Renowned specialist reveals alarming rate of hip injuries among top GAA players

Leading orthopaedic hip surgeon Patrick Carton said that the average age for surgery has dropped from 31 to 26 years of age in recent times, and he’s putting that down to the intensity of training that causes progressive damage to the hip joint. It comes back to picking up this diagnosis at an early stage. Sometimes players don’t know they have a problem. Carton explained how it’s not uncommon for players to arrive to his surgery seeking hip repair work, but that the damage is too great and hip replacement is the only option.In those cases, players are forced to retire from contact sport and Carton says that he’s operating every week “on ex footballers or hurlers in their 30s and 40s.”http://www.the42.ie/hip-injuries-gaa-patrick-carton-3068419-Nov2016/