usb port problem

I have a thinkpad x201 laptop and one of its usb ports is not working. When I plug in a device into that port, there's no response in dmesg. I tried plugging the same device into another port, it works, so it can't be device's problem. I tried booting from that broken usb port but no usb storage is detected at boot. So this leads me to conclude the port is physically broken. I only have 2 ports on this laptop so having them both functional is important. What's the best way to fix this? Can I install a new one myself or something?