Hip Arthroscopy 23yo - Pain and clicking 4 weeks post-op

[AvrilRayne]

Hello everyone - I'm posting on this forum because I've exhausted other internet resources and would love to hear from people who have experienced what I'm going through.

A little background on my story: I'm a 23 year old university student, always been active, and a year ago I started noticing some pain at the front of my hip after exercise. Soon I was unable to sit through lectures or walk across campus and had to move back home with my parents, quit my job as a tutor, and almost everything about my life changed.

Long story short, I did PT for months without much success, had an MRI done which showed a labral tear, got a cortisone shot with a little short-term success, and finally had surgery done on my left hip 4 weeks ago today, on June 3rd. They sewed up the labral tear, shaved the femoral head to smooth it out, and performed a capsular plication (tightening up the ligaments around the joint, since I'm very hypermobile).

Recovery has been tricky - I naively expected that it would be a breeze, because my surgeon and PT assured me that I was young and would heal much faster than usual. However, I'm still at just the beginning stages of weaning off my crutches, and even that is causing me pain/discomfort in my groin. I also feel a click in the joint when I move my joint a certain way. My ROM is not where my surgeon said it should be by now - some days it is, some days it isn't. I didn't get on a stationary bike until 2 weeks post-op (had trouble accessing one) and my PT didn't perform any passive ROM exercises, so I'm paranoid that scar tissue has built up in the joint already.

All in all, I'm feeling low and like I'm not where I should be given my age. Is this normal? When should I start being concerned?

 

[Snoopy55]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I am so sorry you are dealing with pain and discomfort and PT hasn't been helping. Unfortunately we are all led to believe that the recovery would be a breeze but it is definitely not. This recovery has been anything but a breeze for me and you are still pretty early in your recovery after only four weeks.

I had a skiing accident in February and am just now coming off all pain meds and walking without assistance of any sort. I have had PT on and off for a couple of months now but sometimes it helps and sometimes it just manages to aggravate the soft tissue that is still apparantley healing.

I do agree with your PT that you are young and you will recover faster but that doesn't necessarily mean that is will be pain free. Feeling low is definitely normal as you expected to be further along in your recovery and I get that. We all feel like that on this forum at some point or another. Everyone heals differently that is a fact and you will find lots of great advice on this forum. For the record I still have not gotten on a stationary bike!

If you are still concerned don't hesitate to call your doctors office and talk to him or go in to see him. I ended up going in several times after over doing it with a trip abroad at week 7 and that really hindered my recovery. Keep posting here and take a look at other peoples threads and hopefully you won't feel like you;re the only one going through this.

 

[Jaycey]

@AvrilRayne Welcome to BoneSmart! So sorry you are yet another victim of unrealistic exceptions. Recovery from arthroscopic surgery can be longer and more painful than from THR. And yes, it takes time and tons of patience.

Please don't worry about ROM right now. The area around your hip needs to heal and calm down from all the trauma. And please don't push through pain using any stationary bike.

The clicking or popping sensation is totally normal. Soft tissues, muscles and tendons need to tighten up around the joint again. Just give it time and this will ease.

Are you icing your hip? There are instructions in the articles below. Ice is a natural pain killer. Ice for 45-60 minutes several times per day.

I'll leave our recovery guidelines here for you. They refer to THR recovery but your recovery is very similar.

Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
We are all different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for YOU.“ Your doctor(s), physiotherapist(s) and BoneSmart are here to help. But you have the final decision as to what approach you use.

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:

rest​

elevate​

ice​

take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT

a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​

b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of this BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy
5. Here is a week-by-week guide for Activity progression for THRs
6. Access these pages on the website

Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications​

Wound Closure​

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.

 

[Cfillian10]

Hi! I don’t know if I’m posting in the right thread, but I need some advice here…
I’m 8 weeks post op on right THR (I suffer from septic arthritis from a tick bite that lead to severe Lyme disease). I’ve just started experiencing a ‘clunking’ when I walk longer distances- no pain, just super awkward and uncomfortable. I’m hoping this resolves over time, but I just didn’t know if this is normal. I feel like this whole surgery in general was a lot more than I bargained for- at 46 years old, young and healthy, this recovery was harder than I anticipated. Anyone else feel this way??

 

[djklaugh]

@Cfillian10 Welcome to BoneSmart. I think you would get more information and support by starting your own thread in the hip post op section. And when you do start that thread let us know the date of your surgery and we will create a signature for you. Here is a link -
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/starting-a-new-thread-and-posting.57719

 

[Mojo333]

@Cfillian10 We can help you start a thread if you have trouble.