Share review of Professor Damian Griffin OBE TD VR BM BCh MA MPhil FRCS(Tr&Orth)

Professor Damian Griffin OBE TD VR BM BCh MA MPhil FRCS(Tr&Orth) 2024-02-12 Person 5 5 0

I had my first consultation with Professor Griffin in January exactly 1 year ago. I was 57 years of age, had recently exited from 20+ years of driving a global fintech company, and was a passionate (average) golfer with a handicap of 17. I was hoping to be able to play golf, as much as I wanted to, and be active with my wife and two sons, and enjoy “living” for as long as possible. My problem was my left hip. I was experiencing chronic pain in my left hip for over five years. I had made some very good progress working with a sports strength and conditioning specialist. We were able to eliminate the constant pain I felt at night, which impacted my sleep, but I still could not walk 9 holes of the golf course without experiencing severe pain and would end up limping of the course, feeling that I really was heading down a cul-de-sac. Since working with Professor Griffin, just over 12 months, we have eliminated hip pain (98%), can workout in the gym 6/7 mornings, play golf as much as I want, and I dropped 7 shots from my handicap (HCI = 10.4). The surprising thing; this was achieved without surgery! When I first decided to attend a hip surgeon, I wanted to find someone who helped their patients return to active lifestyles and had a strong track record of achievement. A friend of mine recommended Professor Griffin based on his work with a Leinster and Ireland international rugby player. When I first researched Professor Griffin I was immediately impressed with his diagnostic approach and philosophy. While at the time, I had resigned myself to the fact that I most likely needed a hip resurfacing or total replacement, I wanted to be confident that was the case. When Professor Griffin first reviewed the imaging of my left hip with me, it did not look good. I could clearly see the degeneration and bony growths causing hip impingement. My cartilage was not in great shape either. I thought “well, that’s that”. But Professor Griffin did a detailed physical and movement assessment, and was surprised at how well the joint was still moving and maintaining stability. We agreed to do follow-up examination of the hip under anaesthetic, and do a hyaluronic acid (HA) injection in addition. This procedure was so interesting (and easy). After the anaesthetic, Professor Griffin had me work with his physio to do a number of movements that we had tested prior and confirmed pain to be active or not active. When I repeated those same movements I was able to immediately notice a major portion (or flavour) of the pain had disappeared, but some pain remained. This was key, as my exercise regime in the following weeks was aimed at avoiding movement that caused the pain that was eliminated by the anaesthetic. I then focused on strengthening the hip in movements that caused the pain that remained. The HA injection was also very successful for me. It seemed to give me a pain-free buffer during that critical time to build better strength and stability in the joint. After two weeks I started to notice improvement and gradually increased volume and intensity of activity. After 6 months, I had a follow-up review. Professor Griffin recommended a top-up injection to further preserve the joint, and connected me with a world-renowned golf biomechanics expert. I did a 3D biomechanics assessment of my movement pattern i.e. walking and golf swing. It showed and explained what I was experiencing. In my gait, I was not pronating my left foot properly and in my golf swing I was not transferring my weight to the left side properly. It turns out this was not a physical limitation, it was mental. I had so much mental scar tissue from years of pain with my left hip, I had not retrained my brain to say “it is ok” to put weight on my left side. I am so thankful to Professor Griffin for taking this approach with me and guiding me to this point. It is not the approach you expect when you commit yourself to working with a surgeon. It is however a rare example of what the future of good surgery practice looks like and I would recommend with strong confidence that if you have a hip issue, no matter the severity, try to work with Professor Griffin to help you overcome the challenge and get back to pain free, active living.