Anybody ever had painful hip fixed and no loner need meds or have pain?

[AmateurOwner2]

Hi Llee,

I’m sorry that you’re having hip trouble!
I had hip pain for several years with limited/no diagnosis, and certainly no accurate diagnosis. I was 15-22, had arthritis ruled out as a cause of the pain, and basically told by several good orthopedics that it was “normal” soreness from riding. I had cortisone shots that were minimally helpful for a short period of time.

I finally saw one of the top hip surgeons in the country after being diagnosed by a different doctor with “some sort of” labral tear in my hip. The “good” surgeon reviewed my MRA (MRI with contrast–necessary) and immediately booked me for surgery for a labral tear after actually believing how much pain I was in, though I was running over 20 miles a week and showing regularly.

I had surgery last January (at age 23) where he found a “massive” tear surrounded by shredded cartilage straight thru to the socket, FAI, damage to surrounding tendons. He cleaned and repaired the tear, shaved both the socket and ball (removed FAI), cleaned up the tendon damage.

Though painful for the first 12 hours after surgery, I almost immediately felt relief from the joint pain. I didn’t realize how persistent and deep it was until I got it fixed, and I couldn’t be more thankful that I did. I was sitting on a horse at week 9 after surgery and jumping a few courses at shows by week 14.

The recovery and return to actually having full strength is ongoing and I do get frustrated that that leg continues to be weaker despite a lot of PT and seeing a personal trainer regularly, but I have not felt joint pain since the surgery and it feels so good and stable. I ran a half marathon at month 7. My tear was accessible but required three holes through my hip flexor, which has been the slowest thing to come back, but I credit a good outcome and no more pain (!!) to seeing a really good surgeon, tons of PT, and the luck of having an accessible tear.

I think the importance of seeing a top sports medicine hip doctor if possible is great with regard to hip injuries–I saw several “good” orthopedics who gave varying degrees of wrong answers, dismissals and poor diagnoses, but as it turned out, I did have a significant injury and fixing it provided massive relief. Joint pain is no joke–I hope that you get an answer and feel better soon!!

[Simkie]

Labral tear reconstruction here. Surgery was three years ago. Recovery has been a serious roller coaster, but am <knock on wood> making progress now with a PT who really hammers and works through the trigger points.

AO2, they go through the flexor?? Good lord, maybe that explains some of my ongoing issues.

[Foxglove]

horsefaerie, I tried for about 5 years to control the pain in my hip by positioning. I found if I held my foot in my opposite hand while standing, I could ‘release’ the pain in my hip (ahhhhhh). I found that if I knelt and leaned back slightly, the pain would again, ‘release’ and I’d be pain free for while. When I could no longer walk easily (would soon need a cane), I had my hip done. I am completely pain free and have my life back. The irony was I was a teacher during those 5 years (high school psychology) --I actually was teaching standing and holding my foot up behind my butt, and kneeling. I found I could see all my students if I knelt on a chair and faced them. Amazing what we try to do to avoid something unpleasant. What pushed me into surgery was actually meeting the orthopedic surgeon in person --his daughters and wife rode so he understood what I wanted to do. He was very nice. It was the easiest of the joint replacements I’ve had (shoulder and two knees, subsequently). At this point, I am pain free and never know how to answer the question, “Do you have arthritis?” I no longer do --those joints are all replaced!

[hosspuller]

I had a Birmingham resurface done at age 55. Previously, walking 100 yards and I was done for the day. I couldn’t ride. Eight years later, I can walk till I’m just too tired, Ride a horse for hours on the trail… I don’t think of my hip at all. It works and is pain free.

I do suggest seeing a surgeon that does hip resurfacing AND total replacements. When a single tool is the only one available, that’s what you get. As a previous poster said… check surfacehippy

link here >> http://surfacehippy.info/

[AmateurOwner2]

Hi Simkie,
I don’t believe they go through the hip flexor in every case… I think it depends on where the tear is located, how many insertion points (cameras and equipment–I had three) the surgeon uses–basically how the access the tear. My tear started quite far forward so the (now) scars are basically on the front of my leg and much lower than one might expect, due to how they accessed the joint to fix the tear once it was dislocated and in traction… It’s quite possible different surgeons do it different ways.
I’ve had the most trouble with getting through the scar tissue in my hip flexor, which you can easily feel as the largest “hole” was straight thru the front, through which they removed bone etc. I’m now nine months out of surgery and that side is still weaker even with a lot of post rehab training with a personal trainer/physical therapist. The scar tissue is lessened but I imagine that side will always be weaker.

I can’t imagine how frustrated you are with three years of recovery–I hope this PT is helpful! I found swimming and aqua-jogging and aqua-rehab to be really really helpful in strengthening without so much impact, and strengthening in general to be really beneficial–I’m sure you’ve tried, but maybe that’s something they offer in your area? I wish you the best of luck!

[cleozowner]

7+ months post labral tear repair/cam lesion excision. The first 5-6 months were incredibly frustrating–I was a half marathoner and active rider before surgery, and I was off the leg for 6 weeks, completely out of the saddle for 4 months, and not really riding (W/T/C) for 5 months. Only recently have I started (very little) jogging and jumping cross rails, but I feel like there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

I had a fair number of complications post-op. I think what helped me the most is a really good sports massage therapist, being a strong healthcare advocate for myself (don’t ever worry about standing up for myself or asking as many questions as I need to), and ultimately being patient and following MD instructions to a T–no overdoing things! My insurance company stopped paying for PT, but I still go twice a week through my PT’s “wellness program” which is $40/month.

One thing I have learned is that there seems to be no “standard” recovery from this surgery. An acquaintance was back running 3 months post-op. Another one was riding 6-8 weeks post-op. I had to learn to stop comparing myself or I got incredibly down and frustrated. (I suppose “stop comparing yourself to others” is good life advice no matter what facet of life you’re talking about!) My friend went back to long-distance running, but I doubt that half marathons are ever in my future again due to the risk of re-tearing (my complications mean that an arthroscopic re-repair is essentially out of the question–they’d have to do an open procedure). I am learning to appreciate interval training on ellipticals to really keep my fitness up, but I will always want to go out for the occasional jog.

[LLee]

UPDATE: Got shot…in my hip

:yes: The Osteo said I have bursitis and a cortisone shot should fix me right up. So I got the shot and was awake all night from the pain. However hip is 50% less painful 5 days later… He said if it still hurts after 3 weeks, make another appointment and get shot again. WTF??
Seems that if shots and PT don’t work, he can take out the offending bursa.
So today I did a lot of walking (mowed the grass) and tomorrow I will do a lot of digging (plant 6 small bushes) and we’ll see how it goes. I could be back on Tylenol or ibuprofen real quick.