Emily Nytko-Lutz

I’ve always been an active person and love to run and hike. Doing a four-day trek on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu was a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. In the spring of 2013, my husband and I booked the trail passes from the Peruvian government and were arranging our trip to Machu Picchu for later that year. However, the morning after a run in May 2013, I awoke with a sharp pain in my hip. After an examination and an MRI, my orthopedist diagnosed me with a hip labral tear, which he initially recommended treating conservatively with physical therapy to see if there was an improvement. When I asked my orthopedist if I could still hike the Inca trail in September as I had planned, he told me given the condition of my hip at the time that he wouldn’t recommend it unless I also planned to have someone carry me. I was devastated.

I spent time strengthening the muscles in my hip by doing physiotherapy but was still having mechanical symptoms in my joint that brought pain. I had surgery for hip impingement and labral repair with Dr. Bryan Kelly in July 2014. I’m thrilled with the outcome and to report that after rehabilitating my hip I was able to hike the Inca Trail in September 2015 without pain! I should also note that I’m living in England and Dr. Kelly’s team at HSS have been wonderfully accommodating to me as an international patient. Thank you to Dr. Kelly and his fantastic team at HSS!