Hip Dysplasia, Femoro-acetabular Impingement, Hypermobile Labrum

[wandering, not lost]

I just saw Dr. White today. My pelvis is almost entirely healed and I'm down to one crutch at home. I got the okay for no-resistance biking and I should have my PT prescription within a week. It's been a long road, but I'm finally to the point where I can start doing something to help myself get better so I'm pretty excited.

[mtnbikerskierchick]

It's been such a long road for you! But, you've handled it all so well. Can't wait to see you on two planks again

[Z]

Great to hear everything is moving along! Outlook seems good, time to get stronger than ever!!!

[mysteryzombie]

awesome, keep us updated as you keep getting stronger and more active.

[wandering, not lost]

Pumped! My PT prescription is being faxed to my guy today so I can hopefully start PT tomorrow.

It includes:
getting me entirely off crutches
range of motion (don't have much of that right now)
no-resistance biking
core work


Shockingly enough, I'm not allowed to run or do agility stuff yet... go figure. I cannot wait to actually kick things into gear. Skiing groomers in 6 weeks? Maybe?

[skifishbum]

Stoked that your prognosis is sounding good and your on the road to skiing again

[mysteryzombie]

that is awesome news, i hope to be joining you on the recovery train soon, i have my surgery scheduled on march 22nd. and i am a bit nervous as you can imagine. but your posts are encouraging.

[wandering, not lost]

9 days after starting PT and I'm walking. (at home/at PT only, but it's something). I worked my ass off today, for the last two exercises my whole leg was shaking (literally toes to pelvis), but I survived it and now I'm walking around the house. Here's hoping I don't have to be on a jury next week so that I can keep going to Pt!

[Sinecure]

Cool news. I had my FAI scope surgery mid-august. Started skiing early December and skied 16 days straight over Xmas with minimal discomfort. Still don't have full ROM, but its getting better. Skiing actually seems to help. Also joined the Y and started swimming again. That's helping. Today I swam a mile for the first time in ages. It felt really good. I wish I had full range of motion though, and I'm still limping a little - although I don't notice it too much, but others do. And I avoid jumps and bumps, which is not much of a sacrifice since my knees hate those.

[sidewall]

I stumbled onto this thread by accident- I've had hip joint pain for about a year now. I joined this new gym with a 1/16 mile indoor track- you make a sharp 90 degree turn every 25 yards or so. After doing that for a few months the pain appeared and now I can no longer run without it flaring up again. At night I'll wake up with the joint hurting and have to flip over. Is there a technical term for this?

[wandering, not lost]

I stumbled onto this thread by accident- I've had hip joint pain for about a year now. I joined this new gym with a 1/16 mile indoor track- you make a sharp 90 degree turn every 25 yards or so. After doing that for a few months the pain appeared and now I can no longer run without it flaring up again. At night I'll wake up with the joint hurting and have to flip over. Is there a technical term for this?

Go see a doctor who specializes in hips. The average length of diagnosis for a labral tear is 2 years. I'm not saying that's what you've got, but hips have a really really difficult pathology, so no matter what it's going to take some time to give you a diagnosis. Make sure if they do an MRI, they do it with a dye injection, otherwise they probably won't be able to tell you anything.

Good luck and take care of your hip.

[sidewall]

Thanks for the advice, I was suspecting it was something to do with the labrum. I'll get it checked out.

[wandering, not lost]

New update. We went to Denver again on Wednesday to see Dr. White. My pelvis is finally all healed. For the first time since surgery, my xrays were all solid, no cloudiness at all.

I have made huge gains in PT. As of Tuesday I was adding single leg squats (shallow ones, but still!). My range of motion is equal to the other leg except in one direction, but that's to be expected. Dr. White gave me the go ahead to start skiing green groomers on March 1st (I need to get 17 days to make my season pass worth it, so things are looking good). He said I looked good now, but he'd be more comfortable if I would wait until I was a full 5 months out from my surgery.

Of course, when I told my pt guy that I get to ski in 2 1/2 weeks he said, shit, we have a lot of work to do. So yesterday's workout was 2 hours and 15 minutes of all out intensity. I'm getting way stronger and can do all kinds of new things (single leg squats, stationary biking on level 8, lots of stuff with the sports cord, single leg bridging on a ball, etc.).

Also, they may not want to take my screws out this spring, which is pretty exciting. I'm figuring I can make it at least until the end of September and get to actually enjoy my summer this year, then get them out in the off season and come back stronger than ever next year.

Hopefully all my pain and boredom in the last year will be worth it and I'll be back better than ever.

[mysteryzombie]

freaking excellent!!!!!!!

[snowful]

This is timely. I'm glad I saw it from the main forum page as I never come in here.

I see my doctor today. One of the problems I need to talk to him about is my hip. I know nothing about medspeak, but here I go anyway.

This season I started experiencing a burning sensation that ran from the inside of my right thigh (deep in the groin and right at the hip joint), to a point on the left side of my kneecap. About a month ago I landed hard and compressed fully. The pain was severe and I needed to go on a diet of muscle relaxers and pain blockers, then moving to stretching and very light exercise..

Now that my muscles have loosened, I notice little pops and I feel like something is 'hanging up' in that hip joint spot. Not bone, but something softer I think. The pain is back to being fairly isolated between the groin and knee, but now there is tingling along with it.

Any of this sound familiar to you guys and girls?

I'm 53 and about 20 years ago had surgery to repair a disc in the lumbar region. My right knee has taken a few big hits which I never took care of. I am experiencing bone loss in my jaw as my dad had as well.

Thanks in advance.

[wandering, not lost]

I just skied for the first time in 10 1/2 months! I only lasted just under 2 hours, but it was SOOOO MUCH FUN!

Can't wait to go again on Wednesday!

[kevok2]

I haven't skied in 2 weeks, and I can't imagine breaking for that long. Congrats on a full recovery & return to the slopes. Stay intact.

[gibbssco]

Congrats wandering! Makes my ACLR recovery look like a cake-walk!

[mysteryzombie]

i had my first fai hip surgery done on monday. i had both cam and pincer lesions burred off, 3 loose bone fragments that had busted off of the acetabular rim (socket) and were floating around in there removed, a giant dysplastic cyst removed from the femoral head, and the labrum was anchored back to where it was pulled off.
dr bryan kelly is the man!
i did pt the next morning and did some more today. the narcotics are bothering me but seem to help with the pain.
i have an ice machine, a cpm machine, and exercises to do daily. it's not a fun recovery so far but the PT thinks i will paddle whitewater again, once i get recovered and get the other hip done.
my experience at the hospital for special surgery was very good. they are the highest level of skill and attention in every aspect when it comes to musculoskeletal diseases and injuries.

[mysteryzombie]

4 weeks out today and i am weaning off crutches, can almost put full weight on my leg.
i am ramping up the pt and am hoping for the best while not overdoing it.
but i'm sore enough now to think there's no way i am doing the other hip earlier than 6 months after the first like some people are offered by surgeons (some say they will do it 8 weeks out, no thanks).

[EarlyWood]

whoa..
looks like this is the place I should be.
When all of you talk about the pain you've had with your hip was it sharp like electrical shock of a nerve that would come and go? or a dull ache deep in your joints?

I've had an MRI and will be talking to an ortho to review it next week. I signed the report out to myself and the exact wording is


"FINDINGS
The bone marrow has a normal signal throughout. There is no evidence for a joint effusion. The ligamentous and tendinous structures appear intact. There is some abnormal signal associated with the superior lip of the glenoid labrum consistent with a small focal tear. A soft tissue mass is not evident."

Anyone want to take a stab at how convinced this guy is?..and what does it mean that a soft tissue mass is not evident?
and I had five minor shock to the nerve pains while in there laying perfectly still..I'm assuming they can see that?

Exploring all possibilities.

Thanks everyone here for the updates and especially to wandering for the thread

Snowful I was wondering whatever happened to you. Any update?

ps..I'm interested in any and all updates

[MarkoInTheBoat]

whoa..
looks like this is the place I should be.
When all of you talk about the pain you've had with your hip was it sharp like electrical shock of a nerve that would come and go? or a dull ache deep in your joints?

Speaking from experience...
I have noticed a dull ache deep in my hip for years and always thought it was just sore/tight muscles. Although I occasionally do feel sharp pain like a charlie horse when I squat deeply or ride back seat on a snowmobile.

[wandering, not lost]

whoa..
looks like this is the place I should be.
When all of you talk about the pain you've had with your hip was it sharp like electrical shock of a nerve that would come and go? or a dull ache deep in your joints?

I've had an MRI and will be talking to an ortho to review it next week. I signed the report out to myself and the exact wording is


"FINDINGS
The bone marrow has a normal signal throughout. There is no evidence for a joint effusion. The ligamentous and tendinous structures appear intact. There is some abnormal signal associated with the superior lip of the glenoid labrum consistent with a small focal tear. A soft tissue mass is not evident."

Anyone want to take a stab at how convinced this guy is?..and what does it mean that a soft tissue mass is not evident?
and I had five minor shock to the nerve pains while in there laying perfectly still..I'm assuming they can see that?

My hip would sometimes ache, it sometimes felt like someone was trying to chop my leg off with a dull knife, that's one problem with diagnosis, it was never the same.

As far as the tear to the labrum, it's really hard to tell if it's torn. For mine, the radiologist saw the tear, two surgeons didn't, and finally Dr. White agreed that there probably was a tear. It turned out mine had detached, rather than torn. That being said, my hip felt better about 1 week after surgery than it had felt in years...

For an update, I skied for a lot of March, even getting on some of the extremes at CB. I'm having all six screws from my osteotomy removed on Tuesday of next week, which is really soon since I just saw the surgeon who's doing it for the first time on Wednesday. At least a couple are bothering me and Dr. White recommended that as long as I'm having surgery I should have them all out and be done. It's going to mean opening up almost my entire beautiful 6 inch scar, so they better do a good job sewing me back up. Of course, an almost 6-inch incision means general anesthesia and the pain of not being able to shower for a week and all that other crap that comes with surgery.

I'm not sure I'm entirely mentally prepared for my 3rd surgery in 10 months, but it's definitely worth it to do it now. My other option would have been the end of September, and Squirrelmurphy and I are getting married Labor Day weekend, so it's better to do it now. It would also suck to be fully back to my real life and then have to take a 6 week hiatus from doing anything active again.

[mysteryzombie]

earlywood, the glenoid labrum is in your shoulder, so i wonder what the radiologist is smoking, and if it's cheaper than what i pay.
but, anterior and superior labral tears is common in hip fai. if there is a tear there, and swelling and damage, the signal will be abnormal. but sometimes the signal is abnormal for minor tweaks that wouldn't need anything done to it.
more important than those guys checking the soft tissue is to look at the acetabular rim (socket) and head/neck junction. that can be seen on supine, frog-legged xray and for any fai-experienced doc, it would be plain as day.
symptoms are vague and diffuse but some signs are not being able to (in attempt to find very common examples for tgr types):
kick a rainbow kick in hackey sack
squat without your knees pointing out.
sit in lotus position/indian style
pain in groin/outside of hip/si joint/low back... likes to move around. exercise aggrovates big time.
a dull ache that can sometimes be sharp
clicking or clunking in hip
catching of hip esp while walking downhill
basically, pain on internal and external rotation.

just as important as the labral tear is the boney impingement(s) that can cause the tear in the first place.
the hip fai is often congenital and over time leads to muscle imbalances and spasms along with strain patterns. these spasms can be causative of those zings of pain that come and go.

wandering, best of luck with that!

[EarlyWood]

earlywood, the glenoid labrum is in your shoulder...

and there-in lies my loophole



I did some research on this and got a little excited that maybe they had me confused with another patient (or were incompetent) ... turns out the hip really does have a glenoid labrum but it's old school vocabulary.

I researched the soft tissue mass issue and I'm pretty sure they're talking about a tumor or something cancerous not being evident

thanks for listing those symptoms.. based on those, I'm still not convinced I'm a FAI guy..not that there's anything wrong with that.. heh

then again, I would like to pin this down to something.

thanks for everything here