Hip Arthroscopy Patient Costen Irons
“I was only 30 years old, active and had severe hip pain. Now I’m pain-free.”
Costen Irons, 30, looks too young and athletic to have “hip trouble.” He ran track and played basketball in middle and high school. Costen even played JV college basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – all the while with pain that developed deep inside his hip around age 15.
After college, Costen exercised and took care of himself. But eventually the pain in his hip hurt so badly, it became a problem for the physical education teacher and coach. It even hurt when Costen was just standing.
The Pain in Costen’s Hip Migrates to Other Areas
Costen was told that he had an impingement, where the ball inside the hip joint is too big for the socket. He had also worn down most of the cartilage in the hip, which was almost bone on bone.
By the time Costen saw orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Allston Stubbs, Jr. at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the pain had radiated to his lower back, thighs, foot and groin. He had groin surgery, which did not help the pain.
A Special Hip Arthroscopy Procedure Corrects Hip Problems Like Costen’s
Dr. Stubbs performs a unique type of hip arthroscopy to repair misshapen hip joints and sew tissue or cartilage back onto the hip bone. It is the same surgery that corrected hip problems for Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees.
“Dr. Stubbs told me it was a combination of being genetically prone to this condition and being very active when I was still growing,” Costen said. Costen was also told that it was not unusual for the pain to migrate to other areas.
A two-hour surgery made the difference. Dr. Stubbs repaired Costen’s cartilage in several locations and put holes in microfractures to stimulate cartilage growth. “I was on crutches for eight weeks. It was a long rehab process,” Costen said.
Now his hip is pain-free and the pain in other areas of his body has gone away. But here’s the big news: Irons won a 5K last fall. And his hip was just fine.
