Femeroacetabular Impingement

Hi there,

Have been following this thread for a while now, but now being 5 weeks post op on my left hip for a labral tear and cam impingement, I feel compelled to post.

I developed unexplained lower back pain after a roll around arresting someone at work last August, which pushed it over the edge when I fell hard across a kerb, resulting in a labral tear at the chrondrolabral junction due to cam impingement and a ton of synovitis.  Before this, I used to run 10k a couple of times a week...  Much investigation and head scratching (ignorant GPs anyone?) and a process of elimination led to the fai self diagnosis, and a hip block/cortisone injection allowed me to run again (albeit not pain free) for a while.  I'm only 28 and figured that if I left it, it'd grind itself to bits anyway and besides, I wanted my old level of physical fitness back.

The surgery was the easy bit, but the recovery has been a real rollercoaster.  I was off crutches at 2 weeks (no microfractures or sutures) and began cycling with no resistance and physio (mostly working on glute med and max, psoas and rom) and had almost returned to walking normally at 4 weeks when it suddenly flared up.  My groin is now swollen and the pre-op pain (vague, deep seated pain in my groin) has returned.  Hip flexors are crazy tight and the Thomas Test (lying on your back at the end of a bed, pull up good knee to chest and lay backwards keeping bad leg flat, dangling over the edge of the bed) was agony!

It feels like I am back at square one agan...  I am back on anti inflams hoping it will resolve itself, but one week of 'taking it easy' has yielded no results.  Lesson?  If you are like me and prone to 'overdoing things,' then don't!  I am the world's worst candidate for self control in this department (often to my detriment) and am paying for it, so please learn from this!

It has been good to hear of other people's experiences with this, as it gives me hope that one day I will be able to return to running and front line policing again. 

Keep the faith,

dav0

Been a while since I last checked in here.  Thanks for the link Tom Goom - helps me to help other people understand my issue.

How are you doing now, Bumble1?  Have you been back jogging again yet?

Any news on a date, loverunning? How's the cross-training going? 

Hi dav0. Has everything settled down again yet? Keep us posted with your updates.  I hope you get back running and normal life again soon.

I had a meeting with the surgeon last week, who put me on the waiting list as an 'urgent' case.  My operation date will be 14th September - hopefully there won't be any cancellations this time.  I'm very excited about the prospect of having it done so soon.  Now time to get some exercise done before the op, as I've been pretty rubbish at cross-training.

I've had weekly sports massage on my quads, glutes and lower back to help with the muscular discomfort that has developed, presumably, from the hip problems. I know it won't actually help the deep pain within my hip, but it certainly makes everything else feel better.  Luckily, I know someone who is doing a massage course and needs lots of practice hours. She's fab and knows exactly what I need now.  

As dav0 says, keep the faith

Hi everyone, i just found this thread, its a blessing.

I have a labral tear in my hip which gives me pain which i can only describe as gnawing for 2 to 3 days at a time, i have limited range of movement in my hip which has been prominent for years.

My hip pain is exacerbated my positioning and strain on my lumbar back area, it makes me walk with a pronounced limp and really interferes with day to day life when present i get no relief rom any standard analgesia at all, Ive had a consult with Mr Gaston at Edinburgh royal infirmary who was very sympathetic as he himself was a runner, he told me he can have me in and have the op done in a short space of time, My problem is i have just started my dream job and dont really want to take time off as it may hinder my prospects of remaining there, however the pain is becoming more frequent and more prolonged and gets me down,

Catch 22 situation, do i or dont i go for the op,  interested to hear your thoughts, 

sorry for bumbling on....

Davo thanks for that, Like yourelf im in an active job(Air ambulance), this is where the difficulty lies, it can interfere at times when you need to think and act fast, a bit like yourself, the flip side is when i deal with critical incidents it can trigger a flare up just because im crouched down, so im in a no win situation. My wife's very supportive and my kids are a bit older so i dont have too much about lifting a 2 yearold when he wants up..

Cheers

Davo, been symptomatic for over 5 years but only diagnosed  2 years ago.

How long are /were you expected to be off work for, im aware the the physicall activity is a prolonged rehab programme, to be honest i would give up running if told,  i like mountbaiking and road cycling so its not as if i wouldnt have an activity to go back to.

Long time since I have looked on here, so hope everyone is getting on fine. Glad that you've got a date now Pipes - even though a few weeks off, good to know that there is an end in sight. As for me, well, not great news. Bit like you really dav0. Everything was going fine up til the 8 week post op point (had laberal tear repair on right hip, with fatty tissue impingement), then after a session on the turbo severe pain again in right groin, confirmed by consultant’s office and physio as being illiopsoas tendonitis/bursitis.  Continued with my glute strengthening exercises but stopped everything else.  After a couple of weeks it was no better and, in fact, then developed the same pain on the left side.  Concluded glute stuff was just serving to aggravate so stopped everything, apart from walking.

To cut a long story short, rest has done nothing to improve pain, so had an ultrasound guided local anaesthetic & steroid jab into the illiopsoas sheath yesterday – just the right side to start with although the left side is also screaming out for relief.  Ultrasound showed up a lot of inflammation around the illiopsoas so the chap I saw recommended an MRI next if the steroid doesn’t do the job. 

How is yours feeling now dav0?  Mine definitely felt a bit better once the anaesthetic kicked in, but is now aching like hell.  Trying to stick to instrucs of doing v little over next couple of days.  I suppose the good thing is that I am pretty sure that the pain is not coming from the operated part of the hip, but from the illiopsoas (sort of backed up by the fact that the left non-operated side is showing similar pain), but it’s difficult to be positive when there is seemingly no end to the pain.  Had hoped to be doing a little bit of running by now – still dreaming of the day when I can, but think my legs have truely forgotten how to put one in front of the other at any sort of pace!!

Thanks dav0 for links - have printed off to have a good read in peace once my little boy is in bed tonight.  Still trying to take things easy (not always easy with a 4 year old!), think pain is a little better than it was, so maybe the steroid is working?? Or maybe it's the ibuprofen which I'm necking at regular intervals.  How are you today?  Did you have the jab directly into the hip joint or into the muscle? 

This recovery process is just such a rollercoaster ride - the surgery itself was easy by comparison.  Getting so frustrated, no running for me for a year this week (amazing to think a whole year has gone by, my husband will tell you it has felt more like 10 years with all the moaning!) because I had chronic AT before the laberal tear (ironically, the laberal tear only happened because I was doing a little abs routine at home whilst not being able to do anything because of the AT).  Strewth, it's certainly character building if nothing else.

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice Mooshead.

Just to keep you all updated, I've done a bit more research and have ended up down in London with Paul Jairaj. I've got an apointment with him in 2 weeks. From what I've read and heard, he does a less invasive procedure which results in better  and faster recovery rates. I will let you know how my consutlation goes but it looks like things are now starting to progress...

Wow. It's got a bit busy since I last looked in. 

Troubling to read of people with post-op problems, but I guess that's the nature of the beast - it's not usually one singular thing, more a combination of problems, some of which will be solved, some of which may get exacerbated and some new ones from what is still invasive surgery, albeit a fairly light touch in comparison to olden days. 

bearing in mind my history (caught early) and my inability to take it easy, plus sparing a thought for those not findign resolution I just thought I should wave the flag of my latest progress. 

Biking lots more than running since ops. It's been just over a year since the first one. Run at least once a week. But hadn't done more than 10 miles so I thought I would try a bit further. So last saturday managed 18 miles offroad over Simon's Seat in just under 3 hours. Got into a rhythm that I felt I could have done further. Tired legs obviously, but hips seem generally alright. Short run on monday evening, MTB on Wednesday, everything workign correctly. 

Physio seems to think getting bounce back in muscles. Lots of rehab exercises to do still - more than I can possibly deal with, easpecially as working a 6 day week in 5 days at the moment.

Stretch hamstrings and glutes/priformis etc every night. Regularly use thigh master for adductor strengthening. Lots of foam roller and sitting on a hockey ball for deep tissue massage. 

All in all, things goign well. Not going to kid myself that I should run marathons regularly, but nice to know that there is life in the old dog yet. 

My old racing partner thinks I should do the OMM Elite again. I have disabused him of this crazy notion...

...though maybe next year?

Good luck all. Keep trying different things - there is no one solution to these problems, but ultimately if the problem is a mechanical one (too much bone in the wrong place) there is only one real solution - get rid of it. Then you can get to work on the rest of the problems.

You may get some relief, but as you know, if the problem is too much bone in the wrong place, physio isn't going to help that.