Back to Hiking After Hip Surgery

While training for a marathon, lifelong runner and hiker Shannon Wiese injured her hip. After doing some research on the care she needed for her labral tear, Shannon decided to modify her lifestyle first before proceeding with surgery.

“At the time, the success rate was rather low, so I waited and modified my life significantly, but the pain and amount of modification I had to do was making my quality life much lower,” she said.

Shannon did extensive research to find the best surgeon to treat her condition so she could get back to her active lifestyle.

“I actually met with 3-4 doctors in other states and in Los Angeles, and did quite a bit of research as this particular surgery was considered new and I was looking for someone with high volume,” she said.

Luckily, a friend’s roommate mentioned that Theodore Gregorius, MD, sports medicine surgeon at Hoag Orthopedic Institute, did a high volume of these surgeries so Shannon decided to meet with him.

“The moment I meant Dr. Gregorius I knew he was who I wanted to perform my surgery,” she shared. “I intuitively trusted him. He is very likeable and has a trustworthy demeanor along with being realistic and not overselling results. This is also a surgery that he does regularly and he was excited at the time about figuring out a new technique (at the time) that improved his success rate. I liked the honesty and passion.”

So, in February 2020, Shannon underwent a hip arthroscopy for her labral tear at HOI Surgery Center – Newport Beach.

“The surgery center staff was very kind and warm and I had the best PT for eight months after,” she shared.

Now just over two years after her surgery, Shannon is hiking long distances of 10-15 miles at 2500-5000 elevation with no pain, including the six pack pf peaks in Southern California, and has big plans to hike Mount Kilimanjaro in the Fall.

“I started hiking again after 1 year but I knew that 2 years was going to be my true mark,” she said. “Now I am able to hike long distances to my heart’s content, yoga and able to do spin classes without flaring up. I am also scheduled to climb Kilimanjaro in October!”