An Alternative to Hip Replacement for the Young & Active

John Rowinski’s lifelong love of sports led him to run marathons, play college basketball, play tournament tennis and enjoy a career as a high school gym teacher.  Unfortunately, it also led to an arthritic hip that recently threatened to put an end to his competitive lifestyle.

“By the time I was fifty, I couldn’t walk without pain,” recalls John, “and physical activity was becoming almost impossible.” When it became clear that surgical intervention was his only option, John determined to find a solution that would allow him to continue to enjoy an active lifestyle for as long as he could.  At age 55 he felt he was too young for a traditional hip replacement, which would potentially compromise his mobility and provide a temporary fix at best.

Enter Dr. David Feldman of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. As a founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management, Dr. Feldman is a champion of minimally invasive techniques for patients requiring reconstruction of the hip. In an effort to make hip replacements longer lasting and less restrictive he pioneered an innovative metal on metal procedure that is already being used with great success at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.


Whereas traditional hip replacement involves removing part of the thighbone, hip ball and socket, and replacing the entire hip joint with a plastic on prosthesis, the new procedure simply resurfaces the patient’s existing hip ball with a metal cap. To create a smooth and pain-free gliding surface, Dr. Feldman then covers the socket of the hip joint with a metal shell. The resulting joint is far more natural and durable than one achieved through traditional methods, and virtually eliminates the all-too-common risk of dislocation.

“Standard hip replacements generally wear out in 10-15 years,” notes Dr. Feldman. “Hip resurfacing promises to double that timeframe. And because of the non-invasive nature of the surgery, recovery is faster, less complicated and relatively pain-free.”  In fact, to the surprise of his friends and family, John was released from the hospital after just one night and was back on the tennis court in just three months.

Less than a year after his surgery, John won both the singles and doubles tennis championships at Indian Trail Country Club, a feat that brought great satisfaction to both John and his surgeon. “I love it when my patients demonstrate success in such a major way,” says Dr. Feldman. “We’ve come such a long way with orthopedic surgery. The technology just keeps getting better, and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center is truly on the cutting edge.”