Back to Working out After Hip Surgery

Courtney Cretikos has always been incredibly active, waking up at 4:30am to get in a workout at the gym, hiking 3-4 miles, rowing and kayaking among other sports. The young 46-year old Laguna Hills resident was training for a marathon when she started experiencing pain in her left hip.

“Last March, I felt something snap or pop in my left hip so I immediately sought care from my doctor,” Courtney shared. The x-ray showed it could be a possible labrum tear or IT band issue, so she received a referral from her doctor to orthopedic sports medicine surgeon Kevin Parvaresh, MD. After first trying physical therapy and further testing, Courtney received the diagnosis of a labrum and gluteal tear, and opted to have surgery.

So in February, Courtney had surgery at Hoag Orthopedic Institute Surgery Center in Aliso Viejo to repair her torn hip muscles.

“I decided I need to give my body a chance to heal in order to not risk reinjury so my new mantra is surrender to the process,” Courtney said. “I’m really pleased with the outcome already and truly grateful I’ve had a great surgeon who has given me my life back. It made me realize that I shouldn’t have suffered for so long. I now sleep through the night.”

Now, Courtney is working on her goal to get back the muscles she’s lost during the process. "I started doing Pilates and that has made all the difference in my healing journey. I have full range of movement in my hip, and I’m doing fantastic. I would like to work up to a half marathon but my main goal is to heal and be well long-term,” Courtney said.

Describing her experience at HOI’s newest surgery center, Courtney shared that the nurses were nice, she felt well-informed about what was going to take place, and enjoyed going home the same day.

“If anyone is living in pain and debating to have surgery, I would recommend it based on my experience, she said.”