Heal Your Hips: How to Prevent Hip Surgery -- and What to Do If You Need It

Orthopedic surgeon Robert Klapper, M.D., loves to operate, but he'd rather help you avoid hip surgery. Klapper, Medical Director of Cedars-Sinai Orthopedic Associates, has teamed up with Lynda Huey, who specializes in water rehabilitation and training programs with clients such as Wilt Chamberlain. In Heal Your Hips, they present a self-help program for pain relief. The first program consists of 13 illustrated exercises, one minute apiece. Eight are done in the pool; the others in a carpeted room. Next, the authors cover healthy and unhealthy hips in a clear and spirited style (e.g., healthy hips work like two ice cubes rubbing together--slippery, with no friction); the main causes of hip problems; and medical tests. You learn how to take an active role in getting the right diagnosis, what to do for less pain, and how to get started with pool exercise. Then the book presents both deep-water and shallow-water aquatic therapy exercises to avoid or recuperate from hip surgery, and stretches to do on land. If you have had hip surgery or you want to avoid it, this book will be a valuable guide. The book is clearly illustrated with photographs. --Joan Price