Hip Injury

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

I was just diagnosed with a femoroacetabular impingement or FAI of the hip. Basically, the ball (femoral head) and socket (acetabulum) rub abnormally creating damage to the hip joint. I will need surgery. It is arthroscopic and they say the recovery time is around 3-4 months.

Has anyone had any experience with this or had the surgery? What's your experience been?

[jeremya13 0]

I just received the same diagnosis and I'm waiting to find out if I am a candidate for arthroscopic surgery. Did you end up having the surgery? If so, how has your recovery experience been? Not looking forward to 3-6 month rehab.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Sorry to hear that. I haven't done my surgery yet. After taking off about 2 months I was able to get back on the ice. I am able to skate with minimal pain but I am very timid these days. I am scared of falling and twisting on my hip and as a result I am less effective as a player (and I wasn't very good to begin with!). The day after a game is ok, the day after that I'm sore and then it gets better throughout the week. I have cut down my time on ice from 2-3 nights a week to 1-2 times a week as a result.

On a day to day basis its basically ok moving around. Sometimes I take a weird step and get shooting pains that hurt like hell. I think that is where the labrum is torn.

Basically I'm going to go as long as I can before surgery. I don't know how long it'll be... I'm hoping I can last a year or more... we'll see...

Please keep in touch with me and let me know how things are going for you. Maybe we can learn from each other?

[jeremya13 0]

I had the contrast MRI last week and I should be getting the results tomorrow and figuring out a plan of action from there. My experience is similar in that I can go slow and be careful and its ok, but when I try to skate hard or god forbid I get hit in that leg its a killer. I play a lot of golf in the summers and it really gets in the way of that too. I am going to try to get it fixed asap if I can. I will let you know how it goes.

[jmiami 4]

I was just diagnosed with a femoroacetabular impingement or FAI of the hip. Basically, the ball (femoral head) and socket (acetabulum) rub abnormally creating damage to the hip joint. I will need surgery. It is arthroscopic and they say the recovery time is around 3-4 months.

Has anyone had any experience with this or had the surgery? What's your experience been?

I was recently diagnosed with FAI and am on the fence about having the surgery. I came back to hockey after a 25 year absence and have been playing 2-3 times a week for two years now. I had no hip issues before returning to the game but now often find myself in a painful hip-lock if I, for instance, drop my keys on the ground and squat down to pick them up the day after a long skate. I will often have to grab a nearby fixture to get myself up while letting my hip straighten itself out very slowly to minimize pain. Not much fun.

The odd thing is that the FAI is not so much of a problem for me during actual hockey-playing. Sometimes there is soreness during a long pick-up skate or practice, but for an hour-long league-game, I'm usually in and out pain free. My FAI affects me most off the ice with squatting down, or having my hip flexed for a period of time, like driving a car, say.

I recently was on the DL due to another injury and could not play hockey, or ride the bike for over a month. My hip-pain while doing day to day activities decreased dramatically. So for my case, hockey seems to be the culprit. If I simply stopped playing I'm pretty sure I would not be considering FAI surgery, but I don't want to stop playing. So what I'm first going to try before surgery is chilling out a little bit.

I play on a rec-team where most guys have played either NCAA, Juniors or Minor-pro. The average age on that team is mid-20's, but being two decades older than most of my teammates, I have to work a bit harder both on and off the ice to keep my mojo up. Long skates/practices, suicide sprints, etc, on the ice. Bike and squats off the ice. And I love all of it, believe me, but I'm going to see if cutting back a bit will help my FAI. If I limit myself to one game and one-hour practice per week, and cut out squats, go easier on the bike will it help decrease pain? We shall see.

Check out this discussion board link for folks who have had the surgery, it is quite illuminating: http://forums.menshealth.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/64310347/m/333109953

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

I was recently diagnosed with FAI and am on the fence about having the surgery. I came back to hockey after a 25 year absence and have been playing 2-3 times a week for two years now. I had no hip issues before returning to the game but now often find myself in a painful hip-lock if I, for instance, drop my keys on the ground and squat down to pick them up the day after a long skate. I will often have to grab a nearby fixture to get myself up while letting my hip straighten itself out very slowly to minimize pain. Not much fun.

The odd thing is that the FAI is not so much of a problem for me during actual hockey-playing. Sometimes there is soreness during a long pick-up skate or practice, but for an hour-long league-game, I'm usually in and out pain free.

Sorry to hear that. In my case I'm not on the fence, I'm going to do it but I'm just going to try and wait until the summer after this one. In my case it is certainly weak during games and sometimes hurts. Often the pain is not actually in the hip but radiates out to the lower back.

I recently was on the DL due to another injury and could not play hockey, or ride the bike for over a month. My hip-pain while doing day to day activities decreased dramatically. So for my case, hockey seems to be the culprit. If I simply stopped playing I'm pretty sure I would not be considering FAI surgery, but I don't want to stop playing. So what I'm first going to try before surgery is chilling out a little bit.

Same here... I've cut down playing to 1x per week but refuse to quit the game.

I also belong to that Men's Health forum - I've done sooo much research. Those people scare me - so many horror stories. Remember, the people who post on those blogs are mostly those that have had negative experiences and are reaching out for support.

Good luck!!!

[jeremya13 0]

I have scheduled TNT surgery for next week. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I hope to get back for the late summer season, but I may be off til fall.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Good luck. Keep us posted.

[Vet88 673]

I was just diagnosed with a femoroacetabular impingement or FAI of the hip. Basically, the ball (femoral head) and socket (acetabulum) rub abnormally creating damage to the hip joint. I will need surgery. It is arthroscopic and they say the recovery time is around 3-4 months.

Has anyone had any experience with this or had the surgery? What's your experience been?

As long as your cartiledge is still ok and hasn't begun to wear away (ie osteoarthritis) then the surgery should help. I know a few people who have had this done and as long as they had no other issues with their joint then they recovered ok. The surgery will stop the ball hitting the socket and the cartiledge will settle down over time. If you don't do something about it and continue to damage the joint, the latest research shows that osteoarthritis is almost guaranteed to follow.

You may also have a tear in the cartiledge, an MRI will show this. There has been some success treating these with stem cells but the jury is still out on the long term success of this treatment (the difficulty is getting the stem cells to stay in the tear to heal it).

If your cartiledge has started to wear away you can't get it back. To much damage means you will need something more radical, either hip resurfacing (the birmingham system is pretty good for younger people) or a total hip replacement.

ANYONE who gets pain in their hip / groin during or because of skating needs to get it looked at asap. You need an MRI and a qualified surgeon to review the MRI.

[jeremya13 0]

I had hip arthroscopy yesterday with labral repair, osteoplasty and cartilage clean up. Day one was fairly rough due to the amount of traction required. I will keep you up to date as progress.

[wrangler 157]

I had hip arthroscopy yesterday with labral repair, osteoplasty and cartilage clean up. Day one was fairly rough due to the amount of traction required. I will keep you up to date as progress.

It doesn't sound like fun; hang in there. Did they give you a guess on the recovery time?

[jeremya13 0]

They said 3-6 months, but really depends on how well the physical therapy goes. I'm going to work hard on the therapy in hopes of getting back by the summer.

[AIREAYE 248]

Fight on brother :) Hope you make a speedy recovery, best of luck

[jeremya13 0]

Two weeks out now and I'm just now getting off crutches. I have had a couple of therapy sessions that are helping speed recovery. Doctor says that I should be able to skate in 10 more weeks and possibly play at that time. The reduction in pain is already noticeable and I'm looking forward to playing again without pain this summer.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Two weeks out now and I'm just now getting off crutches. I have had a couple of therapy sessions that are helping speed recovery. Doctor says that I should be able to skate in 10 more weeks and possibly play at that time. The reduction in pain is already noticeable and I'm looking forward to playing again without pain this summer.

Great news. I am getting closer to doing it. Probably in the fall. Keep us up to date!!!

[jeremya13 0]

I recommend doing it as soon as possible. When they did the surgery, they found delaminatec cartilage, which I believe was a result of not fixing the problem within the first few months. The cartilage delimitation can't really be repaired.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

I recommend doing it as soon as possible. When they did the surgery, they found delaminatec cartilage, which I believe was a result of not fixing the problem within the first few months. The cartilage delimitation can't really be repaired.

After pain started to increase to the point I could not finish my game this week, I have scheduled the surgery. It will be on May 9th.

How are you coming along? I hope to be back on the ice by October. Earlier if I get lucky.

Tell me when you were able to walk around and pretty much be OK (not sports mind you, just getting along - living life.)

[jeremya13 0]

I worked from home the first week and got around on crutches. Second week I was back to work on two crutches. Third week I was down to one crutch for about four days, although I probably didn't need it. I have been walking since then with no real trouble. I still have a small limp, but not due to pain. I was doing stationary bike in week three and elliptical starting week four pain free. Just got back from a four day vacation in las Vegas and did a ton of walking with no problems at all. After that I was in new York doing a ton of walking with no problems. I do still tend to get a little tired, but no pain. You should have no problem coming back by October. My pt has said that I should be able to start skating at week 10 post op since we are progressing well. Has the doctor told you what he is planning on doing during the surgery? Ostoeplasty

Osteoplasty, labral repair, etc?

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Thanks! Congratulations on such a smooth recovery so far. I hope mine goes as well.

They are doing a labral repair (not sure how bad that is yet of course) and shaving down the head of the femur. I assume that is what you consider osteopathy.

What was your physical condition and age? I'm 44 and fat so that doesn't help!!!

Thanks!

[jeremya13 0]

Same stuff I had done. I am 37 and definitely not at my fighting weight, but I am in ok shape. Since you are active, you should be fine. Have to stay on top of physical therapy. Good luck.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

I had my surgery yesterday. I am updating progress on Facebook Notes - Here is my post:

I was the ambulatory surgery center at Pro Health yesterday by 6:30 am. After filling out sme forms they took me right in as I was the first appointment of the day. The facility is incredible. It is clean, and looks like a hospital inside. The nurses and staff were incredibly professional and had a great bedside manner and really pit me at ease.

After meetings with my surgeon, Dr.Brian Neri, the anesthesiologist and several nurses, they prepped me and walked me into the OR. I made some small talk with the anesthesiologist and then - BOOM - I woke up in recovery. Coming out of anesthesia is weird but the disorientation soon passed. I was in my car (wife driving) by 10:30 and home by 11:00.

The bottom line is everything went great. It was a best case scenario and I expect a 100% recovery.

I will be on crutches for two weeks and hopefully off after that. My post op appointment is next Wednesday and we'll get a sense of a return date then. I'm hoping to get back around October.

I will make semi-regular updates via FB notes as things develop.

[jeremya13 0]

Good luck. Lots of ice. I am 10 weeks out and was cleared to start skating this week. No hard skating, but it's progress.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

18 weeks today. I've bee cleared to skate for a while but recovery was a delayed by some back pain, traveling and other issues. Looking to start to play again soon. I've been on the ice running practices and did some drills to push things. Had some hip pain on the outside and a big in the front. Hopefully just hip flexor stuff. Hoping to to try open hockey this week.

[jeremya13 0]

Good luck. It took me about 5 months to shake that dull pain in front/flexor area. Also had a lot of soreness on the outside of the hip too. I haven't started playing yet, but signed up for fall league that starts in a few weeks.

[TheProfessor 2]

How are you guys rehab going? I had the same procedure (hip scope to repair labrum and correct impingement) a few weeks ago and am just now cleared to start weight bearing.