1 year post-op hip labral tear repair/psoas lengthening

I'm a nineteen year old female, and I had a labral tear repair and a psoas release/lengthening in my left hip on April 23 2007. Before my surgery, I had been a very active dancer who was having serious trouble walking around my highschool. Now, a year later, I still have very noticeable weakness in my left hip, and still get the "snapping" in the joint that first alerted me to the problem. I tried to start dancing again in january, but by this point cannot make it through more than twenty minutes of class before either weakness or pain forces me to sit down. My hip had been doing much better, but I still cannot jump and land with my whole weight on my left leg, I cannot run or do anything high-impact, and I feel uncomfortable just standing on my left leg alone. Walking more than twenty to thirty minutes at a time, even at a leisurely pace, causes such extreme pain that I am kept from sleep (hence my 3AM post here). I take Aleve every day, but it hasn't really been helping. On some of my worse days, I've considered finding a pair of crutches, but I haven't actually gone back to those yet.

Is this normal? If it's still to be expected at this point, when can I expect to stop being in this much pain? Is there anything that I can do besides icing it and physical therapy?

[DrNavneetMD]

Hello Dear,

I understand your problem well.
Since it seems that you participate in sports or other activities that require repeated twisting or pivoting motions? This makes you prone to repeated injury. And you are more likely to experience a hip labral tear.
Do you have any associated condition such as osteoarthritis or femoroacetabular impingement wherein there is much friction in your hip joint, and it  puts you at a greater risk of a hip labral tear
Exercises to maximize hip range of motion and hip strength and stability can help to improve symptoms
Consult your physical therapist who can analyze your movements which you perform that put stress on your hip joint. This would help you  relive and avoidstressful  forces. corticosteroid injection like traimcinolone into the hip joint can help provide pain relief and also reduce joint inflammation. Pain killers like Acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are recommended. This would provide pain relief. NSAIDs include such over-the-counter medications as ibuprofen and naproxen. There are no specific exercises or other steps that have been proved to prevent hip labral tear. But, program of lower extremity strength training and also core stability exercises might  prove to be helpful.

Take care

Best.

[Horses123]

I have recently been diagnosed with a labrum tear in my left hip which first presented itself while I was recovering from ooperectomy (sp?)surgery April 29.  A few weeks after surgery I had been so immobile I twisted my hip or something and it felt like it slipped and didn't want to go back into place.  It wasn't a good feeling to say the least.  I have been reading some postings and was curious is there a connection to having a hysterectomy in previous years to a labrum tear in the hip occurring at a later date?  There also appears to be a tear in the RIGHT hip as well but the MRI was ordered to concentrate on the LEFT.  The MRI readings did however mention the "probable tear in the right hip also".

I am concerned what happens if I choose not to have the labrum tear in both of my hips fixed?  Can you give me some what ifs?

A little history before April 2008:
September 2003 I was in tboned in my driver door by a car that was going approximately 80 mph when he struck me.  The impact broke my left collar bone and tore the labrum in my left shoulder.  The left shoulder was repaired arthoscopically.
February 2001 appendicitis
April 2001 partial hysterectomy (uterus) and appendectomy (yes that is right the appendectomy was not done until two months after the appendicitis attack because my doctor trusted the advice of a surgeon and gyn telling him it was female related and I needed a complete hysterectomy).  Talk about a misdiagnosis those two doctors almost killed me.

Thank you
Connie

[JAD07]

After five months of intense abdominal and hip pain and being essentially bed-ridden, an orthopedist discovered that I had a labral tear in my left hip. I had surgery about two months ago and am only now beginning to feel remotely better. My physical therapist told me that it would be AT LEAST six to eight weeks from the time I started therapy to even begin doing small things like standing long enough to cook a meal. She also told me that she doesn't expect me to FULLY recover my strength and range of motion for about a year. My doctor told me that I should avoid doing any high-impact exercises like running, jumping, etc.

I realize that you're now past the year-mark but it might be that you've done too much and aggravated the joint. Another thing you might want to bear in mind is that if you're still having a lot of swelling in your hip joint, you might want to consider stopping the Aleve. My doctor told me that NSAIDs taken consistently actually exacerbate the swelling in your body over time. It was only after I went off all meds that the swelling in my hip went down.

One of the biggest things I've learned during this experience is that doctors aren't really sure how long it takes patients to recover from this particular surgery. My doctor told me that if I had had the same surgery in my knee or shoulder, he could tell me exactly how long it would take to heal but that he had no idea how long it might take since this was done in my hip. This procedure just hasn't been around long enough for them to know. Perhaps you should revisit your orthopedist because another thing mine told me is that about a third of patients who have this surgery have to have a hip replacement within five years from fixing the labral tear. You might be in that group.

I hope this helps some and good luck!!!

JAD

[stacey2710]

I am about 3 and 1/2 months post-op from a right hip arthroscopy.for a labral tear.  My recovery has been VERY SLOW.  I am shocked at the messages I've been seeing where people feel no pain after only a few weeks.  I cannot stay away from Celebrex for more than 24 hours at at a time.  I am so frustrated with the continuous pain.  Not as intense as pre-op, but still in the same area, on the outer side of my hip/thigh, and in my right buttock.  I pray every day for the pain to subside... I don't know what is going on.  My PT is great and I do it daily (bike, treadmill, leg lifts, theraband, etc.).  I thought by now I'd feel a difference.  Is anyone else more than 2 months post-op and still experiencing such pain like this?  Please share your experience and what your doctor is telling you.  Thanks.

[skootz]

I am just a few weeks post surgery.  | am still in severe pain.

What is your post op. pain?  my pains are basically the exact pains that i had prior to surgery.  I cannot bear full weight on my right side yet and doctors nurse said I should of been down to one crutch after a week.  I am very depressed as the pain is the same and not even a healing sort of pain...is this what you are all talking about, healing or pre op pain.

[Anissia]

I had a hip scope  (left) 12/18/08.  I had a spur on my femur, frayed labrum (very red), and psoas release.
At this point, I am walking without a crutch, but still keep one around if I need it.  I walk, limp rather, very similar to how I was before the surgery.
I can say there are improvements from the day of surgery, but cant tell if there are any improvements yet from the original problem.
(Which mine was a progressive weakness that occurred for over 2 years.
Went from very active to sedentary..........what a sad time!)

I understand that this is not a "quick healing" process, and takes lots of PT.
I hope that the surgery works, that has been my biggest fear!
Good luck to everyone!

[gingermike777]

I had a right hip labral tear and had surgery last Nov. I was in pain for a few months but mostly from nerve damage from the surgery.  I now think I have a tear again as I am having the same problems I had before the last surgery.  I question if I should go to the same Dr. who did my repair last time or to another, did he do the job right or is this just something that happens.  I am not into sports, but I am active everyday.  Good luck with everything everyone.  I have to say the shots everyday in the belly to thin the blood were hard but the surgery was rather easy.  Recovery from Nerve damage is the hardest and I now just have no feeling in part of my upper leg.

Good Luck Everyone

[bmg1001]

I Understand the pain, you are in and how you feel.  I had surgery 10/6/2009 and my injury was 10/1/2008. I am in more pain now. After surgery the nurse had told me to put full weight on the hip and be as active as i can be, she also told me that i did not need crutch's. Along with that i got a brace that was not fitted to me what so ever.  when i saw the ortho he asked about the cruches, and the brace. My ortho seems to not have any answers for me at all.  I still have fluid in my bursa sack, my right leg swells so bad that i have had to get shoes/clothing in larger sizes.  I still have to take pain meds and most of the time they dont work.  I have felt like a vauled patient untill i had the surgery now he the ortho has no time for me.  Wish i could help you more.  The only thing that gives me comfort is Chiropractic care. Pool Therapy allowed me to move around more but my leg still swelled.
I wish you luck

[worriedmom3356]

Sorry to hear you are still in such pain. My daughter just had labrel tear repair 2/19/10 and is in the army. She is also still in severe pain despite physical therapy. The therapist tell her the pain is all in her head. She still has popping in the hip, can't walk or bear full weight on the leg and swelling in the knee.  Are you getting any relief with physical therapy?

[patricote123]

It kind of angers me that all these posts are really similar, i had a right hip labrel tear a couple of years ago, at first i was a wrestler i wrestled all the time at my house and with my school for sports well my sophomore year my hip started clicking and popping and putting me in so much pain it would literally drop me to a knee. well i went to a specialist who did numerous tests on my hip and they found a labrel tear. they did the arthroscopy and couldn't fix the tear so they immediately went to open hip surgery, they made a 7-8 inch cut, and then sawed my femur in half to get around to where the tear was. they fixed it and i was down for about 2 months in a wheelchair. now after almost 2 years of recovery i cant even go play kickball or football for 30 min without my hip or leg feeling like its going to give out. My hip still pops and clicks almost worse then before, i am totally off medication and the thought about a third of the people get hip replacements within 5 years of surgery really scares me. i hope everyone gets better.

[kimberlynn76]

I am sitting here reading this thinking if only I could get some relief..I am scheduled to have surgery this Friday for a hip labral tear and bone spur on the femur, I was in a car accidetn 8/08 and just got diagnosed this year.  I was so happy and excited to have a diagnosis bit reading some or most of these posts have me a little scared.   I can't imagine being stuck with this pain forever, I started taking morphine in addition to norco recently and had never taken pills before and was very active, I don't know what to expect now from surgery.

[MalteseMom]

I too was diagnosed with a labral tear of the right hip. Groin pain was horrible sitting down. Had the surgery last Feb. and the first few weeks were wonderful. That's because they loaded it up with cortisone but I felt great and thought that was it. I was going to be pain free forever. Wrong! The pain sitting got 50% better but now it hurts when I walk or turn or do nothing. I had one epidural and now have to wait another 3 weeks to get another one. I cannot turn over in bed and scream in pain in the middle of the night in my sleep! I just made another appt. to see the surgeon and maybe get another MRI. My regular ortho doc said he wouldn't do it and suggested I go to Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Colorago because they are the best. Wish I had. If replacing the hip is the only way to fix this then that's what I'll do.

[chuckdeez]

All this sounds very discouraging. I had a labral tear in my shoulder a couple years ago repaired. However, aside from the constant aching I still feel the bones in the joint slip. I also have a tear in my hip as well. I'm just going to do strenghening exercises to build more muscle around the area. In my experiences, it seems like muscle building has more of a long lasting positive effect on the body than surgery does. Hope it helps someone

[kmartini]

Im only 6 months post-op for my hip labral tear, and it has been a great success for me!

I am 21 and have been a very active ballet/modern dancer through high school and college. Before surgery, I could not even walk to class without needing to take a break, now I can walk anywhere without pain (although, I still need 100% focus on keeping the correct position of my pelvis and hip). Also, before surgery, I could not run a mile in less than 8 minutes. 4 months post-op I ran a 7 minute mile for the first time!

As for dancing (I've only been doing it 2 months post-op), I am still weak and struggle with balance. I have to constantly focus on keeping my pelvis from rotating anteriorly (which was part of the cause for the tear). I think re-positioning my pelvis in a safe alignment will become natural with time. I am also afraid to trust my hip since I danced on a torn cartilage for three years before surgery. Kicks and extensions to the side still cause some pinching and clicking, and landing a jump on a twist (like a tour jete) causes some pain if I too many of them. But none of this pain compares to how I felt before surgery. Now, I can actually go through 4 hours of rehearsal without debilitating pain! I just need to focus on correct alignment and I still do about an hour of physical therapy 3-4 times a week.

Honestly, its great to be able to walk and run without pain!! But the difficulty of getting back in the swing of things with dance (and my fear of injuring my hip again) have lead me to decide to give up dancing after college. Getting surgery has made daily life so much better and I highly recommend it.

My surgeon was Dr. Allston Stubbs in NC. he repaired the tear and reshaped my femoral head. he had wonderful follow-up and very precise PT directions.

[sherrilynn150]

I am 10 weeks Post Op for Labral Tear, Chondroplasty of femoral head and acetabulum for impingement problems and bone spurs from walking around for 2 years with a tore labrum and the femoral head kept smashing into the acetabulum. I also had a tore ligament repaired and debridement of the frayed labrum removed and synovectomy. I have to say I am quite frustrated with the slow recovery. I am a hyper person, I usually bounce back from things fast , but this is different!!!!! Lately , well last night the pain in my groin , down deep between my legs down my inner thighs was so sharp pains I was crying and had to take a pain pill and pull out the good old crutches again, I couldnt stand the weight bearing. I started out on crutches for 6 weeks,than tried to taper off for the next 2-3 weeks, now I just take them with me if I go shopping for short distance, or I use the motorized carts. I cant walk far, I hurt to much, I can walk around my house no prob but if I sit in a chair to long I hurt and have to sit in a recliner for a while than I hurt there and have to ultimately lie flat in bed. My quality of life has decrease alot. I long to be able to work out, take my dog for a walk , hike a trail, make love to my husband, go to work, I cant do any of these things. Im frustrated, Im off work for 3 months and I dont see myself as of today being able to go back to work in 3 weeks if I progress at the rate I have been, that scares me.The only thing that has kept me through all of this is my faith in God and trusting he will work out everything from my health to being able to pay my bills with no income from me, Im losing approx, 5000.00 a month being off. Anyway keep me in all your prayers and good luck to all who are considering the surgery, expect a much longer recovery than you think, its slower , rest alot, get in extra protein (I drink protein shakes my weight is low to start 102 lb I hate to see it now LOL) Drink alot of water, be careful with the pain meds for me if I took them in the beginning I felt better and did more and my husband would be hiding things from me so I couldnt clean. So I knew I had to feel more pain in order to rest more. As time went on I took them because the pain was to bad and learned to keep my butt in bed or else it will take EVEN LONGER to recover. So these are a few of my tip God Bless Sherri

[kimberlynn76]

I just came on here but I originally posted in October of 2010.  Well I had my hip labral tear, bone spurs and cyst repaired arthroscopically Feb. 11,2011...unfortunatly I'm having problems like the majority of you.  I did have more relief the next day, less constant pain and the extremely horrible knife like shooting pains weren't happening.  Well it's been two months, I am still taking Norco & Morphine but wait longer in the day until I have to take it and can get by on less, however I don't understand how people can survive without medication, am I the abnorm??  For example today I took one Ngoing to lose my orco out of necessity at 10:30 after being up since 7 I had to take a Morphine and Norco by 2:30 after an appt to get my taxes done and a Dr. appt, major pain set in.  So much I thought I was going to lose my mind!  I see my hip specialist at UCSF April 29th to get evaluated.  I am wondering what the Dr. ordered for PT for the ballet dancer, I did 18 years of ballet growing up and a recent class in 2007 before my car accident in 2008, I don't want to lose hope of getting better but this at times feels impossible...I feel like there has to be a solution to this, there are so many people suffering, this makes a good quality of life very hard and my heart goes out to alll of you because I understand deeply what you mean.

[opal60]

I had a large posterior tear in my right hip repaired arthroscopically February 14, 2011. The first week it seemed like a breeze, but after 3 and a half months it has gotten progressively worse. I had problems with my right hip for 7 years, went to 24 doctors, and no one could decide what the problem was. Finally, the tear was discovered. After all these years of expense, pain, and suffering, I thought great here is the answer. For two months my leg felt like a rock. I had serious pain in the joint. I feel that I may never walk normally again. I changed surgeons,  because as many of you have stated he did not care about how I felt. After he received payment, he did not have time for my concerns. The new surgeon tells me that the only option now would be a possible hip replacement. I am 60 years old, but I do not like the idea of this. I wish I had never had the surgery. It was expensive, and I feel like I am crippled forever. I have had to seek medical disability retirement 6 months before I could have retired with full benefits. I was told by my surgeon that I could go back to work in about 6 weeks. This certainly was not true. My hip feels tight and twisted. It is painful to walk on my right leg. I plan to wait for the six month time frame, and then to seek a hip replacement if necessary. I have had some serious surgeries, but this one has been the most frightening and depressing. Before you do this kind of surgery, investigate every avenue. Find the best surgeon no matter where you have to go to do it. It was very expensive, and I wish I would have had open hip surgery instead of arthroscopic surgery. Three small scars have caused a world of misery.