Move without the pinch.

Explore Hip Care

Hip surgery in the Tri-Cities — start with your problem.

Hip trouble shows up in two very different ways. In athletes and active adults, it is usually a mechanical problem — extra bone that pinches, a torn labrum, early wear starting on the joint surface — and the goal is to fix the mechanics and keep your own joint. In an arthritic hip, the joint surface itself has worn out, and the conversation shifts to replacement. Dr. Kelly treats both, and he will tell you plainly which conversation your hip actually needs.

The Sports Hip  — impingement, labral tears, arthroscopy

The sports-hip pattern is easy to recognize once you know it: a pinching pain in the front of the hip or groin with deep squats, long sits, or getting out of the car, and an ache that lingers after practices and games. It is common in soccer and hockey players, dancers, lifters, and runners — and it is often mislabeled as a chronic groin strain for months before the hip itself gets a look.

Which hip problems does Dr. Kelly treat?

Dr. Kelly's hip practice is built around the sports hip: femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), labral tears, and the cartilage injuries that travel with them — treated arthroscopically, through small incisions — plus Mako robotic-assisted total hip replacement when arthritis has worn out the joint. He also evaluates groin, hip flexor, and overuse injuries in athletes, along with bursitis and tendon pain on the side of the hip.

Every hip visit starts the same way: an exam, X-rays, and when needed an MRI — reviewed together, side by side, until the picture makes sense to you. Many of the hip patients who see Dr. Kelly never need an operating room; therapy, activity changes, and injections resolve plenty of hip pain. When surgery is the right answer, you will know exactly why.

Am I too young for hip surgery?

The question usually means two different things. If you are a young, active adult with groin pain from impingement or a labral tear, hip arthroscopy exists precisely for that problem — it is joint-preserving surgery, aimed at correcting the mechanics before they wear down the cartilage. If your hip is already arthritic, age alone rarely decides the plan; what matters is how much the hip is costing you and what the imaging shows. Dr. Kelly walks through both paths with you and matches the plan to your hip, not your birth year.

When the Joint Wears Out  — Mako robotic total hip replacement

An arthritic hip tells a different story: deep groin ache, morning stiffness, losing rotation, and pain that turns walks and stairs into negotiations. When injections and activity changes stop holding the line, replacing the worn surfaces is typically the conversation that addresses the problem at its source.

Mako is a robotic-arm assisted surgery platform developed by Stryker. Learn more at Stryker's Mako page.

Fellowship-Trained Orthopedic Sports Medicine

Dr. Kelly completed his Orthopedic Sports Medicine Fellowship at the University of Missouri, where he served as team physician for Mizzou football, basketball, baseball, and volleyball. He is a member of the AOSSM, AAOS, and AANA — bringing D1-level sports medicine care to hip injuries across the Tri-Cities, Yakima Valley, Walla Walla, and Eastern Oregon.

Recovering from an operation? Every procedure has a week-by-week plan in the recovery guide library, plus printable rehab protocols for hip arthroscopy and total hip replacement. Dr. Kelly sees hip patients at Tri-City Orthopedics in Kennewick, serving Richland, Pasco, and the greater Tri-Cities.