Hip Labrum Tear Repair

[Diplomatic Mike]

After a year or so of pain, i've finally had a tear in the hip labrum cartilage diagnosed.
The repair will be performed by Arthroscopy. The surgeon said i will be on crutches for 10-14 days. No load bearing on my hip during this period, and it'll be around 8 weeks before i'm back at work.
Has anyone else had this procedure done? How long was it before you got back hiking properly?

[Chris Jones]

Hi Mike,

I wish you a speedy and comfortable recovery.

Hope you don't mind my asking, but is your injury hiking or sports-related? I have never heard of your condition before.

[b willi jones]

kia ora, just wondering how things are goin? i need this operation done also, so was wanting a bit of insight.
regards BWJ

[Diplomatic Mike]

I'm pretty sure it was torn coming off my mountain bike. I went over the bars on a steep downhill. I was using SPD pedals and my left foot didn't unclip. I sort of did the splits upside down, and all the weight of the bike was forced through the left hip. I felt something 'go' at the time. I had quite a few test done to try and pinpoint leg pain i was having. It was thought to be sciatica at first. A MRI scan showed up the tear, and hopefully that is the cause of my pain.

I'm still waiting on a date for the operation. The NHS in the UK moves slowly. :(

[b willi jones]

hey Mike, dont know if your watching this thread or not, but ive just had athroscopy surgery to repair the torn labrum in my left hip, also had to reshape the bone. my problem had been getting worse for years. i blame it on sports, but apparently its degenerative and isnt covered by our goverments health scheme, it was pretty costly, i could have bought some very cool and unnecessary gear with the money.
anyhow, went in at 12 on Thurs afternoon, the anaesthetist got me nice and 'comfortable', had the op at about 2pm. was fn sore when i came too though, but i got icecream and morphine. part of the labrum had too much damage for him to fix, so he 'just cut a bit out', but said i should be good to go jogging and stuff a while down the track. stayed in for 2 nights total, and am now gettin round pretty good on crutches. i havnt had a peek at the wounds yet. ill keep you updated with recovery so you kinda know what to expect.

[Diplomatic Mike]

Hi Bren.
I forgot i had posted this!
I hope your recovery is better than mine. The op was performed back in December, and i didn't get back to work until April. The leg is still pretty sore, and i struggle to walk for more than an hour or so at the moment. Unfortunately, the leg that had surgery has ended up 1cm longer than the other. This is causing imbalance problems as i load other joints to compensate. As you probably know, the hip is put into traction under anaeshetic, and 'popped' to allow the surgeon room to work. I have the feeling mine wasn't put back properly.:(
I'm undergoing lots of physiotherapy at the moment to build up the weakened muscles. The physio reckons both legs will end up the same length again.
The surgeon warned me that i had a fair bit of wear and tear to my hip joint, and will need further surgery eventually. I think my sporting past is catching up with me, but hopefully i will get out of my '40's before i need a new hip! :)

[Arapiles .]

Mike

Sorry to hear about the problems you had. I went in for exploratory surgery 4 years ago – the surgeons were expecting to find a tear in the labrum. Instead they found arthritis in the hip: the pain I had was the calcification tearing my hip cartilage …

I was 41 at the time and the surgeon was suggesting I get a new hip before it got too painful and my quality of life decreased. The thinking is also that if you leave it too late then you end up really unfit (because exercise is painful) and therefore the recovery and outcomes are worse. I did a 3 year review last year and instead of suggesting doing the op he suggested leaving it for a couple of years until the new ceramic hips have been proven. So now I will probably not have it before my 50th. But apparently I will need to get my knee replaced prior to then (staples coming out, surgical hole for an impant widening instead of growing over, bone graft maybe as well). In my case it's injuries from my childhood on the farm and rugby that are the problem.

Funny thing is my 79 year old mother has just been diagnosed with hip arthritis and we have the same medicine …

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