Femeroacetabular Impingement

Hello all. Loverunning - sorry to hear about the shoulder problems - hope it's just down to the swimming and doesn't need surgery.

Keep us posted on your appointment, Mickster.

I had my post-op check-up today (7 weeks).  Things had been going ok until I returned to work after the school half-term.  Then the recently done hip went noticeably downhill every day, to the point of returning to crutches. It's frequent sharp pains that happen when I try to walk fast or round a corner or put my foot down wrong - like a worse version of what I had pre-surgery. The surgeon is worried that a flap of repaired cartilage may have come loose and wants to see me again when it has had a chance to settle (in about 5 weeks).  If not, I'll have another scan and potentially, more surgery.  I got the impression that he thought this was quite unlikely but my husband, who was also there, thought otherwise. 

Appointment with orthopedic surgeon today.

He looked at my Xray (could not access MRI) and then physicallly manipulated me to reproduce the pain. He says its osteo arthritis and has referred me to someone else. On the xray my unaffected femur head looks spherical but the painful side looks a strange shape, kind of flat in one point.

Hes suggests the answer is arthroscopy so they can have a look round and remove anything they need while they are there.

Terrified about the thought of surgery but at least I feel like I am heading in the right direction after 3-4 years of misdiagnosis.

Mick

Dav0 - never heard of hypermobility but looked it up and could well be. My body feels a complete wreck right now. Strangely looking forward to my next lot of surgery just to be able to have a rest!! commuting and a stressful full time job not helping and pain is quite severe at night in my hips, shoulders and upper back so taking tramadol to get a good nights sleep, but does make me very drowsy the following day How I want my active pain free life back....Anyway, how are you doing?

Oh no Pipes,not what you need Let's hope its just part of the recovery and that you don't need any revision surgery. Maybe its from doing too much too soon?

Mickster, sorry to hear about your diagnosis We've all been through it on here  so here ti support you through it. Did they say how long until your arthroscopy?

loverunning - nope, waiting to see another consultant

Had appointment today with the shoulder specialist. Thinks I have impingement in my shoulders and that they are 'protracted'.

Fortunately not the same pathology as my hips; most likley caused by posture and further aggrevated by swimming. Good news is he is hopeful a 12 week course of physio and an injection will sort the problem out. So, it's no swimming and rest for me for the forseeable future.

Hope I get them sorted in time for my left hip arthroscopy which I've been advised will be January/February!

Better news the loverunin than feared- i guess you'll have to get out on your bike or on the exercise bike if the weather is too bad in the meantime!

Got a cancellation for Dr Villers for later in the week for a 2nd opinion/consultation only, so over i go. With this in mind i decided to go for my first run in about 5 months tonight, so that i might cause a little pain in hips to point out to the Doc. 5 and a half miles oh my god it was lovely!! Truelly miss it cycling is alright but not as good as arun. Feel ok now, a few twinges in hips.

Hi folks, thought id let you all know i had my consultation with with Mr Gaston, and i asked to be put on waiting list for surgery, thankfully no further degeneration from 3 years past, i was told theres a 9-12 week waiting list so looking like early feb time, My surgeon is now doing these ops as day cases now, i dont know if anyone who recently has had the op was treated as a day case, further too that he did say it would be 2 years before he could determine whether the op is a success or not, hopefully that can give people some hope who are still suffereing pain post surgery.

 I'm a little apprehensive re my surgery as im a bit of a control freak and like to know whats going on and whats happening, dont think my boss is going to be too pleased as he was hoping for April time, however i want it over and done with and try to get back to normality.

Its a shame too hear of all peoples pain and discomfort they have,

Dav0 hows your rehab going, with you having similar challenges with work, im interested to hear how you adapted to work again.

Everyone else, Keep the chin up, we've always got tommorow! 

Hi all

Hope everyone is getting on well!

I had my consultation today with Mr Conroy, thought they were going to recommend surgery, but they want to do  steriod injection first even though the mri showed a labrel tear....has anyone else had this?

....hope to get there one way or another, just fed up now as its just one thing after another....

Well you can see from people's tales here why they might want to try something low-risk first! My MRI showed a small labral tear but I have managed with careful stretching and paracetamol and five years on it's no worse. Other folk here had much much worse symptoms and for them surgery was a risk worth taking.

Yeah, I agree that is the approach they are taking, although I don't want to be like this for years and years....is that what you were advised to stick with...are you happy that that was the advise....totally agree others are in a much worse position, feel for them really do.

I didn't wait for advice - I think once I had read a few of the more exciting accounts, I thought, "Really what is so bad about having a few paracetamol now and then, I'm not letting a surgeon near me until I'm desperate! ".

Fair enough, not sure I want to feel like i;m being stabbed all the time though and not able to walk very far, guess everyone has different types of pain.

Hope its not too bad for you

Hi dav0

Thanks for the advice.The concern I have is that, like you say it is only for a 'short' period of time. Did you get the stabbing pains return after a period of time? My concern is that it enables you to do more, but with the potential of overdoing it...

Hope you are recoveing now

well howdy folks, hope all making progress.

Saw the surgeon last week. He felt that given i was early stages and not much apparent damage to cartilage etc, i had an 80% chance of being better off, 15% the same, and 5% worse off with surgery.

I have tried a couple of short runs - no good, researched and spoke to a lot of people, and have come to the conclusion iu have little option but to go for the surgery. Surgeon reckons i have cartilage tear and bone to shave off.

Question - be good to hear all your advice about post op protocols - what to do/what not to do etc.How many days after the op should i have first physio session?

Also, how bad is the pain and mobility post op?

Best wishes, parklife

Thanks for asking, Dav0 - things have settled down a lot in the past couple of weeks.  I am now feeling the occasional sharp pain, which probably still isn't perfect, but better than with every few steps.  I have another review with my surgeon on the 18th December.  Not sure whether I hope the sharp pains are still there, so that I can have an MRI on both hips to check there aren't any lingering problems, or that the pain goes completely so that I can get on with recovery as originally planned.  

As things stand, and if the pains continue to disappear, I shall be going for a jog on 14th December.  Then I'll work out what I need to do to get myself out there again for a parkrun.

parklife - those odds sound good - similar to what I was told. And the surgery is what I had.  I had my first (NHS) physio session 2 and a bit weeks after the op, but thought this was a bit too long.  First time round it was 10 days after.  I didn't find the pain that bad - I expected it both times and was pleasantly surprised both times.  The pain was worst at night, when I had nothing else to focus on and when I couldn't lie the way I wanted.  

Mobility-wise, I was on two crutches for about 2 weeks (although doing little walks with 1), then down to 1 for a week (with little walks to the kitchen etc with none), then walking unaided 3 weeks post-op.  I still used my crutch for a couple of weeks after that when I was out and about, as I work in a secondary school and felt safer carrying it!  Being on 2 crutches is a nuisance - you realise how incapable you are of doing basic tasks like carrying a cup of tea!

You'll get exercises from your surgeon - these seem to vary quite a bit.  I was allowed on the bike from 2 days post-op and given basic knee/ side leg raises, then these exercises progresses from week to week.  

Things like taking enough pain-killers and icing the hip are probably obvious, but worth stating. And generally, come on here and ask about anything/ keep everyone updated as many of us have been through it now.  When I first came on here in March 2011, not many people had surgery experiences to tell.  

When is your surgery likely to be, parklife?

How are you coping without your swimming, loverunning? Are symptoms easing?

Hello and sympathies to everyone else waiting for surgery or making difficult decisions about what to do.

Thanks for your answer pipes v helpful, surgery confirmed for 19 dec! Given the added waiting times for NI i felt i had no option but to go private, and this has the added benefit of being able to choose a specialist who appears to be at the forefront of this type of surgery. Did my sums and its a hell of a hit financially but on balance felt it was the only option?

Funnily, my left hip (the supposed good one) has been playing up more and more. I predict this will worsen when depending on this hip whilst on crutches, as others have experienced.

The date also makes a hash of Xmas! But it was either that or wait well into the next year for a date.

I am going to aim for my first physio session on 27 Dec? or would it be beneficial on 24 dec?

Pipes, did you go on the exercise bike every day? If so for how long and what sort of resistance, and did you grade the bike use up over time? And how essential is exercise bike to the overall rehab? I ask as this might be a little difficult for me as i dont have an exercise bike in the house, i use the local leisure centre, which obviously being on crutches will be difficult to get to.

The specialist surgeon i would have to say was fairly upbeat about my recovery chances - said he works with professional sportspeople to a time frame of getting them back to their sport in 4-6 months. This was different to the NHS specialist who was a lot more circumspect. And ive just read through this thread again and reaffirms ive probably got a very hard couple of years ahead of me. That said i spoke to a girl from NI who went to same surgeon, whose hip was a much much worse mess than mine, affecting her day to day living, and 2 and a half years later she is able to do regular 10k's on the treadmill without hardly any probs.

Thats pretty hopeful though Pipes that you are planning your first run and parkrun thereafter!! If thats the case you must be making pretty decent progress - what do you think the recent setback was caused by where you had to go back on crutches?

Salutations to all! DavO how are you doing

Hi all

Had steriod injection into hip yesterday, today seem to be in more pain, throbbing and stabbing more so than before...is that to be expected?

DavO - I think you mentioned you had this injection...

Going back to see Mr Conroy in two weeks - seems early to me...?