The sports hernia — a nasty tear in the muscles of the lower abdomen — can debilitate athletes for months. But a new, minimally invasive surgery could get you back in the game in as little as a third of the time of traditional treatment. A at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Specialty Day in New Orleans showed that patients who had recieved the new repair felt “back to normal” at an average of five weeks, where as patients who received traditional repair reported it took 20 weeks. A sports hernia is a relatively common injury among athletes, especially those who do heavy lifting. Though the trial was small, it could mean more athletes will enjoy shorter recovery periods in the future.
— Jennifer L. Schwartz