Back In The Saddle After Two Hip Surgeries

It started with a fall from a horse in 2018 that left Brian Laymon with a broken pelvis. While x-raying his pelvis, his doctor noticed that Brian had some “gnarly arthritis.” He was surprised because it didn’t hurt. His doctor assured him that one day it would.

Brian carried on living life working his job as a social worker for the county and coming home to take care of his horses. He’s a pretty physical guy throwing hay bales and mucking out horse stalls.

Then, this past Thanksgiving, it started to hurt. “It was like someone flipped a switch and I went from no pain to a lot of pain. I was having a hard time lifting my feet. I had to stop riding my horses because I couldn’t get my foot in the stirrup and I had to stop taking my walks,” he remembers.

He went to see orthopedic surgeon, Kyle Muckenhirn, MD. “The decision to have surgery is a combination of evidence of arthritis on x-ray, but also pain and functional limitations. Brian had all three. He had bad arthritis, it was hurting him, and it was impacting his life. Surgery on both hips was the best option for Brian,” says Dr. Muckenhirn.

“I really like Dr. Muckenhirn, and I like that he’s left-handed like me. He answered all my questions and I didn’t feel nervous,” says Brian.

In Brian’s case, it was obvious that he needed hip replacement, but that’s not always the case. That is when the orthopedic team turns to the physical therapy team.

“Hip pain can be from a number of issues and teasing out exactly what’s causing it is important. We don’t want to do surgery on someone who doesn’t need it. I rely pretty heavily on the physical therapy team to help figure out where the pain is coming from. They have hour long sessions where they can work with people to find and identify an exact trigger point of where the pain is. Surgery can be a great option if you have arthritis, but if you have a pinched nerve in your back and we replace your hip, you’re not going to get better. If there’s any question, I send people to physical therapy,” says Dr. Muckenhirn.

Brian had his first hip replacement surgery in January of 2026 at Perham Health and it went well. “I had to stay overnight and the staff were great. I got great care from everyone,” he says.

An important part of recovering from hip replacement surgery is completing a regimen of physical therapy after surgery.

Physical therapist, David Dahl, DPT, worked with Brian after his first surgery. “When I worked with Brian, he was using a walker and was weak. But he advanced quickly from simple exercises to more advanced standing exercises with resistance to build strength. We also worked on his balance and ability to go up and down stairs in a normal fashion,” says David.

“I saw Brian for a total of four visits, twice a week. This is an abnormally short time frame, with most total hip replacement patients seeing us at least twice as long. He advanced extremely quickly and by the last visit was walking without the walker and without a limp. He was anxious to get his other hip replaced in a couple of weeks and was very motivated,” recalls David.

Dr. Muckenhirn agrees “Brian is the perfect patient. He was in shape and he was a coper. He had some of the worst arthritis I’ve ever seen. You see a hip like his once a year or so, and it hardly seemed like it phased him. I knew he was going to do well because of how much pain he had put up with.”

“Working with Dave was great, and I was back to work after two weeks,” Brian remembers.

In March, Brian was back again to have his left hip replaced. It’s not unusual to have two hip surgeries that close together.

“I tend to tell patients when one side recovers and you have a good leg to stand on, then we can do your other side. Hips are usually a pretty quick recovery with most people feeling pretty close to a hundred percent by that four-to-six-week mark,” explains Dr. Muckenhirn.

After surgery, Brian was weak and using a walker and returned for physical therapy again. This time Brian worked with physical therapist, Kelsey Wiskow, DPT.

“Because he had been through this already, he knew what to expect, what was “normal” versus what was not which led to a great recovery, and he was willing to jump right in. We focused on hip mobility exercises to make sure his hips had as much motion as possible. Then we focused on strengthening to help him move his leg with less difficulty and pain. Next, we progressed to gait training to help move away from needing a walker or a cane. Finally, we worked on functional exercises such as steps and balance,” Kelsey explains.

By the time Brian was finished with physical therapy, he was walking independently without a limp, had returned to doing his daily tasks, and returned to work within two weeks of surgery.

“Kelsey really challenged me. I went from a walker, then a cane and finally not needing either,” recalls Brian.

Brian is grateful that he was able to have his surgery in Perham. “It was important to me to be close to home. I like that I can go to physical therapy in the morning and then go to work right after. The nurses were great. Physical therapy was good. Everything was fantastic, and I would recommend Perham Health to anyone,” Brian says.

To learn more about orthopedic services and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kyle Muckenhirn

To learn more about physical therapy and David Dahl, DPT and Kelsey Wiskow, DPT.