Traditional hip replacement and resurfacing surgeries mean a long and painful road to recovery.

Dr. Sonny Bal, MU orthopedic surgeon explains, "Cutting through the muscle is the traditional surgical approach that all of us learn in residency training." That severed muscle makes recovery difficult. With hip resurfacing, a small pin is inserted and then covered with a cap which then fits into a socket, so the patient saves a portion of their bone.

Resurfacing has been around for decades, but MU's Dr. Sonny Bal is working on a less invasive way to do it. Instead of the traditional method of cutting through muscle at the back of the hip, Dr. Bal spreads apart the muscles at the front.

"When he went in, all he had to do was separate them out like pulling a couple of curtains apart. " said soccer coach Dan Cosby, who had both types of resurfacing within six months. Bal used the old method on Cosby's right hip, and the new one on his left.

Cosby said, "The right is a little bit weaker. Sometimes when I do more strenuous type of exercising and moving around, I notice that the right hip will ache a little bit more." The new method means not cutting muscle, less blood loss, and Cosby was able to get back to the activities he loves much faster.