Torn labrum in hip

[tim_s]

from what i understand so far, she will likely be a surgical candidate after the season, as it appears from what we've seen/read so far, that it's a result of some level of dysplasia in her hip.......she's had issue in the past with some clicking/poor alignment causing pain, just nowhere near this level

first things first i guess

 

[RADcatcher]

Hey, I can speak to this one!

I got a torn hip labrum surgically repaired in 2020. But here's the catch: I actually tore it in, I believe, 2013. I was trying to ice skate, started to slip, caught myself and felt a painful pull in the groin area. I remember saying that it was going to hurt later, but it actually didn't feel too bad.

I spent the next 7 years playing sports, coaching, etc. and never knew anything was wrong.

When we started up the season in 2020 (right before the world shut down), I found that I was getting a catching feeling when I tried to run. It wasn't that painful, just felt weird. And deep inside. Covid shut everything down, so I decided to just see if I could rest it. About a month into lockdowns we went to the park across the street. I tried to test it out and felt the same discomfort. Running was the only thing that really bothered me. Extended front toss sessions (constantly landing on that leg) made my leg/hip feel tired, but not painful.

I don't know the severity of your DD's tear, but I know for me I was told what was done was done. I went to the doc in June, did a couple months of physical therapy for two reasons: 1) insurance said so even though no amount of therapy would repair the injury and 2) to build up strength in the surrounding muscles to make recovery/rehab easier. I got the surgery in September. Did physical therapy until the following May, but I was doing basically everything but running in about 8 weeks.

I'd say no to the cortisone, but I've also found it to be completely ineffective with a couple other things I've had. I don't like it. It's not going to fix anything. I believe I was offered PRP, but my insurance didn't cover it and the docs weren't enthusiastic about it actually working.

A couple things if she does need surgery: I was shocked at how little pain there was. I never took a single pain med outside of whatever they gave me when I was knocked out on the day of the surgery. The only real pain was the couple times I moved a little wrong in the first couple weeks. My PT told me that hips are much easier and less painful to rehab than knees. I actually started PT the day after the surgery.

A funny story: My follow-up was 10 days or so after the surgery. I was still using crutches. I felt like I was never going to walk on my own again. Doc did the checkup, I asked when I would be off crutches, and he said I didn't need them anymore. I was like "I'm pretty sure I do." "OK, if you say so, but you don't." He was right. I tested it out at the office, only used one for getting up/down from a chair for that day. Walked into PT the next day and they were shocked. Turns out I just needed to be told I was good to go for my body to get itself together and just do it.

Your daughter is a couple decades younger than I was when I got the surgery done. Maybe her tear can heal on its own. But in case it can't, I'm here to tell you that the surgical option is not that bad. If you time it for the off-season, she might not have to miss too much softball time.

That story examples what it's like to injure now and have problem later.

Was just recalling how many people I know who have had hip surgery. Including
Three people in the past 3 years who have had double hip replacements.
Pretty common. Amazing up and walking around within days.

 

[steve1244]

I'd ask your doc about the potential negative side effects a cortisone/repeated cortisone shots can have on the ability to obtain a successful surgical outcome, if you decide to go that route. I've had both hips replaced, and while I was trying to deal with the limitations before surgery, the surgeon told me that cortisone may help with the pain, but it also compromises bone structure.

 

[Vertigo]

If you choose the surgery route should hopefully just be laparoscopic where they go in, clean up the area, and fix the tear, assuming there is nothing else wrong. Most likely she will have to do PT first - sometimes just strengthening the muscles in that area can be a good “fix” without needing surgery.

Different body part but my son had a SLAP tear in his throwing shoulder (torn labrum) and all he did was PT to strengthen the muscles around the joint and he is fine now.

I’d say just make sure she’s seeing a very good sports medicine/orthopedic specialist (not necessarily an orthopedic surgeon as sometimes they try to push surgery) and see what they recommend. They should be able to tell you if she really should undergo the procedure or not.

 

[CoachJD]

That story examples what it's like to injure now and have problem later.

Was just recalling how many people I know who have had hip surgery. Including
Three people in the past 3 years who have had double hip replacements.
Pretty common. Amazing up and walking around within days.

Yep. And I didn't even know I was actually injured. I thought it was just a normal little groin pull. My suspicion is that it was a minor tear and over the years it got worse until it started to actually affect me.

 

[CoachJD]

If you choose the surgery route should hopefully just be laparoscopic where they go in, clean up the area, and fix the tear, assuming there is nothing else wrong. Most likely she will have to do PT first - sometimes just strengthening the muscles in that area can be a good “fix” without needing surgery.

Different body part but my son had a SLAP tear in his throwing shoulder (torn labrum) and all he did was PT to strengthen the muscles around the joint and he is fine now.

I’d say just make sure she’s seeing a very good sports medicine/orthopedic specialist (not necessarily an orthopedic surgeon as sometimes they try to push surgery) and see what they recommend. They should be able to tell you if she really should undergo the procedure or not.

I find it interesting that the hip and shoulder are the same type of joint, but shoulders are typically much harder to bounce back from. I suspect it's the lack of stability compared to the much bigger thigh muscles/glutes, but I'm just speculating.

Your last line is the best though. A benefit to living in a large city is we have top doctors. The place that did my surgery has worked on several top professional athletes, some pretty big names. I actually felt at ease the first time I walked into the office and saw all the personalized signed photos from the best of the best who trusted those doctors.

 

[RADcatcher]

Yep. And I didn't even know I was actually injured. I thought it was just a normal little groin pull.

My suspicion is that it was a minor tear and over the years it got worse until it started to actually affect me.

Definitely a probability that could happen. Whether it's next week or years later the wear and tear has already started with initial injury. Important reason why my initial comments were wondering why somebody would want to play on something that is a fresh injury that they know about. Particularly when could start the healing process before continuing more deterioration process.

Don't think that any doctor can accurately predictfully say 'no you won't cause further injury if you continue playing on it.'
Not even if Nostradamus was a Dr...



Ohhh ...who apparently didn't make it through medical school. Wonder if he predicted that LOL

 

[murphdog]

That stinks.
She’s in the great city as far as doctors and hospitals go.
Personally I’d try to get her in with an ortho in Boston just to verify that she won’t do further damage playing. If they agree and she can play through it then great.

 

[4Martini]

That stinks.
She’s in the great city as far as doctors and hospitals go.
Personally I’d try to get her in with an ortho in Boston just to verify that she won’t do further damage playing. If they agree and she can play through it then great.

I’m not sure how many patients he still sees- but this amazing Boston doctor did a somewhat new double knee surgery on me when I was swimming D1 and here I am old enough to have a teenager and still skiing double black bumps on the weekends.

He helped me time it all out to minimize impact on my season and school work too. (He had to be talked into doing both at once- but it allowed me to be back for most of the competitive season and swimming best times instead of missing a full season doing them separately- it was a growth problem that impacted both knees).

Lyle Micheli, MD | Boston Children's Hospital

www.childrenshospital.org

But I assume anyone at children’s is probably awesome. Definitely get snobby about doctors. I’ve also heard not so great stuff about cortisone.

 

[RADcatcher]

Cortisone Horror Story
...don't read it if you don't want to know!

This may be a fluke situation but it still happened who knows how much


Early last year my friend was getting cortisone shots in her knee actually a teammate from college. One of the injections ended up injecting infection into her knee which ballooned up like a watermelon. It was so bad that her entire leg was swelling and she went to the emergency. Of which they gave her particular set of antibiotics that she continued to have a reaction to. After a few more days of intense excruciating pain. She had emergency surgery. The doctor said she was Within 3 days of her life.

After communicating with the original knee doctor about the horrific situation he told her he was not surprised that happened because two other people who had gotten cortisone shots from the same cortisone batch also ended up getting the same infection.

It has been nearly a year and she is only barely getting to walk using the leg.