Torn Labrum in hip

After 5 months of pain and multiple doctors, seems I tore my labrum in my hip and have impingement as well. I am going into surgery inn tuesday to have it fixed, anyone have any experience with recovering from it? 

Mike Mellenthin wrote: I'm 7 weeks out from getting mine fixed.

The first week was awful. I was off opioids after 3 days but was icing aggressively during that time. I didn't believe my surgeon when he said I'd be off crutches after 2 weeks but I was.

At 7 weeks out I'm pain free if I hang around the house all day, but standing for longer than 30 minutes and walking for longer than 15 or so hurts and I start limping. Recovery is slow but steady. I'm hoping I can return to climbing in May because that's what the doctors schedule says, but trying not to get my hopes up.

Good luck! I waited a year to get mine done and my pain level and mobility now is so much better than it was. Happy to answer specific questions if you have them

Any updates? How has your hip healed? I had mine done on Dec 11th and now am having on and off days. I’m walking by now but have issues with bad days of groin and lower back radiating pain. Any experience with that? 

Don’t have any issues with numbness after the first few weeks went by. The main issues I’m having now is the lower back (only on side of the surgery) and groin pain.... haven’t been stretching as much because of the pain flaring up. Maybe I will work through it and give stretches a go for a while. 

I had the surgery around 8 years ago.  I’ve also got scoliosis so it’s hard for me to remember whether any mobility issues I have now are because of the surgery or just due to scoliosis imbalances.  Having said that, I highly recommend you work on mobility as well as the strengthening stuff you’re likely doing.  If you can find someone that’s good at ART I think that’d be helpful.

What was the extent of your surgery and what was the precise type of impingement? I have a cam impingement and slight tear of the labrum and the ortho recommended a resurfacing of the femoral head where the extra bone growth is grinding away at the acetabulum. I have been hesitant to get the surgery since climbing does not bother me too much. Long approaches can be uncomfortable, but not so bad that I am seriously considering surgery. I'm 40 and hoping to put all of this off until I am old enough to get a new hip. My understanding is that a new hip is actually easier to recover from than the resurfacing. Anyway, I'm just curious to know if you all are recovering from the same type of impingement and what specific type of procedure you actually had.

skik2000 wrote: I had the surgery around 8 years ago.  I’ve also got scoliosis so it’s hard for me to remember whether any mobility issues I have now are because of the surgery or just due to scoliosis imbalances.  Having said that, I highly recommend you work on mobility as well as the strengthening stuff you’re likely doing.  If you can find someone that’s good at ART I think that’d be helpful.

Mind explaining. What “ART” is? And I will definitely do a better job trying to get that back on track. 

Joe Ferrare wrote: What was the extent of your surgery and what was the precise type of impingement? I have a cam impingement and slight tear of the labrum and the ortho recommended a resurfacing of the femoral head where the extra bone growth is grinding away at the acetabulum. I have been hesitant to get the surgery since climbing does not bother me too much. Long approaches can be uncomfortable, but not so bad that I am seriously considering surgery. I'm 40 and hoping to put all of this off until I am old enough to get a new hip. My understanding is that a new hip is actually easier to recover from than the resurfacing. Anyway, I'm just curious to know if you all are recovering from the same type of impingement and what specific type of procedure you actually had.

I had Femoroacetabular impingement and had my labrum repaired, no resurfacing, and a reshaping of the ball of my femor (which was more like an oval then a sphere). Photo is before and after pics of different angles. The before and afters are diagonal, not next to each other. My understanding is at that age it’s worth just replacing the hip over repairing it. I’m 25, so my doc figured I would bounce back nicely and should be back to normal after recovery (even if it’s a few months) 

David Pagel wrote:

Mind explaining. What “ART” is? And I will definitely do a better job trying to get that back on track. 

I think it stands for Active Release Technique.  You can google their website and find a practitioner.  Most people that do it are chiropractors.  My experience with them is they do 5 minutes of ART and send you on your way.  I've been lucky enough to find physical therapists that do it and will spend an entire 45 minutes with you.  Anyway, it helps break up scar tissue and adhesions which will increase your range of motion.

David Pagel wrote:

I had Femoroacetabular impingement and had my labrum repaired, no resurfacing, and a reshaping of the ball of my femor (which was more like an oval then a sphere). Photo is before and after pics of different angles. The before and afters are diagonal, not next to each other. My understanding is at that age it’s worth just replacing the hip over repairing it. I’m 25, so my doc figured I would bounce back nicely and should be back to normal after recovery (even if it’s a few months) 

Look up Dr. Thomas Gross in Columbia SC.  You are going to eventually need a replacement and if you want to continue climbing for the rest of your life, and not be sedentary, you need a hip resurfacing replacement.  He is by far the best in the business, without a doubt.  I did months of research before flying across the country to have my severely deformed and degenerated femoral head replaced, and that was right at 4 yrs ago.  Best it's ever been in my adult life and have climbed my hardest (V9) post surgery.  No pain, and fast recovery.  PM if you need more info.

Labral repairs typically take around 22 months to feel back to about where you were prior to the injury. 

David Pagel wrote:

I had Femoroacetabular impingement and had my labrum repaired, no resurfacing, and a reshaping of the ball of my femor (which was more like an oval then a sphere). Photo is before and after pics of different angles. The before and afters are diagonal, not next to each other. My understanding is at that age it’s worth just replacing the hip over repairing it. I’m 25, so my doc figured I would bounce back nicely and should be back to normal after recovery (even if it’s a few months) 

Thanks for sharing, David. I hope you have a quick recovery. 

I am 2.5 weeks out from getting resurfacing from dr. Gross. I am have progressed to a cane and have more flexibility than before the surgery and less pain. I had the impingement surgery 2 years ago. Was a temporary fix and I wish I knew about resurfacing back then. Looking forward to 6 months out to return to gym climbing/surfing and a year for contact sports/outside leading. 

Mike Mellenthin wrote:

Eric did you have a labral repair / hip reshaping before you got your hip resurfaced? Curious because I got the the same surgery as the OP. They haven't been done for that long, so I guess there isn't a lot of data about long term prospects.

Also I haven't climbed since, but my hangboard game is stronger than it ever was before surgery.

Dr. Gross has been doing resurfacing replacements for about 15 yrs, and in Europe for much longer.

Mike Mellenthin wrote:

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I meant the arthroscopic FAI surgery is relatively new, or so I was led to believe.

I did not, mine was too far gone, and something I had suffered with for about 25 yrs, even though I was only 35 at the last surgery.   I was toproping 5 weeks post surgery, leading about 3 months, hard bouldering 6 months out, and set a deadlift PR about 8 months out.  

Mike Mellenthin wrote:

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I meant the arthroscopic FAI surgery is relatively new, or so I was led to believe.

I'm not sure what you mean by relatively new but that's the surgery I had back in 2010 or 2011.

Eric Carlos wrote:

I did not, mine was too far gone, and something I had suffered with for about 25 yrs, even though I was only 35 at the last surgery.   I was toproping 5 weeks post surgery, leading about 3 months, hard bouldering 6 months out, and set a deadlift PR about 8 months out.  

Did you have much cartilage left on the surface of your femor? I know from the photos I saw, the only change was where the FMI had dug into it. Also, did you experience any kind of radiating groin pain? I don’t have any pain down my legs or jnbein between them, it’s all in the front side of my groin. Almost where a hernia would be, but Iv been checked many times and MRIs showed no hernias.

Is everyone’s “pain” more centered around the hip it’s self and the surrounding muscles? 

Pre-surgery, I had pain pretty much everywhere all the time.  Radiating down the leg, the back, spine, groin, everywhere.  Now it is great.

First of all, the thread is pertaining to torn hip lab runs, and second, I don’t believe people are coming here to look for an ad...

I think I'm going through this. I haven't had an MRI yet but my PT suspects it. I'd say my pain level is constant discomfort, and pain when I'm in certain "bunched up" positions (think a catcher's position in baseball). Is that how it started for anyone here? Advice on going sooner or later? I'm 32 right now.

After three repairs, I can say after being two years out from my last surgery it was well worth it. It wasn't an easy recovery but trust your docs and PTs and I definitely am happy I had it done. Im 27, so I was also too young to be considered for a hip replacement. 

What are some of the symptoms that y'all have experienced before getting diagnosed? I have been having pretty severe hip pain for almost a year now (that has been getting worse) but both my docs and pt have not thought it could be a laberal tear. Most of my pain has been in my buttock area, really deep and stabbing, it has only recently moved toward the side of my hip. Pivot motions hurt the most (like getting out of the car). My pt thought it was more of a SI or faceted joint issue, but treatment for that hasn't really helped.