Reply With QuoteBe careful!Originally Posted by training_tonia
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Hip labrum repair and FAI surgery recovery
Since I'm going to be following in Matthew Moore's footsteps, I thought I would also log my progress here. His progress log was really helpful so I figure more data would help all who may run into this.
About me:
48 yr old female.
148 weight, 5'8''
Squat: 148
Deadlift 145
Bench 80
OHP: 57
About the surgery:
It went really well. He was able to repair my labrum (not needed to recontstruct it) and he didn't find any additional damage. He shaved off the FAI impingement parts and no surprises there either. Best part was being told I could be partial weight bearing. Assistant crutches for six weeks though. Shout out to Dr. Omer Mei Dan of Boulder, CO. Surgeon is also a former stuntman and basejumper and understands wanting to back at it asap. He innovates as well as during my surgery, I was part of a study to test out a better bed for hip arthroscopy--should have less nerve damage from the required traction and dislocation needed for surgery.
Day 1:
Got on my stationary bike. I put my own bike and trainer in the living room and have a step stool to get on. Set the seat really high so i could just spin. He wanted five minutes of that on the first day. Pain level is minimum.
Day 2: One oxycodone and I can't believe I feel this good. Did another five and a half minutes on the bike and may go for six this evening.
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Be careful!
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Advice taken. I didn't mean to sound so glib. I just expected to be in a lot more pain, but the recovery is young.
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Day 3:
I'm tolerating more weight on the operative leg now. I re-read the doc's instructions and he said weight-bearing as tolerated. Still avoiding any rotations. Mastered getting in and out of bed by myself. Still very little pain. I've taken one oxycodone today along with the mandatory two-a-day naproxen. Walking around the tiny condo for no reason sometimes because I think getting the circulation going is a good idea.
Did 14 minutes on the bike, 7 min in the morning and 7 in the evening. Tolerating that well. Getting help with that, finding out that lowering the seat to get on and off, then raising it to zero resistance for my little bike ride is the easiest for me. Of course I can't do all that by myself. Still takes my team of bf and sister.
As far as weird nerve pain that is usually a side effect for how they dislocate and traction the hip during surgery, I'm experiencing very little. The only pain I have is in my right foot which was constricted in a boot for three hours. I'm moving it around as best I can to get it to have bloodflow and heal. Seems to be working. I hope so because it robs me of sleep.
Tomorrow is the big shower day. Can't wait.
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Day 4:
Felt pretty good all day so I pushed it a bit. Went for a 50-yard walk outside to get some air. Goal was to teach the operative leg that it was still a leg.It looks like springtime here in CO. Finally showered!
Did 18 minutes on the bike, 9 in the am and 9 in the pm. Played Borderlands 2 on the Xbox for three hours and that was probably the worst I did for my hip because I was sitting upright. Heh.
I am beat.
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With all my "activity" yesterday, I was rewarded with the best night's sleep in months. I slept a good 10-11 hours and had no nerve pain to speak of. I think walking around a bit more helped that a lot. I took two pain pills before bed as a precaution, but was fine throughout the night as I assume they wore off half way through.
I'm going to start weening myself off them as I want to start work next Monday. I'm a desk jockey with a flexible tech job so I will be working from home for two weeks until I am cleared and feel comfortable enough to drive.
I'm using the crutches all the time for balance and to remind myself not to rotate that hip at all. Although it does tolerate my little screwups. I balanced on two legs and did a 1/3 squat (without rotation) to see how that felt and to keep my muscles active. Felt fine, but only did three tiny ones.
I don't start PT until March 22 so these first posts are pretty lame. I wish I had scheduled it sooner but I can't get in any earlier now because they are booked.
For those who are curious about doing PT on the cheap here's a picture of my bike setup. I'm using my own bike and trainer in the living room. Getting on and and off was tough for the first few days--thank god for upper body strength and a little help. I practiced without much help today and did fine. I climb to the first rung of the step ladder, my bf lowers the seat, I lean my body weight on the handlebars and swing my good leg over. Then bf raises the seat pretty high so I can pedal without resistance. I try for a cadence of 80 which is what the doc recommended.
IMG_1851.jpg
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Today I graduated to getting on and off the bike almost by myself. I am still using a step stool to make swinging my leg over easier, but I don't need anyone to lower the seat. I did 11 minutes/twice. Doc wants me to work up to 30 minutes twice a day.
I'm walking fairly well with the crutches and trying to balance my weight 90/10 or equally. My hamstring on the operative leg and the muscles in general aren't exactly working on concert yet, but I'll get there.
Experimented sleeping without the pain meds (usually take two hydrocodone before I go to bed) and it didn't go well. Cried uncle within 2.5 hours--it wasn't awful but couldn't sleep. Sleeping is what I need for recovery so I took the pills.
I'm headed out to the movies tomorrow and my bf and I took my sister out to dinner last night. I'm tired after these outings, but not in pain.
Can't say enough about the doc. It's great to have someone who really excels at what they do and works on making improvements to the field.
CU Sports Med Hip Clinic, Cutting Edge Center for Hip Surgery
Sorry not to have any more "progress" made. PT starts March 22. I hope to be back lifting on April 2.
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Day 7 was pretty chill
12 minutes on the bike am/pm (24 total). Was able to shower without supervision. For the curious I had a shower stool/seat around for when my mother visits and I've been putting that to good use. I'm not stable enough to stand around in the shower much.
I passed on the movies and opted for a nap. Supposed to start work tomorrow so I took it easy and didn't take any pain meds all day. Tolerated that just fine. The cycling actually makes my hip feel good afterwards and during at this point. I also went for a walk in the sunshine to get the mail and chat with neighbors.
A little history on how this injury happened to me. I was an amateur competitive cyclist who trained maybe 150 miles a week. I wasn't aware of my hip impingement until the repetitive motion of cycling ended up tearing my hip labrum. I tried A LOT of things before going to an ortho. Well, the first ortho diagnosed it as bursitis which was PT and clam shells. No improvement except from rest. I stopped climbing hills on my bike because that irritated it too much. I stuck to flat routes for 18 months and tried you name it: accupuncture, massage, kinesio tape, and a couple more PTs. Muscle imbalances were mentioned as well as pelvic tilt. I started running instead of biking and ended up with IT band syndrome. Went the PT route for that with no avail. Rolling, stretching etc. Honestly, the only thing that helped the IT was Starting Strength last year, but I still couldn't cut and run or bike without hip or IT band pain. Finally saw a doc that specialized in shots (PRP, cortizone, etc) she got an MRI and spotted the labral tear and sent me to another ortho. MRIS have gotten much better in the last few years to spot this stuff.
Saw two orthos. Once was fresh out of college and wet behind the ears, so I passed and sought out another. Turns out Dr. Mei Dan had operated on several folks in my cycling community. Younger folks in their 20s/30s with this injury are again out their cycilng/mtn biking after. Mei Dan's big question was "why did you wait so long?" I"m sure he asks all of his patients that because I later learned that his average patient puts up with this pain for five years.
The goal of this surgery is to preserve the hip. The younger you are when you get it, the better. I wish I didn't wait and got better info sooner. I'm fortunate that my hip was in good shape when he got in there. The goal is to avoid a hip replacement surgery down the line, but also GET ALL MY ACTIVITIES BACK. Woohoo!
Gonna start back to work tomorrow with a healthy nap in the middle of the day I'm sure. I'm fortunate to have a flexible job. I'm also super glad to be feeling well enough to go without pain meds during the day.
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I know I put in the wrong their/there up there and it really hurts my feelings.
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Going a bit nuts working/rehab-ing/sleeping/eating all in the same 900 sq ft condo.
A little bit of daylight savings time, a little bit of not quite having my energy levels up, and a little bit of getting used to doing nothing made for an unproductive first day back at work.
On the recovery side--no pain meds today, one hour nap, and two rounds of 14 minutes on the bike. I'm changing into bike shorts now for that. :-P I also went for a short walk.
Need to note that I am on two doses of 500mg of naproxen each day to ward off side effects. Apparently microbits of shaved bone can regrow on rare occasions. The naproxen helps that. Probably is helping with pain too.
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