GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Hip repairs are finally getting hip enough for active baby boomers who haven't given up their running shoes or golf clubs.

Like Doug Quimby, 52, of Davison. Medicines for hip pain increasingly didn't work for him, and because his hips ached, his golf game was suffering and he didn't get as much exercise. He put on 10 pounds.

In June, Quimby and his doctor agreed something had to be done — but it wasn't a hip replacement. It was hip resurfacing.

Not your mother's hip surgery In hip resurfacing, doctors chisel away the damaged surface of the thighbone, rather than replace the entire joint as in traditional hip replacement. Saving more of the natural bone results in better mobility afterward. Say what?

''Hip resurfacing is for those a bit young for a hip replacement,'' said Dr. James Heming, the first local surgeon to perform hip resurfacing.

The procedure is making waves among those under age 60 who have debilitating hip pain from osteoarthritis, degenerative hip disease or other medical problems.

It works just like it sounds: Doctors chisel away the damaged surface of the thighbone rather than replace the entire joint. Surgeons save more of the natural bone, which results in better mobility afterward, said Heming, an orthopedic surgeon on staff at Genesys Health System.

Doctors in the U.S., including at Family Orthopedic Associates in Genesee County's Flint Township, are just learning how to do the procedure that originated a decade ago in England — hence it's full name: Birmingham hip resurfacing.

Of the 400,000 total hip replacements performed each year, about 60,000 of those could be candidates for hip resurfacing.

That means it's not for everyone and has its drawbacks. Hip resurfacing requires a hip with enough healthy bone to support the operation, which some patients with osteoarthritis may lack.

Couldn't Quimby wait for a hip replacement?