Right Hip FAI Diagnosis and Surgery 2011-2012

Within 5 minutes of being physically examined in October 2011 by an Ortho, I was told I probably had FAI (femoroacetabular impingement) with labral tear. This is where there is too much bone on the ball of your femur and/or the rim of the hip socket (acetabulum) that causes friction and can damage your cartilage and labrum. The cartilage and labrum are very important because they are hip stabilizers and shock absorbers with movement. 

(credit: http://www.hipfai.com/) 

My MRI with dye injection, known as an MRA, was done shortly thereafter. This confirmed I had both types (mixed) of FAI in my right hip which are known as cam impingement (on the femur) and pincer (on the acetabulum). At that time we only focused on my right hip since it was the main source of my pain. We did try two separate cortisone shots but they each only provided relief for a week or less. 

Surgery was performed January 13^th, 2012 by Dr. James Bruckner at Proliance Surgeons in Issaquah, WA.  They shaved bone off of my femur and acetabulum to remove the bony impingement which had caused the torn labrum. You do not want to only repair the labrum without fixing the underlying source of the problem. The labrum had to be debrided (removed) because it was shredded and unsalvageable. My recovery was pretty straight forward – 10 days on crutches, off of pain meds within 2 weeks and full weight bearing by that point too. I was still dealing with muscle recovery from the surgery when I noticed by May 2012 my left hip was also having similar pre-op symptoms as my right hip side.