Summit Orthopedics’ Dr. Dane Hansen Discusses Joint Health and Injury Prevention

Dr. Dane Hansen is currently in his 10th year of practice at Summit Orthopedics, specializing in hip and knee arthritis and joint replacement for patients of all ages.

Originally from the Twin Cities, Hansen grew up in Roseville and attended medical school at Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He later completed a joint replacement fellowship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, which he described as the most important part of his training.

“It is a well-known program for joint replacement, but it also involved a lot of time focusing on minimally invasive techniques and quick recovery,” Hansen says. “That’s where my training has been most helpful — being able to help patients recover and return to their lifestyles quickly.”

“I was initially drawn to medicine because I enjoyed the field and liked working with my hands,” Hansen says. “I’ve always led an active lifestyle and was an athlete in high school and college, which sparked my interest in sports medicine and injuries involving the body.”

When it comes to joint replacement specifically, Hansen said the ability to significantly improve a patient’s quality of life is what drew him to the specialty.

“We see people with severe pain and mobility issues who can quickly become active and mobile again,” he explains. “That ability to restore function is what really drew me to arthritis and joint replacement care.”

Hansen centers his wellness philosophy on maintaining an active lifestyle.

“Being a surgeon, a lot of people assume the goal is to fix the problem by doing surgery, but there’s so many ways to manage arthritis,” Hansen says. “Exercise, injections, medications and different treatments can improve the quality of someone’s life and keep them active and doing their passions, whatever that is.”

With spring well underway and summer just around the corner, Hansen lists increased outdoor activities as a major cause of hip pain currently.

“As people become more active, spend more time walking and participate in more activities, they often experience pain in those joints,” Hansen says. “These opportunities to get out and enjoy the weather and to go out on walks and out to festivals, these are all great opportunities that people should want to be involved in.”

“But I think it’s just a matter of being smart about it, knowing your limits a little bit, but also knowing that you’re setting goals and working toward something will help people enjoy them more and not end up hurting afterwards or running into problems because they’re overdoing it,” he concludes.

Hansen shares that arthritis and joint replacement are becoming more common among younger patients, in part because of increasingly active lifestyles and injuries sustained earlier in life.

“I think part of that is just how active we are in America,” he says. “People are getting injured at younger ages, and that can create problems later in life.”

He said arthritis is not limited to older adults and can also stem from underlying conditions that develop earlier in life, such as hip dysplasia, a condition in which the hip joint does not develop properly.

“It doesn’t have to be a disease for people in their 70s and 80s,” Hansen says. “This affects people across many age ranges.”

When preparing for long walks or events such as the Twin Cities Pride Parade, Hansen shares that gradual preparation is key.

“Don’t go out and walk five or 10 miles if you don’t normally do that,” he says. “Build up to those distances slowly, especially in the spring when people tend to go from being inactive to suddenly doing a lot.”

He also emphasized the importance of supportive footwear.

“A lot of people want to wear cool shoes or sandals in the summertime, but that can really affect your joints,” Hansen says. “Having non-supportive shoes can put extra pressure and stress on your knees, ankles and other parts of the body.”

As warmer weather brings more opportunities for outdoor activities, Hansen encourages people to stay active while also listening to their bodies and taking steps to prevent injury.

“Movement is incredibly important,” Hansen shares. “A lot of us wonder why we’re sore or why our backs hurt, and a lot of that has to do with immobility.”

“Most of that comes from keeping your body and weight healthy, your muscles strong and just finding ways to stay active,” he continues. “It doesn’t have to be marathon or CrossFit or some crazy power lifting. It just needs to be good, consistent activity.”

Hansen believes that gradual conditioning, supportive footwear and addressing joint pain early can help people remain mobile and continue doing the activities they enjoy.