Hip Arthroscopy: Week 5 Post-Op

Today marks five weeks since my surgery, and a few things have changed in the past 7 days.  Last week at PT, the standing leg raises that I had been doing were modified to performing them while lying down.  This is much harder, but represents progress in strengthening the muscles around my hip.  Additionally, we have added a couple new exercises.  Here is the current rundown:

1. Heel drags (lay on my back, leg straight, and drag my heel towards my butt, bending at the knee and hip)
2. Lay on my back and lift my leg up, keeping it straight
3. Repeat #2 on my side and on my stomach
4. While laying on my stomach, stretch my quad by bending my knee
5. In a standing position, lift my leg up, bending my knee as though doing a “high knees” excercise
6. Using my crutches for support, lunge towards my good leg to stretch my groin

I’m still doing these 1-2 times per day, and I feel myself getting stronger each time.

Some other positives in the past week:

• I began sleeping on my side (both sides) for short periods of time, which has brought relief to my tailbone and heels.  It also feels good to just be able to move around a bit while laying down.
• As long as the chair is soft and I don’t slide on it, I can now sit comfortably in a normal position for an extended period of time (multiple hours).

It hasn’t been all good though.  Despite not having taken Percocet in over 2 weeks, I am still having trouble using the bathroom on occasion.  I’m wondering if it is caused by the lack of activity or still residual effects from the pain medicine.  Whatever the cause, I’m trying to remember to drink prune juice every day and be careful with my diet.

Additionally, I have a mild pain/discomfort in my hip very near the spot where I felt pain before surgery.  The side of me that worries about everything assumes that this is the worst case scenario, and that my labrum isn’t fully repaired.  My more rational side (and my PT, it should be noted), thinks that the pain is actually the specific muscle in that spot (can’t remember the name), which I am engaging far more than normal in order to protect my hip/labrum.  Mostly for my benefit, I am going to list the evidence for the rational cause of pain, but you may find it interesting as well:

• First of all, I had surgery just 5 weeks ago, and I was told ahead of time that it would take up to 6 months to feel completely normal, so of course there’s discomfort.
• When the PT presses on the muscles around my hip, by far the most sensitive area is the spot where I feel my hip hurting, indicating that the muscle is what’s causing discomfort.
• My PT correctly notes that my surgeon reattached my labrum, and I haven’t done anything in the past 5 weeks to actually cause damage to it, including flex my hip past 90 degrees or put weight on it.

So there it is, evidence that I shouldn’t worry about my hip hurting.  Much easier said than done though, when it’s your hip.

Are you recovering from surgery for FAI or a torn labrum, or considering it?  I’d love to hear how you’re rehab is going – feel free to post a comment or question below!