Thread: Labral tear - Hip - Approx. recovery time?

Busted my ass pretty hard on Sunday. Initially thought I was OK - just a case of skiers thumb to bitch about for a few days. Couple of hours later I started noticing some soreness in my hip - again, no big deal. As I was loading stuff into the car, I started to notice a 'grabbing' feeling in my hip joint when trying to move my leg in certain directions. And when it 'grabs' it feels like someone is hammering a railroad spike into my hip. Apparently the ripped cartilige is getting caught in my hip joint when I move in certain directions causing the pain.

Went in for an MRI yesterday, and there is a little tear in the labrum (my labia hurts - hilarious, right?). Doc says that it's pretty clean and it may heal on it's own, but he'd prefer to scope it and pull out some tissue just to be on the safe side. He seems to be worried more about long term issues that may arise from not having it fixed properly now.

Copies of the MRI are being sent to the tremendous orthopod who did an amazing job putting me back together when I was run over on my motorcycle several years ago for a second opinion.

Curious if anyone has had this injury before and what recovery time looked like for you? Doc's saying that if I don't have surgery, I should let it rest for a week, then hit PT for ~4-6 weeks before he'd give me the thumbs up to ski. He said approx 6-8 weeks if he goes in and scopes it. Obviously Dr's are usually extremely conservative when providing these timelines and I'm not really feeling like tossing the rest of the ski season out the window.

A lot will depend on the 2nd opinion, but at this point I'm thinking that my preferred option is to take it easy for a week or so, ski the rest of the season, then get it scoped once the snow starts melting.

I'll definitely appreciate any insight from the collective.

Epsom salts baths can provide significant relief. Use 2-3 lbs in the water, stay in until you look like a prune.

Thanks, splat. I'll give that a try tonight. I was going to try loading up the hottub, but I've read that epsom salts can damage the heat exchanger.

Any ideas about recovery time?

Got an email from doc #2 about an hour ago saying he has good news & that he'll call me this evening. Based on that conversation, I'm probably going to drive ~4hrs to go see him tomorrow & hope for the best.

Gonna be pretty fucking bummed if my season is over....

Soo...... spoke with Doc #2 a few minutes ago.

From the description of injury, symptoms and the MRI, he agrees with Doc #1 that there is a small, yet clean tear. He's actually asked me to visit a colleague of his (in NYC which makes it much easier for me) tomorrow to have a couple of very specific pictures taken before he's completely comfortable making a recommendation.

Keeping my fingers crossed & hopping into a tub of epsom salts now.

Hope it's all good, mang. I've shredded a lot of muscles but never did anything specific other than wait for them to heal. Maybe eat some red meat or whatever might help rebuild it.

So you're an expert in sports medicine, eh?

I can't tell you how much better my hip feels after soaking in epsom salts for about an hour last night. I think it's healed!

Seriously, though - major improvement - thanks for the tip! Even this morning, the grab is still much less distinct and now only occurs when I raise my knee up towards my chest and rotate the leg to the outside (prior to my soak it was grabbing any time I rotated the leg to the outside)

Based on the vibe I've gotten from both Doc's and the info I've been able to find online, it doesn't look like there is all the much risk of aggravating the injury by continuing to ski, etc. Apparently the research shows that the real risk in leaving a torn labrum alone comes way down the road with an increased chance of osteoarthritis in the joint. As it would appear that I am genetically predisposed to arthritis in the hips (mom had 1 replaced about 10 years ago, dad had 'em both done about 5 years back) it would probably be smart to get this taken care relatively soon instead of much later....

Heading to Doc #2's buddy (Doc #3) for an 8:30 appt for some more images and a quick exam. So by the end of the day I'm hoping to have 2 (really more like 3) opinions to work with.

Starting to get a little less bummed as it looks like I can't really hurt myself by continuing to ski, I just have to figure out how to manage the pain (I like to think of myself as a master self-medicator) until the snow melts. I'm going to soak in epsom salts again tonight in hopes that it'll continue to improve.

I probably just redamaged my labrum, but I thought they were only in shoulders.
Drunk + icy = bad

They are in the shoulders & hips.

Just got back from Doc #3. Had another MRI & an X-ray for some specific things that Doc #2 was looking for. Doc's #2 & #3 spoke after reviewing all of the pics and #3 examined me.

They both share the same opinion (along with Doc #1):

It's a small tear & shouldn't have much impact on skiing this season as long as the pain is managable & doesn't get any worse. The official recommendation is that I take a couple of weeks off to let it rest & heal and was given a few strenghtening/ROM excercises that should help a bit. They agreed that there isn't much risk of further damage, but given my family history of bad hips I should really be listening to my body and seeing how things go.

So the rundown of recommendations:

Doc #1: Scope hip now to remove some torn tissue.
Doc #2: Rest & monitor situation & consider surgery in the next few months
Doc #3: Rest & monitor situation & consider surgery in the next few months

At this point I guess the gameplan to try skiing this weekend - but taking it easy - and see how it holds up. If it seems to be working out OK, I'll just deal with it for the rest of the season & go back for another round of MRI's come spring when I can deal with being out of action for a couple of weeks.

While I don't expect that more epsom salt soaks will yield as much relief as last nights bath did, but Doc #3 recommended it as well, so I'm definitely going to keep that up.

Gonna keep popping naproxen to deal with pain and keep the swelling at bay. I really hope this all works out

I am recovering from my 2nd hip scope right now. Recovery ranges from 3 months to 9 or even 12 depending on procedure, surgeon, and exact damage. This surgery is VERY surgeon dependent and also you would need a PT that knows this injury inside and out- it is not the same as a hip replacement and you can easily overdo it in PT.
There are a few threads on this site that talk about Hip FAI and labral tears, you should check them out. I found the facebook page for FAI to be the best source of info out there.
Long story short- it will get worse of you don't fix it, yes, but it can also cause other problems just like if you broke your ankle and just decided to limp forever. Your limp may become less severe after a while, but you'll end up fucking up your low back, etc..

And by the way, if you need a surgeon recommendation near NY, let me know and I will hook you up with THE MAN

Thanks for the info! Seems like your recovery times have been a lot longer than the expectations given by the Doc's I've spoken with. Definitely open to suggestions if you know of an excellent Doc in NYC. Will definitely check out that FAI page.

At this point I'm just going to deal with the pain (it's getting a little bit better each day, but still has a pretty distinct grab when I either elevate my knee and rotate the hip outward or if I plant that leg, and rotate my upper body to that side) and see how it goes. Shit, if recovery time is going to be six months, I'll actually consider letting it go and just dealing with the hip replacement 10-15 years down the road. Both of my parents recovered from their hip replacements well within 6 months, and I've got to imagine that recovery times will only go down as the years pass and surgical procedures improve. You do, however, rais a good point about overcompensating and affecting other parts of the body.

Thanks

As a Sports Performance Specialist at Athletes' Performance and a guy with 7 surgeries. 2 of the hip, one being a labral tear repair from the best at Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail. I would tell you just like I tell all my athletes. Be honest with yourself and take rest, along with seeking out the best PT's in the area. Then do consistent rehab exercises 1-3X/day 5-7X/wk. Then ask yourself do I need surgery. Because surgery is no guarantee and surgery is only 50% of the process. If you dont follow PT and stick to a strict return to action protocol you will be further behind than where you started. On the other hand the above guy is right it can lead to further complications within your body and your surgeon can be right in that getting rid of the tear now while you are younger and before it gets larger can be what is best for you. At the same time close to 70% of the population has labral tears by the time we die. So you can live with them. In the end everyone is different and you have to exam all your options just like you are doing. My advice post rehab, ROM, Join Mobility & Stabilty, GLUTES GLUTES GLUTES and Single leg work. Best of luck.

You guys have definitely scared me out of even considering the surgery!!!

The great news, however, is that I ski'd Sat & Sunday without a hint of pain. While the grabbing still exists (and hurts) when making some of the very specific motions I mentioned in my prior posts, I apparently don't do those things when I ski & I was absolutely fine.

I guess it's something that I'll keep in the back of my head and pay attention to, but unless I decide to try to become the first male Radio City Rockette, I think I'm going to be just fine

I've soaked in epsom salts 5-6 times now, and each soak gives me a little bit more relief.

Will definitely work on my ass strength as advised above, but I think I'm going to be just fine.

Thanks again for all of the info & suggestions fellas.

I have a tear and have been dealing with it for over a year now. Slows me down a bit, but I feel strong still, and do basically everything. Core and glute strength seem to be a key, as does proper flexibility of the ITB, quads, and hammies.

now that i am post op i agree that glute strengthening is DEFINITELY a must for recovering from or helping do avoid surgery. i plan on taking up xcountry skiing next year since that should to a good job at helping to balance things out and strengthen that part of me.
in the meantime i do pt exercises every other day at 7 weeks out. i wish i could ramp it up and really work on things but it's smart to take it slower than faster depending on surgeon and the quality of pt.
jgb, i was gonna suggest dr kelly at hss in nyc. you could also just go see pete or jamie in their rehab center and they could give you some exercises/advice on your hip so you can avoid problems down the road.

and for the record my hips were way trashed. i spent a few years trying to avoid surgery, but i was one of the unlucky ones that was past the point of pt helping me out. i had a combo of bilateral fai and sports hernias.

I've been using a theraband & gravity to do a bunch of excercises the docs gave me and it's doing pretty good. It has no effect on my skiing. About the only time I'm noticing it now is when I get in & out of the car.

Might not be a bad idea to vist the rehab center over at HSS to get some more things to do to avoid the knife! Thanks.