playing within a few months. Trulaske says he was “just hitting” three weeks after surgery. “Those first couple of times I felt OK moving side to side, but moving forward . . . my muscles weren’t ready for that,” he says. It took nine months for him to feel “normal.” Today he has no pain. “I can really bend and move and don’t favor my bad hip anymore,” Trulaske says. “I’m competing against guys who are 15 years younger than I am.”
Originally published in the May 2010 issue of TENNIS.