Conditions + Treatments
Hip Replacement
My name is Richard Hagedorn, and I am from Gadsden, AL. I have always had a passion for sports and have participated in a variety of different sports throughout my lifetime. In my early years, this included baseball, basketball, football, hockey, softball, tennis and volleyball.
I became a passionate powerlifter 30 years ago at the age of 40. I loved powerlifting in of itself, and once I realized I could compete, I was in. I have been fortunate to win 12 world championships in powerlifting within various weight classes.
With the constant hard work and effort put into powerlifting, I began to start experiencing problems with both of my hips. In 2005, I had surgery on my left hip as I could not bend over without having serious pain in my side. I was fortunate to be in good health until 2019, when my right hip began to start giving me problems. I knew that something was wrong as I had experienced similar problems with my first hip injury. It was in this moment that I knew I needed to see a highly-respected hip surgeon.
Being a loyal Alabama Crimson Tide football fan and seeing news reports, I knew that Dr. Benton Emblom had performed Nick Saban’s hip surgery a few years ago. I reached out to Dr. Emblom’s office with confidence knowing that he could help me with my injury. As I was in this process, the pain was beginning to interrupt the quality of my everyday life.
During my initial appointment, Dr. Emblom informed me that I had moderate osteoarthritis in both hips and commented that I would “intuitively know when it was time to come back for another appointment to schedule my hip replacement surgery.” That statement rang completely true. I lived with the pain for approximately another year and, during the process, I went to an Alabama football game in which the pain had me in a wheelchair.
Fortunately, at this point, my surgery was already scheduled with Dr. Emblom for November 21, 2021. I went into surgery completely confident in Dr. Emblom. Not only did I believe in his abilities, but he had also explained everything to me in a way that left me sure of what I was walking into.
My surgery went better than I could have hoped. I was notified to arrive at Ascension St. Vincent’s OrthoTower at 6AM in the morning, Dr. Emblom performed my hip replacement surgery, and I was discharged on my way home by 6 PM that night.
I was eating at a restaurant the following afternoon and felt as though I could resume my everyday life. I went to the recommended physical therapy and, with their guidance, was quickly ahead of the schedule in terms of my recovery. It was a slow progression, but I was excited to be back into powerlifting just 4 weeks after my surgery.
I was able to increase my weights little by little and was feeling confident in my abilities. By August of 2022, I entered into the APF North Georgia Barbell Competition and was fortunate to set the national record for the body weight of 188 at the age of 68 deadlifting 408 pounds.
While experiencing injuries throughout my lifting process was intimidating, I am proud to say that I have now been powerlifting for 30 years and have been inducted into the Alabama Powerlifting Hall of Fame. I am also happy to report that, since my surgery, I have not experienced any problems with my hips. I do my best to take care of myself and am thrilled to be competing again. This simply would not have been possible without the support and help of Dr. Emblom. I highly recommend both Dr. Emblom and the team at Andrews Sports Medicine!
