Injury, hip surgery: Even celebrities need rest

Touring the country, daylong rehearsals and minimal relaxation, one can only expect being tired, worn down and even injured. For Lady Gaga, in the middle of a world tour, the last item on her agenda is downtime, let alone hip surgery. The pop star was injured during a concert forcing her to cancel her current concert series.

These injuries may be more common than we think in the music industry. The Hospital for Special Surgery reports that professional dancing has an annual injury rate of 67 to 95 percent.

Dr. Steven Louis, orthopedic surgeon on staff at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, says Lady Gaga may have been prone to this hip injury from childhood.

“An overuse injury to the hip is very uncommon at a young age,” Louis says. “Many of those injuries come from a childhood disease, rheumatoid arthritis or a post-traumatic injury.”

Other celebrity performers like Prince, Billy Joel and Eddie Van Halen with years of touring, dancing and stage performance under their belt, all had hip-related injuries. Joel said that the years of bouncing around stages took a toll forcing him to get a total hip replacement.

“If avoidable at a young age, hip replacements should not be necessary,” Louis says. “Minimally invasive surgeries such as a hip arthroscopy can fix the problem and last longer.”

Louis recommends seeking medical attention right away so that the injury does not worsen and cause further damage. Rehabilitation after a hip surgery is usually six to twelve weeks, avoiding any high impact activities, Louis says.

Lady Gaga said she’s been hiding the injury from her staff for quite some time and was praying it would heal. Heeding her doctor’s advice to cancel the tour and give her hip time to heal may pay off in the long run.