INNOVATIVE HIP SURGERY STOPS PAIN, REDUCING NEED FOR HIP REPLACEMENT

Sydney Potkanowicz

Sydney Potkanowicz started experiencing hip pain at the young age of 12. “It felt like my hip joints were slipping in their sockets. It was a constant painful, uncomfortable feeling,” she says. Sydney’s mom blamed growing pains, puberty and an active lifestyle for her daughter’s aches. By the time Potkanowicz started Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins, the pain made playing sports unbearable. She gave up both basketball and softball. “I told people that I didn’t like those sports anymore, but the truth was that it hurt too much to run,” she says.

It was during a family trip to San Francisco in 2017 that Potkanowicz decided something had to be done. “I took so many breaks while we walked,” Potkanowicz recalls. “There came a point where I told my mom I couldn’t go any farther. We agreed that I would see a doctor when we returned to Colorado.”

The doctor recommended surgery on both hips to repair torn labrums, cartilage rings that aid joint movement. Trauma, repetitive motions or improper hip alignments can cause a labral tear. Hip surgery on someone so young seemed drastic to Potkanowicz and her parents, so they sought a second opinion from Dr. Presley Swann, an orthopedic surgeon with Advanced Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Specialists, who performs surgeries at Sky Ridge Medical Center.

Dr. Presley Swann

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