After months of being in agony, I was finally diagnosed with torn cartilage in my right hip.
Have an appointment with ortho next week and was wondering if any one has gone through this.
What was the treatment and how long of a layup do I have to look forward to? 
Thanks.
no advice, just jingles that you heal quickly!
Just Jingles ` Jingle Jingle Jingle & AO ~ Always Optimistic !
:no: Sorry…
Indulge yourself in love in the form of being being with horses and eating chocolates and you’d be better in no time.
Is it a labral tear? How old are you?
[QUOTE=tollertwins;4936930]
Is it a labral tear? How old are you?[/QUOTE]
Yes it is and I’m in my forties.
warning - long
This isn’t going to be a wonderful post…and I’m sorry for that.
So the younger you are the better off you are w/ trying a fix.
Having said that:
a) there aren’t that many guys around who really do this surgery a LOT - it has to be fixed either by scope or by open procedures where are pretty invasive.
there are getting to be a lot of people who do it a little.
where abouts in the country are you? if you JUST have a tear, it’s easier to fix than if you have bony abnormalities causing the tear…but if you have a tear you almost ALWAYS have the bony abnormalities.
b) a couple of the high-end guys up north are requiring anybody over 40 to get a d-Gemeric (sp?) MRI as it can see articular cartilage damage up-front. the more articular cartilage damage you have, the worse the prognosis.
there is a 30% (or more) failure rate if the articular cartilage is severely damaged, and you can’t see that on x-ray, CT, or regular MRI. sometimes they have to do a 'scope to see the extent of the damage - at that point, depending on severity, they may try to fix it, or may tell you to not pass go and go straight to a replacement.
Depending on the severity of the tear, it MAY be possible to get some relief from steroid shots and heavy PT to strengthen some muscles. This works best on a minor tear - as one of the functions of the labrum is to keep fluid IN the joint.
I severely tore the labrum a couple years ago - when I was about 51 - altho in hindsight it was probably on its way out for awhile due to the morphology of my hips. Didn’t know of anybody around here who did the surgery and didn’t want to go out of state. Got worse and worse till I couldn’t sit down. I was standing at my computer 8 hrs a day.
Found a guy around here who had fellowed with the top guy in the country. Unfortunately, in his words, the labrum was ‘shredded’, and I had moderate cartilage damage with a few spots approaching severe. I had asked that he not try anything heroic and just pull out and tell me I needed a new hip if it was really bad.
As it was - he tried to do the reconstruction, fixed the bony abnormalities, and smoothed out the cartilage. The operation didn’t work, altho it appeared to for several months, and I never managed to ditch my crutches.
I finally got the hip replaced in January using one of the minimally invasive techniques - and I gotta tell you - it was WAAAAYYYYYYY easier than the scope. After 3 months I was doing Pilates exercises that I hadn’t been able to do in 2 years. In 4 months I could walk farther (albiet with a cane), than I had in about 2 years.
I’m now just shy of 5 months out, back on a horse (altho mostly working on getting my strength and coordination in that leg back), exercising reasonably heavily (provided I get off my butt and get myself motivated. A year of sitting on your butt doesn’t help with your urge to move around a lot).
I’ve been on the slow track for recovery because I spent so long on crutches and was limping pretty bad before that. But for the first time in 3 years I actually feel like I might get my life back!
There is a yahoo group on femoro-acetabular impingement - which is what causes the issue in the first place. You can also find articles via google and a lot of the scientific journals will let you purchase for a fee.
Feel free to contact me via PM if you want - or we can chat here.
Jingles continue for you during this struggle ~ Jingle Jingle Jingle & AO ~ Always Optimistic !
I had the hip arthroscopic surgery in Aug to repair torn labrum, shave bone spurs and lots of other 'clean-up" work in my hip. My problem was likely caused by FAI. It was a tough, long recuperation and I’m finally able to ride about 3 hours. Prior to the surgery, I was in agony after 15-30 minutes in the saddle.
Unfortunately, I have moderate to severe arthritis and NO cartilage, which the surgery could not correct. I’m now a candidate for total hip replacement. My range of motion is terrible and I can barely drag my leg over the cantle to mount and dismount.
If you don’t have arthritis in your hip, you prognosis will be better.
Best of luck…
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I live in N.Y. and I have many options for surgery.
I will find out on Friday, just how bad my hip is. I know this isn’t going to be a walk in the park and I’m preparing myself for the worse case scenario.
I will do what I have to, as long as I can get back on a horse.:yes:
Thanks again for sharing, it helps a lot to hear from other’s who have gone through this.
:D:D:D
Brian Kelly is supposed to be one of the best there is (one of the few my guy said he’d go to).
I also believe that he’s one of the folks having people over 40 do the d-Gemeric MRI.
I think that HSS has one.
The MRI being recommended by several folks on the forum uses the contrast Gadolinium(sp.).
There is a Black box( FDA) warning on that for anyone with less than perfect kidney function. You might want to read up on it before agreeing to the test!
