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Labral Hip Tear with Impingement
Alyssa K wrote: That sounds pretty full on, so could've been her surgeon also. He's really experienced but I've noticed he sees a lot of older people, so I'm starting to wonder if maybe thats why her recovery times differed so much from other peoples. Thanks for the info! |
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Can anybody who got the arthroscopic surgery for their FAI/hip labral tear comment on the recovery timeline? What were you able to do and when? I got an MRI that basically confirmed what the orthos suspected and I will probably end up getting the surgery whenever the hell they can schedule me for it (took +1 month from ortho ordering the MRI to the actual imaging happening). I probably wont have much option as to when I go under the knife but a few things I'm thinking of -
Any feedback positive or negative would be helpful. I have long-term plans to send moderates for the rest of my life so I can deal w/ some BS in the near-term... just want to prepare myself for the range of BS I could be in for here. |
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I had FAI and a torn labrum on my right hip; artho surgery to repair the labrum, remove a bone spur and give some more “room” in the hip joint in 2018. I was non weight bearing for 2 weeks, and then supposed to be weight bearing on crutches for 4 weeks. I first felt like I recovered fast and started driving again right at the end of the no weight bearing stage and slowly started not using the crutches. However, I am a moron. Somewhere between 3-4 weeks I decided to walk from my truck into Target to pickup something. I left my crutches in the truck and about half way through Target I realized I had screwed up. Limped back to the truck; slowly. Very very slowly. Felt like I reset my recovery back to week 1 after that walk. Stairs and obstacles weren’t a big deal, just everything took longer. You won’t be able to carry anything effectively while on crutches. PT helped a lot. I’d say I was comfortably walking unassisted at 6 weeks, jogging at about 8 weeks, hiking and light indoor bouldering again around 12 weeks. In total, my recovery from the surgery took about 6mo, then another 3 months of strength/flexibility work to get me back to baseline except my hip and abdomen didn’t burn like holy hell any more. I had no desire to hangboard or do any upper body work for the first 3 mos or so post surgery, so that didn’t help. I’d say I returned to climbing at the (moderate) level I was prior to surgery at about 10mos post surgery. 4 years later- I did loose a bit of ROM, high step moves on that side are difficult for me, and occasionally the outside will still burn a little if I sit for too long, but other than that’s it’s remarkably improved. |
Adam Jacobs wrote: A month? You're lucky. I had a nightmare case and it took my insurance a full year to stop denying me the first MRI. All the while the damage got worse and worse... Another perspective--I was basically in bed 8 hours per day on a CPM machine for eight weeks, but I had a hole punched through my cartilage and was bone-on-bone. The only reason they continued with the surgery was because I am so young. There is no way I could have carried a toddler for a while. I basically had to get a crutch pouch (lifesaver) and a REI flash 18-sized backpack in order to function. Stairs were challenging and there's no way I would have gone up a full flight for a while. I started putting weight on it 9 weeks post-surgery, and surfed my first session at about 22 weeks. I didn't start climbing until about 9 months after surgery, and both my PT and my surgeon agreed that I should minimize the amount of twisting/rotational force put on the joint for about a year. We are at 11 months now, and I am only doing plastic 10s on TR. I was doing old-school 10s on gear before the hip got worse in 2020. Just taking my time for now. Sort of feels like I'm wasting my climbing youth, but what can I do? I will probably not boulder much at all for life. I did not have any prior history of big falls onto ledges or off boulders. I am nearing full recovery with respect to surfing, but my climbing will take time. More likely than not that you'll be faster than my recovery, but just wanted to let you know that they projected a 2 week stint on crutches for me, and they didn't know about the cartilage damage until they got inside the joint. Also, one more thing to note: If your surgery takes longer, like mine did, you're in for a period of much longer numbness in your leg/dick, because your nerves aren't happy when you get stretched in the medieval surgery boot. This is freaky but subsides. I needed help doing anything for the first week, but again, mine was sort of brutal. It felt like a trial run of being in a nursing home one day. Either way, you won't be able to control it. Better get it over with sooner than later. Hiring help to clean house, meals out, etc helped take the load off of my girlfriend, who dealt with my useless ass beautifully. |
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I had FAI surgery and was squatting 300+ lbs for reps 8 weeks later. At 16 weeks, I won my age and weight class in powerlifting (squat, bench, deadlift) at US raw nationals. That's the good news. A few months after that, I was scheduled for a full hip replacement because the FAI surgery had basically just given me the range of motion to destroy the remaining cartilage inside the joint. Recovery from hip replacement was somewhat longer but, five years later, I can do pretty much anything I want except sumo deadlift more than 350 lbs. |
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Back to the well of medical knowledge that is Mountain Project. My ortho looked at the MRI and has identified cam and pincer FAI in both hips, despite the right one being the only one w/ any pain that’s been present for almost a year now, and a good amount of “angry” fluid in the hip socket. Could be related to a broken right pinky toe that never healed right that altered my gait combined w/ overuse exacerbating FAI in the right hip but not the left. In any event, he’s scheduled me for a cortisone injection in the right hip to provide some diagnostics and symptomatic relief, and follow up w/ the Ortho surgeon to talk about arthroscopy. My new questions: anybody get a cortisone injection and did that give you any temporary relief enough to send it for a bit? Did you still end up getting surgery? And did you bother getting a 2nd opinion before surgery? |
Adam Jacobs wrote: Cortisone shots absolutely bought me more time to send it. My surgeon told me it was already torn so I couldn’t really do any more damage, and gave his blessing to keep doing whatever dumb mountain stuff I wanted to til surgery. Got probably a couple months of mostly normal function. Just be aware that when it starts to wear off, it goes quick. I found myself in the middle of a multi-day backcountry trip in pretty excruciating pain, do not recommend. |
hotlum wrote: lol, my buddy already spoiled that one for me and has me spooked about it haha. 4-5 months would be awesome because that would get me through Fall (Sept/Oct most pleasant time to rock climb in New England) and even a good bit of the way into ice climbing. Wouldn't be able to go for my favorite late winter/early Spring alpine stuff come Mar/Apr but beggars w/ busted hips cant be choosers |
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I have significant arthritis in the hip in addition to the labrum tear. I was told that labrum repair is not effective because of the arthritis, both because they felt the arthritis probably led to the labrum tear, the pain might be from the arthritis, and this repair is generally not effective when accompanied by arthritis. So, a hip replacement is probably in order. |
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Got cortisone injection Thursday… still waiting for that relief. Assume this is normal? ortho said give it 3-7 days. it’s only been 3 but I’m impatient! |
Adam Jacobs wrote: Yes, I think mine was 3-5 days. My cortisone shot helped about 80%. I still feel some pain, mobility problems and some grinding sensations, but it did help quite a bit. |
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I'm traveling at the moment and was able to get an appointment with a hip specialist in Innsbruck, Austria to get a second opinion. He confirmed what the specialist in LA told me, significant damage to both labrums as well as to the soft cartilage, and that its better to get surgery ASAP before the soft cartilage damage becomes irreparable. Apparently I'm right on the cusp. Interestingly, my wife (who has the same FAI impingement and was operated on one hip already) saw him for her other hip which also has a torn labrum, and he told her that in his opinion surgery wasn't necessary for now. This was in contrast to what the surgeon in LA told her. According to the specialist here, she can manage the issue with PT (lots of lateral glute strengthening) and by loosening the hip flexor, which runs right over the labrum and causes pain when it becomes overly tight. She should also avoid all squatting movements and high feet, anything that puts her hip in an extreme range of motion. I'm glad we got a second opinion. As for me, has anyone had experience with two hip arthroscopies in the same year? Whats the suggested amount of time between surgeries? Also, the specialist said that apparently surgeries involving the Cam deformity (uneven femoral head) have quicker recovery time than those with Pincer deformities (overextending hip socket). Does anyone have experience with this? |
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Day 8 after my cortisone shot and my hip still feels like shit. well this sucks :/ anyone have a super delayed response that ultimately provided some relief? |
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Surgery scheduled 10/20. Will re-read the thread but any recovery timelines appreciated. Hoping I can maybe catch the end of ice season but that’s probably overly ambitious |
Adam Jacobs wrote: I have mine scheduled for 11/15. As Adam said, any timelines or "climbing harder than before" stories are welcome. Will contribute more once the recovery process starts. |
Alyssa K wrote: |
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Alyssa..you are coming up on 2 years of your repair and I’m wondering how you are doing. I’ve yet to be diagnosed (currently waiting for m appointment end of November 2022) The pain has finally compromised all outside activities it seems. Did an MRI finally diagnose? Thanks |
Pamela Grant wrote: Pretty decent. Logged a 45 mile run this summer where the hips were definitely the weak point, which is frustrating but it could be worse. I've had 3 labrum repairs at this point, and my mobility is definitely permanently impacted. Not dramatically, but it's noticeable. I'll put in another plug for really trying to find a PT who's willing to do intense manual therapy rather than pro forma strengthening. No question that the surgeries were the right choices, and really the only option for returning to an approximation of full hip function. Get the MRI w/ contrast ASAP, that's the only way to diagnose. |
Adam Jacobs wrote: I was hiking a few miles to TR WI4 at 3 months out, so there's hope! |
Alyssa K wrote: that is very encouraging and hope my rehab goes as well as yours did! I dont want to get my hopes up too much, but my PT and orthopedist both seem to suggest that light activity at 3 months and return to sport by 6 months is not out of the question. Would love to get out to do some short approach TRing for my birthday (Jan 30), which is just over 3 months post-op. how did kicking those front-points feel at the 3 month mark? I also have some great late Winter/early Spring alpine climbs nearby that usually last through all of March and into early April... but they all involve multi-mile approaches w/ a fair amount of elevation gain. totally understanding that my mileage will vary, do you think you would've been able to follow multi-pitch WI3 w/ a couple miles and a few thousand feet of gain approach at the 5 month mark? if I'm stuck waiting for the '23/24 ice season, so be it but I bought new crampons on close-out end of last season and will be bummed if they have to collect dust until then :( |
