Holly – Total Hip Replacement

“I Didn’t Want To Just Get Back On My Feet…I Wanted To Get Back To My Life”. Physical fitness has always been a major part of Holly Hansen’s life. A resident of Billings, Montana, she spent a lot of time on the ski slopes and from the time she was in her twenties, she began working as an instructor for virtually every exercise class imaginable – aerobics, spinning, kickboxing, weightlifting and yoga, to name a few.

But while Holly was busy improving the physical capabilities of others through her fitness classes, her own physical health was deteriorating. “My hip had begun hurting me long before I actually paid much attention to it,” Holly admits. “After ten years of increasing pain, it really began affecting my performance while exercising and it finally got to the point where I could no longer ignore it.”

Holly went to a doctor in Montana for an x-ray, and the results were not what she had expected. She was told she suffered from osteoarthritis, sometimes referred to as degenerative joint disease. “I just about fainted when the doctor told me what it was,” she laughed. “I guess all of those years of exercising and pounding on my joints caught up with me.”

Osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage that cushions the ends of bones in your joints deteriorates over time. The smooth surface of the cartilage becomes rough, causing irritation.

A few days later, Holly called a friend of hers who lives in Scottsdale, and he happened to be riding horses at the time with someone who had recently had his hip replaced at Scottsdale Healthcare by orthopedic surgeon Stuart Kozinn, MD. He raved about Dr. Kozinn so much that Holly decided to fly to Scottsdale to meet him and discuss her options.

“He spent over two hours discussing the procedure with me,” says Holly. “I was so impressed with his thoroughness and the personalization of care he provided, I decided there was no doctor other than Dr. Kozinn I wanted to replace my hip.”

Holly had her hip replacement surgery performed with a traditional, posterior approach in December of 2005. She was so pleased with the care she received from Dr. Kozinn and Scottsdale Healthcare that when the pain in her second hip began intensifying a few years later, she came back in November of 2009 to have that one replaced as well. This time, Dr. Kozinn performed the surgery using an anterior approach, and Holly walked out of the hospital two days after her surgery with the help of only a crutch.

She is now back to enjoying all of the physical activities she did before her surgeries, only now without the pain. She recently conquered the most advanced, extreme ski trail in Montana’s infamous Bigsky Ski Resort and at an altitude of 11,000 feet, Holly said she had never felt better making her way down that slope. “I had a friend record me on a video camera skiing down that trail, and I’m going to send it to Dr. Kozinn as proof that he is changing people’s lives for the better!”

“As a younger patient, I wasn’t concerned with just being able to get on my feet again after my surgery,” says Holly. “I wanted to make sure I was going to get back to my life, bigger and better than before the surgery! And thanks to Dr. Kozinn and the wonderful staff at Scottsdale Healthcare, I am doing just that.”

Total Knee Replacement

I have noticed that my patients are getting better and better results from their knee replacements. I have been doing total knees in private practice for 26 years, so I have a good experience to look back on. i will give some credit to the rotating platform total knee, which I think has many advantages over fixed bearing knees. Besides being able to rotate more from side to side, I believe it has a “self-centering” function that helps balance the knee, particularly when the implants rotate going from full extension to full flexion. I see much less evidence of instability and excellent range of motion. The recovery also seems to be faster to me.  The good news is, Total Knee Replacement is getting better – you should have yours done by a qualified joint replacement expert- one that does over 100 total knees a year, and has done a joint replacement fellowship.

Getting the best Total Joint Replacement

Most people will spend more time shopping for a new watch or car than they will picking out their joint replacement surgeon. WHY?! Medicine may seem mysterious to the public, but like ANY other field there are sub-specialists and recognized experts in each field of surgery, It just makes common sense to find the BEST surgeon you can find. Look at credentials. Any doctor should be willing to publish their CV on their website, or ask the receptionist for a copy in their office.

Dr. Kozinn has done a Total Joint fellowship at Harvard Medical School, and has been teaching joint replacement techniques to other orthopedic surgeons for 26 years. He does over 300 total hips and over 300 total knees EACH year! He is the Medical Director of a 5 Star Total Joint Center at Scottsdale Osborn. Research has shown that high volume institutions get better results that facilities who only do a few joint replacements a year. Dr. Kozinn is the kind of surgeon that you want to do your total joint!  He works right here in Scottsdale, Arizona. Why would you want to go anywhere else for your total hip or total knee?

Total Shoulder Replacement

In the last few years, better technology and implants have greatly improved the results of shoulder replacement. Previously many patients suffered with chronic shoulder pain, because of fear of surgical failures. Newer implants in the hands of very skilled specially trained surgeons can now give great results! In additon to the classic full shoulder replacement consisting of a metal ball on the humerus, and a plastic socket on the glenoid (scapula); we now have the reverse shoulder replacement. the reverse is a remarkable advance that now will compensate for a deficient or chronicly torn rotator cuff. in the past, patients with long standing cuff tears had no good options, as the muscular cuff is what controls and stabilizes the shoulder joint. The Reverse TSR uses an anatomical trick to move the center of rotation of the shoulder distally, thereby tensioning the Deltoid muscle, which can no lift and rotate the shoulder without an intact cuff. Amazing! Please read more about the amazing shoulder replacement results at our Facebook page – www.Facebook.com/ShoulderReplacement. Or come in for an evaluation!