Doctor reviewing hip bones on skeleton with patient

Hip Surgery

Your hip’s on-and-off ache seems to be more on than off lately. And it’s getting harder and harder to play sports, go for a walk or just get through the day.

Maybe you’ve already tried medications and physical therapy — and they didn’t work. So, is surgery next? You’re not even sure you want it. Who has time for all that recovery? And will it even work? Nothing else has, so far. How can you be sure hip surgery will make things better?

It’s normal to worry. But Cleveland Clinic can put your fears to rest. Our skilled orthopaedic healthcare providers use the latest surgical approaches (including total hip replacement) to treat all kinds of hip pain. Whether you have arthritis, a sports injury or were born with hip issues, we can help. We make sure your surgery has the quickest recovery and best results possible — so you can start moving through life, pain-free.

Why Choose Cleveland Clinic for Hip Surgery?

Demonstrated expertise:

We’re one of the nation’s premier hip surgery providers. We see thousands of patients each year from all over the U.S. And we can treat most complex conditions, from severe fractures and sports injuries to congenital (born with it) conditions that cause ongoing pain. All our providers are subspecialty trained in surgical and nonsurgical management of hip disorders.

Innovation and research:

Our orthopaedic providers have pioneered hip surgery techniques now used worldwide. These include improvements in expanded use of minimally invasive hip surgery, new hip replacement materials and joints, and hip fracture care. Meet our team.

Skilled, collaborative providers:

Cleveland Clinic’s team-based approach to care lets us highly personalize your treatment plan. Providers from different specialties — all chosen based on your needs and goals — work together to cover all the bases, from diagnosis to recovery and follow-up.

Virtual visits:

We want your care to be convenient. That’s why we now offer virtual visits for some appointments. If you have an internet connection and smartphone, tablet or computer, you can talk one-one-one with your providers from home, work or even your favorite coffee shop.

National recognition:

Cleveland Clinic is a trusted healthcare leader. We're recognized in the U.S. and throughout the world for our expertise and care.

Hip Surgery Evaluation at Cleveland Clinic

Whether your hip aches occasionally or hurts so bad you can hardly move, you may find yourself putting off the inevitable — getting treatment. We’re here to help you find out if hip surgery is right for you.

We walk you through a careful evaluation process. And we spend time going over all your treatment options so you can be sure you’re taking the right steps to get relief.

What to expect at your first visit

The first thing we’ll have you do is share your story. Hearing what’s going on in your words is important to us. It’s the first step in figuring out why and where you have pain.

We want to hear how your pain has affected your life. When did it start? Did you get hurt? Or did it just start out of the blue, or gradually? What kind of symptoms are you having? Are they getting worse?

Next, we’ll do a physical exam so we can see how well you can move (range of motion) and how strong your muscles are. This includes seeing how well you walk (checking your gait) and measuring your leg length. We’ll also look for swelling around your hip. And we’ll check to see how your hip lines up with your knees and back.

We’ll be looking for signs of many different things that can cause hip pain, like:

These and other conditions can cause ongoing hip pain. Some may not need surgery to heal. That’s why coming for evaluation is important. It helps our hip specialists rule out other conditions and find the right treatment for you — even if past ones haven’t been successful. Having more in-depth testing can help us decide if surgery could be right for you. These tests may include:

Imaging tests

Imaging tests let us take a closer look at what’s happening to your hip joint and the soft tissue surrounding it. You may have:

Hip X-ray.
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
CT scan (computed tomography scan).
Arthography (arthrogram).

Meet Our Hip Surgery Team

When you choose to come to Cleveland Clinic for hip surgery, you’ll get a personalized care team that we choose specifically for your needs. This team of hip specialists may include:

They, and any other providers on your care team, work together to make sure you get the most personalized, seamless care from the moment you call us to schedule an evaluation.

Providers Who Perform Hip Surgeries

Locations

Our healthcare providers see patients at convenient locations throughout Northeast Ohio, Florida and London.

Having Hip Surgery at Cleveland Clinic

What we learn during your evaluation will guide us in crafting the most personalized surgery plan for your needs and goals. It also helps us decide what kind of surgery you’ll have.

There are many kinds of hip surgery, from routine procedures to more sophisticated ones. Your care team will work with you to choose the surgery that’s right for you. These may include:

Hip arthroscopy

We may opt for hip arthroscopy when you have overall healthy cartilage (connective tissue) but damage deep inside your hip joint — like a cartilage injury, labral tear or FAI. This minimally invasive surgery lets us fix joint issues with your bones and soft tissues to avoid further damage. This is known as hip preservation.

Other hip preservation surgery options

Besides arthroscopy, there are other hip preservation surgeries. These include:

Surgical hip dislocation: Your surgeon will remove (dislocate) your hip joint from the socket to repair damage to bone and soft tissue. They’ll reconnect the joint to the socket when they’re done.
Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO, Ganz osteotomy): This open surgery (large incision or cut) lets surgeons move (reorient) your hip socket to better cover your femur (thigh bone).
Femoral osteotomy: This open surgery changes your femur’s shape to improve how you walk.
Core decompression: This minimally invasive surgery treats avascular necrosis.

Hip labrum reconstruction

We’re using this minimally invasive surgery technique more and more, with excellent results. Our surgeons cut away damaged cartilage and use a tendon graft (often from a donor) to rebuild your labrum. Then, we attach the new tissue to your hip socket to stabilize it.

Hip replacement surgery

We may decide that your hip joint and socket are too damaged for repair and relief through preservation surgery. In that case, we’ll talk with you about hip replacement surgery (hip arthroplasty).

There are two types of hip replacement surgery:

Total hip replacement: The most common type of hip replacement. We replace the entire top of your thigh bone (femoral head) and your hip socket (acetabulum) with implants (prostheses).
Partial hip replacement: This surgery replaces only the femoral head. It’s used most often for hip fractures.

These prostheses are often made from metal — like titanium, stainless steel and cobalt-chromium — ceramic and polyethylene.

Many of our surgeons can do direct anterior hip replacements. These procedures are minimally invasive, which mean smaller incisions and less damage to surrounding muscles.

Cleveland Clinic’s orthopaedic providers specialize in robotic-assisted joint replacement surgery. Precise robotic surgery lets us consider your unique anatomy and place the best-sized implant in the best position for you. Your surgeon guides the robot during the surgery, making all the decisions about movement.

This surgery can speed up recovery time. Sometimes, you can go home the same day. Or you may spend just one night in the hospital. And, sometimes, you can start getting back to normal activity within three to four weeks. Making sure you follow a rehabilitation program is important.

Hip resurfacing

Hip resurfacing is a type of hip replacement surgery. You’ll still get an implant, but instead of removing most of the bone in your thigh and hip socket, we’ll only trim the damaged bone and cartilage from the top of your femur (ball) and the socket. We’ll then place a smooth metal shell on top of the trimmed thighbone and another metal shell into your hip socket. You’ll keep almost all the bone in the socket and thigh.

Hip revision surgery

Most people who have hip replacement surgery will outlive their implants. They may wear out before you do. Or they may get damaged from an infection. If these things happen, we might recommend hip revision to help your prosthesis fit more securely and work effectively. Cleveland Clinic’s orthopaedic providers have extensive training in revision surgery for implant repair.

And, if you’ve had arthroscopic hip surgery elsewhere that’s failed, we can help with that, too. Labral hip reconstruction with a graft or capsular repair with reconstruction might be an option. Your provider can explain more about these procedures if they feel one of them might be a good choice for you.

Recovering From Hip Surgery at Cleveland Clinic

Sometimes, we start the recovery process before you even enter the operating room. You may work with our rehabilitation (rehab) and sports therapists to do “prehabilitation.” This means you’ll do physical therapy (PT) to increase your strength before your hip replacement. Doing this can lead to a shorter recovery time and help you move better after surgery.

And once you’re done with surgery, you’ll start a rehab program to build strength and movement in your hip and leg. This could mean doing daily PT at one of our locations, plus exercises you do at home. Your PT may even start as soon as 24 hours after surgery. And it’ll likely last for about a year.

Taking the Next Step

Thinking about hip surgery and recovery may feel a bit daunting. But having it can sometimes help you get back to doing your favorite activities without pain, stiffness and frustration. Our healthcare providers are here to listen to your concerns and provide the personalized care you need to feel confident and comfortable about moving forward with treatment. No matter if you’re climbing the stairs at home, walking around the block or running a marathon, we want to make sure that hip pain isn’t holding you back.