Patient Testimonials
Shelley G.
"I am a very active woman in my 40's, I am an avid dressage horse rider and was thrown, landed of course on my hip. I was a college gymnast at the U of M and very active with my children and many exercise classes. I was misdiagnosed for a year and did Physical Therapy for "sprained hips" for almost a year. The pain only became 40% better. As I tried to become more active, I was very limited. I couldn't run, move laterally or pick up heavy objects. could no longer play tennis or soccer with my kids. I returned to the Dr and he recommended a hip specialist, Dr Larson. I also heard from many people that he was the best! We did the MRI with dye and sure enough the pain was from the hip joint. I really appreciated the fact that Dr Larson recommended more PT with Toni Dauwalter, a hip specific PT. I was frustrated to do more PT but relieved to have finally found out what was going on. It turned out that this was great advice by Dr Larson, I was able to strengthen the correct muscles and take away more pain and pressure on the tear. We ultimately decided that surgery was the best answer since the pain was still pretty bad and waking me up at night. The extra PT specific to the hip tear location really prepared me for a good recovery.
The surgery went well, Dr Larson did 3 procedures to repair my hip. The Game Ready icing machine really helped and I was off pain meds quickly. Dr. Larson sent me to Nate Stier, PT, at OSR and also back to Toni. The rehab went well. I did have some bursitis due to the length of being undiagnosed, so had to back off on some PT and move a bit more slowly. I was able to slowly start riding and doing some of my old activities. Pain was my guide and about 10 months after the surgery I was doing much more than before. Today I am barely limited. If I do a new activity I can sometimes be a tiny bit sore but nothing like the pain that wrapped all around my hip to my lower back that was almost constant.
The surgery and appointments with Dr Larson, his PA Kevin Reichart and staff where great, I felt completely confident going in. The surgery was a huge success. I am thrilled that this option was available to me as I know it was a fairly new procedure. I send out a huge 'thank you' to Dr Larson and his staff for helping me get my life back. My active husband, children and Figaro (my horse) are thrilled!"
Bruce M.
"By the time I met Dr. Larson in early October 2010 I had been experiencing for over a year various pains, some quite severe, in my left hip. Imaging of the hip confirmed the presence of the boney deformities commonly associated with femeroacetabular impingement syndrome. In addition, I had torn the hip's labrum and damaged a small area of cartilage in the hip, too. The extent of damage was beyond the ability of the surgical expertise in my country, Canada, to fix. Happily, my orthopaedic surgeon knew of Dr. Larson and referred me to him. Prior to the onset of hip pain in mid-2009 I was extremely active. I trained as many as twenty hours weekly on and off the tennis court. My ability to train at this level steadily eroded from July 2009 until the time I saw Dr. Larson, by which time I could play only a couple of hours of tennis weekly. In addition, I could not properly bear weight on my left leg in the course of even regular activities of daily living.
Happily, that pain is a thing of the past. I underwent hip arthroscopy on 30 November 2010 at Fairview Southdale Hospital. I have been pain free since, and the prognosis is quite favorable. I have steadily increased my activity level. Not only can I move without the sharp jolts of pain I felt before surgery, the hip itself moves far more fluidly than it ever did pre-operatively. As a result, the quality of my workouts on and off the court has improved dramatically, as has my quality of life.
I cannot praise highly enough Dr. Larson and his team, especially Kevin Reichart PA-C, Ms. Cindi Hanson, and Ms. Michelle Iverson. Thoughtful, kind, efficient, and expert are the adjectives that come to mind when I think of them. I must also give thanks for the great care I received at Fairview Southdale Hospital, especially from the pre-operative nursing team and the anesthetists.