Arthroscopic Hip Labral Tear Surgery Recovery

August 29, 2017

Going under the knife! A lot of post-surgery instructions were given, most of which I didn't remember post-surgery. Perhaps the most important thing i should have told them is I don't hold my liquor well. One beer and I am drunk! Maybe that would have made the anesthesiologist dial down the propofol a little bit, because i woke up from that surgery sick as a dog! I couldn't open my eyes in the slightest without the whole room spinning around me. I just lay there moaning in agony because my head hurt and the slightest head motion made me vomit. Now I know why they tell you not to eat for 12 hours prior to surgery. I was basically there as long as they were willing to keep me in the outpatient center. I came home and had to wait for my wife to lay a trash bag with a folded sheet under my butt region because the giant dressing around the incisions were going to leak fluid for a couple of days.

Giant dressing covering all incisions and the leg brace.

August 31st (2 days after)

48 hours after surgery i'm allowed to take the giant dressing off. And shower! The trickiest part of the whole operation: getting in and out of the shower because for the first two weeks i'm not supposed to put more than 20% of my weight on my leg. What the hell does that even mean! I don't know so i try to put no weight on my leg. Having a supportive spouse is critical because there is no way i could put underwear on without help. I'm now using the Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) machine for 4 hours a day; hello Netflix! The machine, by the way, is not covered by insurance but is critical to your recovery. Even good insurance isn't really that good in the end.

Giant dressing comes off.

After a week i have one physical therapy appointment where there is a lot of massaging of the thigh and flexing of the butt and quads. I have basically ditched my hip brace at this point because it is so hellishly uncomfortable that it was clearly not designed to be used by humans. It's stupid.

2 Weeks after Surgery

I have my two week followup with the surgeon and the stitches come out!

Top left: Post-stitches. Bottom left: looks like a nipple.

Physical therapy has now turned painful because they insist on pounding on my incisions and calling it a massage. After two weeks i'm allowed to start putting weight on my leg and trying to walk normally using the crutches for support. In addition to the CPM I do 10 minutes on an exercise bike with no resistance. 

Every day after i start weight-bearing the leg feels stronger and within another week i'm down to one crutch for support. Any external rotation of my leg instantly hurts. Probably why the surgeon told me to not do it. My hip, quad, and glutes are not working too well yet. Everything feels very stiff and the range of motion is small. When my good leg steps forward the bad leg doesn't go back very far so i have to walk in awkward short steps.

20 Days After 

I go back to work, which means I'm driving again. Now, the surgeon was actually quite pessimistic about my ability to drive after surgery done it was my right leg. He said on average it took 6 weeks before people were driving again. Personally I felt that I was able to move my leg the short amount between the brake and the gas with good reaction time. This, I felt, really drives home the message about why I work out and put so much effort into keeping all parts of my body strong. It's not just because it looks good, but when you hurt yourself your body had the ability to bounce back much faster because the supporting muscles started out strong.

A Month Later

No longer on crutches i'm trying my level best to walk without limping. Still working on that range of motion in the bad leg. External rotations are pretty much out of the question right now. My physical therapist actually put me on a elliptical machine for the first time, progress!

One month later

The incisions are healing but the area around them is still sore which makes the PT massages feel like torture. I grit my teeth and soldier on.

The list of exercises goes as follows:
1. Supine glute clench: 5 sec hold x 15
2. Supine quad clench: 5 sec hold x 15
3. Supine internal-external roll of leg
4. Supine squeeze ball between knees: 5sec hold x 15
5. Hip bridges x 20
6. Supine pelvic tilt: 5 sec hold x 15
7. Side plank on knees: 15 sec hold x 3 on each side
8. Table top position, rock front and back x 20
9. Lay on stomach. Leg lift with butt squeeze: hold 5 sec x 10 on each side
10. Stand in lunge position with bad leg back and hold for few minutes.
11. Stand on one leg and clench glute: hold for 10 sec x 10
12. Hip tilts: 5 sec hold x 10
13. Balance board: rock back and forth and front and back with control
14. Rotating balance board: go in circles each direction x 10
15. Place knee on rotating stool: internal & external rotation of leg x 20
16. Exercise cycle or elliptical (no running!)
17. Extremely painful massaging of incisions
18. Ice!

4 Months Later

 Range of motion has largely returned. Some rotational stiffness remains but nothing too painful. Back to the usual gamut of exercises!