Hip Arthroscopy 3 yrs. post op and exercise has not made much difference

[donvito2234]

The best way to determine the level of relief you can expect to get from A hip replacement is through a diagnostic lidocaine injection.

 

[JusticeRider]

Hi @frogger , I’m 48 and am now 3 days away from having a THR. I had my first arthroscopy at 37 for FAI and a torn labrum. I had the same procedure on the same hip for the same problem at 43. Now here I am with another torn labrum, and getting pretty tired of this.

Something interesting: my cartilage is full thickness and looks great in that respect. Except it’s not full thickness quite everywhere. Rather than degenerative arthritis where the cartilage gradually breaks down and joint space narrows, I have nice plump cartilage with focal damage (basically a hole) in one location. The first person who read my mri did not see the focal damage. Nor did the first surgeon who reviewed it.

The second surgeon did see it. He said they are accustomed to looking at cartilage thickness and often do not look further at the cartilage once they see good joint space. They are looking for degenerative arthritis and if they don’t see it they move on. The same exact thing happened with my knee. Multiple dr’s insisted the cartilage looked fine, but it was not fine at all. Focal damage to that too, finally found after years of pain. A patellofemoral knee replacement was my ultimate decision and I am so glad I did it.

So here we go with the hip…due to the confirmed cartilage damage on top of the torn labrum, I elected to have a THR instead of messing around any longer.

Not sure if this is relevant to your experience, but I sympathize with your struggle at such a young age, and the frustration of being told everything should be fine when it is certainly NOT fine. The stress and confusion of all the detective work you do to analyze every possibility and try to get to the bottom of what is going on is so wearing. I also understand the grief of seeing some of what should be your best years lost to pain and a shrinking world as a result. My hope is that going ahead with a THR now will get me back to living my best life while I am still young. I hope that you are able to get the treatment that is right for you and get your life back too!

Wishing you strength and hope as you move forward, @frogger

 

[donvito2234]

Hi @frogger , I’m 48 and am now 3 days away from having a THR. I had my first arthroscopy at 37 for FAI and a torn labrum. I had the same procedure on the same hip for the same problem at 43. Now here I am with another torn labrum, and getting pretty tired of this.

Something interesting: my cartilage is full thickness and looks great in that respect. Except it’s not full thickness quite everywhere. Rather than degenerative arthritis where the cartilage gradually breaks down and joint space narrows, I have nice plump cartilage with focal damage (basically a hole) in one location. The first person who read my mri did not see the focal damage. Nor did the first surgeon who reviewed it.

The second surgeon did see it. He said they are accustomed to looking at cartilage thickness and often do not look further at the cartilage once they see good joint space. They are looking for degenerative arthritis and if they don’t see it they move on. The same exact thing happened with my knee. Multiple dr’s insisted the cartilage looked fine, but it was not fine at all. Focal damage to that too, finally found after years of pain. A patellofemoral knee replacement was my ultimate decision and I am so glad I did it.

So here we go with the hip…due to the confirmed cartilage damage on top of the torn labrum, I elected to have a THR instead of messing around any longer.

Not sure if this is relevant to your experience, but I sympathize with your struggle at such a young age, and the frustration of being told everything should be fine when it is certainly NOT fine. The stress and confusion of all the detective work you do to analyze every possibility and try to get to the bottom of what is going on is so wearing. I also understand the grief of seeing some of what should be your best years lost to pain and a shrinking world as a result. My hope is that going ahead with a THR now will get me back to living my best life while I am still young. I hope that you are able to get the treatment that is right for you and get your life back too!

Wishing you strength and hope as you move forward, @frogger

This is my situation as well. 6+ months post THR. It’s been tough. I’m 41.