Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Klapper and aquatic rehab specialist Lynda Huey have been collaborating since 1994. That was the year NBA star Dr. Klapper arthroscoped Wilt Chamberlain’s painful hip. Dr. Klapper was one of the pioneers in doing arthroscopic surgery in the hip joint, and Wilt wanted what was then an advanced technique. Wilt told Dr. Klapper he was going to do aquatic therapy with Lynda Huey, who had been helping many of the world’s best Olympic and professional athletes speed the healing of their athletic injuries in water.
Lynda had already published three books when she met Dr. Klapper, so when those two clicked, it was inevitable they would write books together. Their first book, the first edition of Heal Your Hips, was published in 1999. It was the only book of its kind to speak directly to readers with hip problems and offer them healing treatments that included a full aquatic rehab program. Every other book about hips and hip surgery was written by surgeons for surgeons. If books offered exercises for hips, none of them included a single pool exercise. To this day, Heal Your Hips remains the only book of its kind.
On October 13, 2015, the Second Edition of Heal Your Hips will be published, offering over 50% more information on hips, including the explosion in new information about hip pain, hip preservation, and the latest diagnoses that have changed the entire landscape of hip care. Full programs of rehabilitative exercises are shown for both pool and land. The photographs and text are easy to follow with spectacular underwater and above water shots. These photos alone are a great reason to own the book: They were shot in a gorgeous backyard pool in Pacific Palisades overlooking the ocean. A scuba diver photographer shot the underwater pictures as Lynda Huey climbed in the pool beside him to get the form correct.
The graphic art was worked on again and again to make complicated medical issues easy to understand. Radiological studies and drawings with clear captions show examples of various hip conditions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, torn labrum, avascular necrosis, femoroacetabular impingement (called FAI), dysplasia, and other common complaints.
The mission statement for this book is to hold the reader by the hand and provide hope and clarity as he or she struggles through the medical labyrinth. The first goal is to help readers try to prevent hip surgery. But if they try the conservative methods in this book and still can’t sleep at night or can’t participate in activities they love, they are guided cautiously toward prehab for surgery – rehab exercises to become strong enough to face surgery and recover quickly. This is the book for anyone who is fearful about their future because of hip pain. It speaks to them in a calm, caring voice full of wisdom and information.
Water Rehab Specialist, Lynda Huey, MS, earned a bachelors and masters degree from San Jose State University where she also starred on the track and field team. Her own athletic injuries led her into the water where she learned to cross train and speed the healing of injuries. She has written six books on aquatic exercise and rehabilitation, books that are considered the foundation of aquatic therapy world-wide. Lynda is President of CompletePT Pool & Land Physical Therapy in Los Angeles.