Anyone had hip surgery?

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chestercheeto48

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So I found out this week that I will need to have arthroscopic hip surgery to repair a torn/shredded labrum, FAI hip impingement (cam/pincer) and clean up some cartilage. Doc says I will be on crutches for 4 weeks and no baseball/golf/heavy work/etc for up to 4 months. That also included driving but screw that I can't be out of my classroom for that long.

Anyone else had this done? I have been doing some research and there is a wide variety info out there regarding people's experience with the surgery. I am not looking forward to the surgery or extended recovery/rehab but from what the dr. says it should put off the need for a full hip replacement early on in life.

The annoying thing is that this surgery is fairly new so the treatment protocol after the actual surgery is different depending on the surgeon so nothing seems to be consistent.

I am still trying to figure out the following:

-if I need a Continuous Passive Motion machine for post operation recovery.

-if I should invest/borrow a cryo icing machine - not sure if they are worth it.

-If I will be in a brace. It seems that is a 50/50 reality

-How long I will actually not be able to drive.

-If I should "pre-hab" or not. The issue is that the movements to make the muscles stronger are also most often the ones that are doing damage to my hip joint. I just want to avoid as much muscle atrophy as I can.
 
can't vouch for hip labrum but i had my shoulder done... twice.
lessons learned after the first time around that i will pass on to you, so you don't have to go for a second time. they use the surgery to put the labrum back where it is intended to be and to clean up the bone to prevent it from re-tearing/shredding... the surgery does not permanently reattach the labrum, they may use anchors but it is only to hold it where it should be so the body will heal itself correctly. use of the limb when it should be immobilized will undo everything that the surgery fixed, the few stitches they use to hold it back together are not strong enough to keep it there if you move it. if they say not to drive/work/walk, don't do those things. if you're a teacher schedule the surgery for the summer break. you will be tempted to use it, but you should trust me and listen to the doctors advice.
2, do your rehab, all your rehab, don't skip out on it. it won't get better on its own.

my arm was immobilized for 6 weeks, then i had 6 weeks of rehab, and now a year and a half later i am still working on it. i was in pretty rough shape coming out of the sling, couldn't even pick my arm up, and the shoulder was really tight. it took a lot of work to get my mobility back. the first time around i thought i could cheat it and move it around to keep the mobility... didn't work out so well for me.
 
Thanks! I am typically one that pushes the schedule when it comes to rehab so hopefully I can relax a bit and not force anything on this surgery. The only detail that is not sitting well with me is the driving. I will be driving after my two week time off. Really it is only one out of the classroom as I am using spring break vacation for the first week. From what my buddy told me when he had his was that it wasn't the physical act of driving that was the issue it was getting into his FRS that sucked. Luckily I have an SUV that is a little easier to get into.
 
Ouch!

Same exact thing that I look to be scheduled for. And I have to drive to clients for a living plus we own a gym on the side. The rehab protocols I looked up were for scoping the hip and not the turn labrum. Said 1-2 weeks on crutches, 10-12 weeks on recovery total. That was Mayo clinics protocol.
 
totalburnout said:
Ouch!

Same exact thing that I look to be scheduled for. And I have to drive to clients for a living plus we own a gym on the side. The rehab protocols I looked up were for scoping the hip and not the turn labrum. Said 1-2 weeks on crutches, 10-12 weeks on recovery total. That was Mayo clinics protocol.
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Yeah I am seeing a wide range of protocols but I am guessing that is based on what exactly they have to do and they won't know until they get in there. At my Pre-Op consult he basically said 2-4 weeks on crutches and 12-16 weeks PT/Rehab. I guess I have a "carpet lesion" that he may or may not be able to fix. He is re-shaping the head of the femur and trimming some of the acetabulum to free up range of motion along with the labrum stuff. I just hope that he doesn't get in there and find out he can't fix it like what happened to my assistant principal. He is now just waiting to have a hip replacement in his early 50's because he is "too young" to do it right now.

Curious - what were your symptoms? How did it happen?
 
i had a total right hip arthroplasty in Oct.. i needed it though, vascular necrosis in the femoral head .. there was a hollow spot from when i had cancer and it caved in.. talk about pain

i was on a walker for 1-2 weeks, cane for a couple weeks, driving within 3-4 weeks(shortly after i started using the cane)
 
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I didn't have surgery, but I took a nice long fall and shattered my hip, broke my pelvis in three places. I was laid up solid for about two weeks, then I hobbled around with a walker for about two months, crutches for another month. I could drive an automatic at about a month and a half if I had to, about three months before I could operate the clutch again with any confidence. You're having surgery, I would imagine you's be mobile a little faster.
 
chestercheeto48 said:
Yeah I am seeing a wide range of protocols but I am guessing that is based on what exactly they have to do and they won't know until they get in there. At my Pre-Op consult he basically said 2-4 weeks on crutches and 12-16 weeks PT/Rehab. I guess I have a "carpet lesion" that he may or may not be able to fix. He is re-shaping the head of the femur and trimming some of the acetabulum to free up range of motion along with the labrum stuff. I just hope that he doesn't get in there and find out he can't fix it like what happened to my assistant principal. He is now just waiting to have a hip replacement in his early 50's because he is "too young" to do it right now.

Curious - what were your symptoms? How did it happen?
Click to expand...

Sorry, just saw you asked me a question.

I was kickboxing 3 or 4 years ago. I threw a high kick and immediately said that I thought I tore my groin or gave myself a hernia (I also have lifted heavy for years). Original orthopedic doctor essentially told me I was a man bitch and that I wasn't in pain.

I finally had enough of everything when my back pain migrated down my leg and I couldn't walk for a week this past August. I said then and there that I'd spend whatever it took to get fixed. I'm only 28.

Back doctor recommended I check out what a sports hernia is. Sounds just like my symptoms. Researched doctors. My doctor is the same Dr Meyers that USA Today just ran an article on yesterday that Adrianne Peterson visited the other year for his sports hernia surgery and who he is going to this week.

They diagnosed labrum tears. I have an arthogram today to have a full diagnosis and see what is happening inside the joint.

Hope that gives some perspective.

What about yourself?
 
I have had some lower back pain for years but went largely diagnosed as sciatica with some stenosis. I work some form of construction/manual labor every summer and stay active playing baseball, golfing, snowboarding, etc. last summer I started to feel a pull in the groin area (not exactly a groin pull) some clicking and some catching while golfing and working but it always seem to go away after some rest/ice. Last August in our baseball team's championship game I put a double off of the right center field wall and rounded second. The throw was cut off by the first baseman and they tried to get me at second base. As I was rounding second, stopping and diving back to the base I felt a slight pop and instant burning sensation. We won and it got better afterward with rest and ice again for about a month. Then going back to teaching and being on my feet all day my right hip started to get progressively worse to the point I was having a pretty significant limp, trouble ascending stairs and walking long distances. I couldn't bike, couldn't golf without pain, and was feeling pretty sorry for myself. The last straw was when football season started and I couldn't keep up walking the mile to the stadium from our tailgate spot then to the upper deck to our seats. I made an appointment with my doc to try to find a way to get ready for the snow sports season. After some tests he sent me for an MRI and the results came back with two tears to my right acetabular labrum, some cartilage damage and FAI (cam and pincer hip impingement) where the femur has bony bump that rubs on the socket which also has some weird growth. The hip specialist thinks it was from growing too fast as a young teen. I had one summer where I grew 4 inches and lost 30 lbs. The good news is that he thinks he caught it soon enough so that I can put off a hip replacement because they can only do that twice in a lifetime at this point and apparently replacements have a 15 year lifespan at the present time. If you do the math that doesn't quite work for me.

Good luck and let me know what the results are. I am scheduled for surgery on 3/24 and have talked to the surgeon about trying out a continious passive motion machine to see if that helps with rehab.
 
Wow that's eerily similar to me on down to the diagnosis. I have the same impingements, same growth in my right hip, and same build up in my right hip.

The left hip actually looks worse from a structural standpoint but doesn't hurt as bad.

So I'll be in need of both hips being done. They're only doing the right side first.

I'll be under the knife before you. February 7th. 4 weeks with a brace and crutches. I'll be able to drive after about 2 weeks. The doctors name is Dr. Croft from Temple University. Supposedly he's the best in the country. I had the opportunity to have 2 other doctors from the Hospital for Special Surgery (which has ranked the number one hospital for the last 10yrs or so) but this guy was said to be the best - by the same guy who did Adrianne Peterson's sports hernia. They just ran an article on Dr Meyer who was the guy I originally went to because I thought it was a sports hernia and he did AP's sports hernia surgery the other year.
 
Keep me posted on how you come out of the surgery. I was told I won't need the brace but I guess it is still not an exact protocol yet.
 
Surgery is a go for this Friday the 7th. Doing my right hip first and then 10-20 days later, my left hip.

They're fitting me for some stupid expensive special brace the day of the surgery. Can't use it on both sides either, so when I do the left hip, I'll have to buy a second brace.

I stocked up on some supplements to help me with recovery. Glutamine, collagen, cod liver oil (I normally take fish oil anyway) and a couple other supplements. Dave Asprey of Bulletproof Executive has a good podcast with JJ Virgin that talks about some bio hacks to speed recovery from surgery.

I also butchered my hip doctor's name. It's Dr Eric Kropf out of Temple Orthopedics and Vincera Core Institute.

Hope that helps!
 
Are you getting a Bledsoe/Phillipon Hip Brace? I asked my doc about a brace and apparently he doesn't order them due to cost. I guess I have to just "be good" about it. I will however have a CPM machine that he and I agreed to be a guinea pig for. He doesn't normally prescribe them but his wife had one from a different surgeon. Good luck man - hope the recovery goes well. Keep me posted.
 
chestercheeto48 said:
Are you getting a Bledsoe/Phillipon Hip Brace? I asked my doc about a brace and apparently he doesn't order them due to cost. I guess I have to just "be good" about it. I will however have a CPM machine that he and I agreed to be a guinea pig for. He doesn't normally prescribe them but his wife had one from a different surgeon. Good luck man - hope the recovery goes well. Keep me posted.
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Not sure who the medical supplier is on the brace but my guess is its one of those two - whatever real high end ones there are out there. At the very least, it's the same style because it only bends one direction hence why its not transferable from R leg to L leg.

This surgeon mainly works on weird cases, wealthy people and athletes - so it's only the best kind of deal with the place. The whole 9 - providing you with a Pandora station built around the music you like, in the ear buds that are also ear plugs, when you go into the MRI machine. A surgery center on site - so thankfully I don't have to go to the hospital. And free muffins. Always free muffins. Its been peanut butter oatmeal muffins the first two times I went.

I'd love a CPM machine but we didn't talk about one. Not sure if the Physical Therapy protocol that he gives me will call for one - but there's been no mention of ordering one for myself. I know some fighters that had knee surgeries that had the CPM machines that also had some icing capabilities so they kept inflammation down, electrically stimulated the muscles, and provided movement.
 
It's a Breg brace.

Just as I expected, it was worse than they could tell on the MRI and arthogram. My labrum was basically all calcium from years or issues and the body trying to turn it to bone to protect it.

Operating time was 2 hours.
 
Thanks but when I posted, it was already a done deal.

Right side is fixed and has to heal. Left side needs to get done in a week or two.
 
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