Hip Arthroscopy Veronica FAI Surgery Recovery

[Veronica Lodge]

Hi everyone, my name is Veronica Lodge and I'm new here.
I just found this site today and decided to sign up.
I had hip arthroscopy labral tear surgery on 5th September 2023 due to a hp impingement with a labral tear in my right hip.
I am 48 years old and developed groin and hip pain 12 months ago which turned out to be a hip impingement with a labral tear from undiagnosed hip dysplasia.
I am 5 days post op and have to use crutches for another week but I can weight bear ok and am not in too much pain but in saying that I have been pretty disciplined with my meds.
I'm on anti inflammatories and paracetamol every 6 hours and on an oxycodone every 3 hours.
I start rehab in a week.
Surgeon told me that I will need a total hip replacement in 5 to 8 years.
Veronica

 

[Hippie Chick]

Welcome to the group! I was very excited when I found it.

 

[Sammy-Am]

Hi Veronica,

Welcome to the forum! Best of luck to you during your recovery.

 

[Clairebella]

Hi Veronica.

Best of luck with your recovery. I have just had a total hip replacement 10 days ago. I previously though have had hip arthroscopy surgery and came off crutches quite quickly.
Did they manage to anchor the torn labrum for you?

 

[Veronica Lodge]

Hi Hippy Chick, Sammy-Am and Clairebella

Thank you so much for the warm welcome.

Hi Clairebella

The surgeon told my husband that he did manage to anchor the torn labrum but that there wasn't much there to work with. I'm seeing him on 3rd Oct so will know more then but I do remember him telling me after surgery that due to the condition of my hip I will most definitely need a hip replacement in 5 to 8 years.

How are you going with your recovery? You are also young for a THR.

Veronica

 

[Clairebella]

I unfortunately had a delay with the pandemic from MRI results and Arthroscopy delays so by the time I had it I actually had to have the entire labrum debrided and the anchors where a no go - surgeon told me after it was like trying to stitch through cheese! At that point and in retrospect as he said to me recently, I should just have had my replacement at that point. But I did get some relief as my impingement was also fixed and I had lots and lots of bony spurs to be shaved off.

I’m going fine thanks overall with my recovery! Lots of swelling but bruising improved already. Only hindrance to my recovery is really myself with impatience and because I worry constantly about each and everything!

For your recovery as for most people here I would really take it easy. You may like me have the restrictions for 8 weeks to let the hip capsule repair if you had one heal. Your walking restrictions and weight bearing because of that will be even more so than a total hope replacement so get icing! I tried to work my way through box sets, asked people over for company and listened to lots of podcasts.

 

[Veronica Lodge]

Thank you so much Clairebella, I am so happy that I signed up as I'm already feeling better after chatting.

Am also happy to hear that your recovery is going well and that you are on the right track.

As for me, I am sitting on the couch with my legs up most of the day with an ice pack either reading or smashing through Netflix haha.

Veronica Lodge

 

[Jaycey]

@Veronica Lodge Welcome to BoneSmart! Good to see you chatting on your thread already. It really does help to know that other members are going through the same journey.

I'll leave your recovery guidelines here for you. They refer to THR. 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.

 

[Veronica Lodge]

Thank you so much Jaycey

 

[myglasshalffull]

Welcome!
Anything you need to know about hips (and probably a lot of other stuff), you will find here.
This is a very caring and social board and one thing we have in common is hip surgery.
I wish you well.

 

[Layla]

Welcome to BoneSmart, Veronica.
Thanks for joining us. I think you'll love the support you receive here from those of us that experienced and are currently experiencing much the same. Best Wishes as you begin healing!

 

[Veronica Lodge]

Hi everyone

I am 9 days post op now.

I had a right hip arthroscopy with labral tear repair on my right hip on 5th Sept 2023.

Surgeon says I will need a hip replacement in 5 to 8 years.

I had a total hysterectomy in June 2023 and honestly, this recovery is worse for me.

I am taking panadol and ibuprofen every 6 hours and am icing every 2 hours.

I stopped the opioids on day 7 post op and have noticed a lot of aches and pains coming through.

I have a few questions :

How long were you guys on opioids for?
How long on crutches?
How soon after surgery did you get rehab?
Did you get rehab?
When did you turn a corner i.e. start living life again?

Thank you so much.

Veronica Lodge

 

[sistersinhim]

Hello @Veronica Lodge
You'll notice that I have merged your two threads together as it's best if members in recovery only have one thread. We find it much easier for everyone.
This is because:

• That way, you have all your information in one place. This makes it easier for others to go back and review your history before providing advice.
• If you start new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
• Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.

Please keep all your questions and updates on this thread. We won't miss your new question as, between us, the staff read all new posts each day.
If you need an urgent response to a question, tag a member of staff.
Tagging other members and answering tags

If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts?

A helpful hint - Many members have found it useful to bookmark their thread so they don't lose it.

 

[Sammy-Am]

Hi everyone

I am 9 days post op now.

I had a right hip arthroscopy with labral tear repair on my right hip on 5th Sept 2023.

Surgeon says I will need a hip replacement in 5 to 8 years.

I had a total hysterectomy in June 2023 and honestly, this recovery is worse for me.

I am taking panadol and ibuprofen every 6 hours and am icing every 2 hours.

I stopped the opioids on day 7 post op and have noticed a lot of aches and pains coming through.

I have a few questions :

How long were you guys on opioids for?
How long on crutches?
How soon after surgery did you get rehab?
Did you get rehab?
When did you turn a corner i.e. start living life again?

Thank you so much.

Veronica Lodge

Hi Veronica,

I’m 3 months post-op from my second round of FAI surgery. I had my left hip done on 7/15/22 and my right hip done on 6/6/23.

To answer your questions:

1.) This go around I was on opioids for about 7 days—just standard Percocets. I’ve had a lot more pain this time around, but I can’t remember exactly how many days I was taking the opioids with the left hip.

2.) I was on crutches for a total of six weeks. The first 10 days or so, I was TTWB (toe touch). After the initial post-op, I was able to progress to partial weight bearing for about 2 weeks, and then I was slowly weaned down to one crutch during that 4-6 week period. From my understanding, each doctor uses a different protocol regarding crutches.

3.) I started PT about 2 weeks post-op with both hips. I did rehab for about 2 1/2 months with the left hip and right now I’m taking a break from PT on the right until my new insurance kicks in. If you’re interested in what you might expect, I believe my surgeon uses the Nashville Hip Institute labral repair protocol. Your PT might not use every exercise listed, but it gives you a general idea of what movements and motions you can expect.

4.) As you probably already now, the recovery for arthroscopic surgery is LONG. FAI surgery with a labral repair is typically a year and a half to two year long recovery.

I’ve felt immediate relief with both hips (most notably my left as my right is incredibly grumpy. But, I would say my left side took about a good 7 or 8 months to feel “normal.” I’m 14 months out from my left side now and for the most part don’t have any pain. My right side on the other hand is a different story—functioning better, but still some possible issues going on, so I think it really depends on what you had done and how bad the hip was to begin with.

I hope my responses help, at least a little. Let me know if I can answer any questions or further clarify my experience for you.

Best

 

[Veronica Lodge]

Hi Sammy-Am, thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate it.

 

[JusticeRider]

Hi Veronica, I had FAI surgery as well. Once at 37 and once at 44. The first was done as a ‘mini open’ and the second as the more usual arthroscopy. The first was a labrum debridement and cam smoothing and the second a labrum repair and cam & pincer smoothing. The recoveries were similar at the start but the second was complicated by existing knee issues.

I was off the narcotics the 2nd day with both, mainly because they made me horribly sick!

First surgery I was on crutches for about 7 weeks. Toe touch first, then gradually more weight allowed. The second was much longer because I had a knee that was bone on bone that hindered my hip recovery.

I had PT with both, starting a few days after surgery. I was probably a bit too aggressive with the PT and wish I had been a little less ‘driven’. But hindsight is 20/20!

For my first surgery, I feel I really turned a corner around 5 months and started feeling like I was going to be ok and get back to what I loved. It was a year before I was ‘solid’ but at 14 months I did an extremely challenging 5 day backpacking trip in the Olympic Mountains and my hip did great!

It served me very well for the next 7 years and only needed done again because there was a bit of residual impingement and a goat rammed me in the leg and tore my labrum again (and also finished off my knee).

The second surgery was different because of my messed up knee. So it’s harder to say what my recovery could have been like. But now that I’ve recovered from my knee and have been able to actually work on my hip rehab, things are going quite well.

Do you know why your surgeon said you’d need a THR in a few years? Do you have cartilage damage/arthritis in your hip as well as the impingement and labrum damage? Keep icing religiously and good luck on your healing!