At age 25, I've had two arthroscopic hip surgeries to reshape/remove my impingements. The first operation was on my left hip and the second was on my right hip. I put 6 months of recovery in between my surgeries. This is my journey, starting with my first surgery...
Background: I started noticing I had hip pain when I started doing martial arts, at age 13. I went to the chiropractor for years for it. It's never been bad enough to do anything drastic over it, until recently. In the last year (age 25), it has been getting worse and worse. I finally decided to go to the doctor to see what was going on down there. Initially, the doctor did an X-ray and told me the X-ray came back normal. He mis-diagnosed me with snapping hip syndrome. After two months of therapy and a couple hundred dollars in co-pays, my pain was worse. I went back to my doctor, insisting to get an MRI. In order to get an MRI, I had to go through an orthopedic specialist (fortunately!). The OS took one look at my X-ray and diagnosed me with FAI, hip impingements in both sides of my hip. He sent me for a second opinion with an Orthepedic Surgeon. He confirmed that I have FAI and told me that if I don't get the surgery, I'll need a full hip replacement by the time I am 40. That pretty much sealed the deal for me. So here I am now, on my road to recovery after my FAI hip scopes.
Hip Arthroscopy FAI - Cam Lesion (Left Hip)
Surgery #1 Date: 2/15/14 ~ Arthroscopic Hip Surgery
My Pre-op X-ray. Yellow arrow points to impingement. Blue arrow points to how misshapen the ball is. It's more cauliflower shaped, rather than circular. The doctor plans to only remove the impingement, not reshape the ball.Post-op instructions: 1. No weight on operated leg for 6 weeks (only set the foot down for balance, no weight) 2. Don't get the bandage wet. So no showers until the post-op appointment at 2 weeks.
Day of surgery: The surgery went smoothly. I woke up pretty much fully coherent and not in too bad of pain. Night one went pretty well. I didn't have much pain, just felt sore. My thigh was completely numb. I had no nausea! Yay! That was a big win for me, because it's actually what I was most concerned about. My pain level was pretty minimum, considering I just had someone slice open my skin and shave my bone down. I figured I wasn't in horrible pain because of the medication that was still in my system. I had a pretty big scare in the middle of the night. At 4am I took my ice pack off and realized it had a hole in it and had been leaking all over me all night! So my mom had to change my bed covers and my pjs. Fortunately, it somehow didn't get my bandage wet! The doctor said that my bandage absolutely can't get wet at all! He said that water getting under the bandage will likely cause an infection and that he would have to re-operate! He actually told me that one of his patients didn't follow his "no shower rule" and she came down with a life threatening infection, to which he had to treat and then reoperate on her hip. So we were freaking out, but for the most part, my bandage still seemed to be dry. Needless to say, night one was sleepless for both my mom and myself.
Set up at my mom's house. Full hospital bed. Not necessary, in my case, but certainly helpful, especially if your room is upstairs, as mine is.Picture taken around week 3One day post op: Day one rolled around and I was still in minor pain. A little more of a sharp pain, rather than the dull, achy pain that I had felt the night before, but it was still bearable. The thigh numbness was starting to wear off. It was still numb, but I was starting to be able to feel it again. I found out that I can sleep in any position that's comfortable, so I was finally able to sleep, which certainly made me feel better : ) The first night I was trying to sleep on my back and that just wasn't working out for me, since I'm a side sleeper.
Day 2: Crazy enough, I still haven't had too much pain. It's just felt sore. The numbness in my thigh has completely subsided. As of now, my pre-op "flair ups" have been worse pain than this surgery has been. A few months ago, I had a cortisone shot in my hip and had a bad reaction to it (which is apparently really rare). The cortisone had crystalized in the joint, causing massive inflammation and horrible pain. My reaction to that was honestly wayyyyy worse than the pain from this surgery. It's really been quite bearable. I keep waiting for an intense pain to hit, but it really hasn't yet. So far, I'm pleasantly surprised. Today my leg has a lot more flexibility than it did on day one. I have been moving it a lot the last couple days to keep the blood circulating. I think that will help the recovery a lot. My hip is still weak, but it's stronger than day one. I am able to lift it using mostly hip muscle, with a little help from my arms. I'm trying to reduce my dose the pain killer (Percocet). Today I had a headache from it, so I don't really like being on it at all. That's the only bad reaction so far though. Last night I went 10 hours without any medication and woke up today in minor pain.
Arthroscopic pic: the doctor told me that the blood shown here was actually not from the surgery. The blood was damage being done to the cartilage surrounding the bone from the impinged bone bumping into it all the time.Arthroscopic pic: This is my damaged cartilage. It was badly frayed. The doctor went in and cleaned it up. I didn't even know I had cartilage damage until after surgery when he showed me these pics.My post op X-ray. The doctor removed 1/4 inch of impingement. He left a slight bump (as you see in the pic), but he said he moved my leg around and it didn't hit the bone or interfere with movement, as it did before.Day 4: I'm a little disappointed because today I was moving my leg around and it clicked : / As you know, the doctor did not remove the entire impingement. He said that my knee stretched to my chest without the impingement hitting, so he left it. However, today I moved it in a circular motion and felt it hit. So I'm pretty bummed about that. I really wish he had just smoothed out the whole bone...
Day 5: I have quite a bit of flexibility back. From standing position, I can lift my leg to the side (about a foot off the ground), I can lift it from the back, I can almost lift it to to crane stance.
Example of crane stance:
(where you lift your knee up, keeping your thigh parallel with the floor). Almost there, not quite. Not quite enough hip strength to do a front leg lift. I can lift it about a foot off the ground and it hurts quite a bit. I've been doing daily breathing exercises from day one too. I think it's helped with my flexibility. I switched from Percocet to Vicodin. I think the Percocet was too strong for me. I take to the Vicodin better. So far, I have only had to take one today. I'm not sure how I'm going to wait 4 whole weeks to walk! I honestly feel like I could do it now just fine. Unfortunately, I'm on crutches another 3.5 weeks. I don't know if I'm just having an extremely good recovery or what, but I've had very little pain. Getting my wisdom teeth out was worse than this.
Day 7: I'm doing pretty well. I was able to do a full crane stance today. I emailed my doctor today updating him on everything. I told him about the clicking I'm still feeling.
My recommendations...
Pre-surgery: 1. Buy a couple cute, comfy pairs of sweats. I got Joe Boxer sweats and have pretty much been living in them. 2. Ladies: Get an electric razor. I have the panasonic es2207 and it works perfect for this! 3. Ladies: Buy stretchy/spandex underwear. I wouldn't have thought of this, but regular cotton underwear don't fit over my bandage very well.
Post-surgery: 1. Sponge baths go a long way! I thought it would be terrible not showering for 2 weeks (I literally shower 2x a day normally), but I've been sponging every other day and washing my hair in the sink. It's been very helpful 2. Drink A LOT of water! 3. Blending has kept me healthy. I have been drinking a smoothie everyday 4. Stretch to your ability, without hurting yourself 5. Keep your blood circulating by moving your leg as much as possible
Day 8: I'm feeling like week two is going to be harder on me than week one. The last couple nights I've been getting more pain in my hip/lower back and tailbone, like an achy pain that carries on the rest of the day. It may be from not being active enough. It's been hurting a lot more laying on my non-operated side, which is strange because that was a comfortable position last week. Now angling towards my operated side is actually more comfortable. I can do a full crane stance, full side leg lift (it hurts), full back leg life and almost a full front leg lift. The front leg left is the hardest and most painful.
Day 9: I've officially hit my highest point of boredom! I'm so incredibly bored, I have no idea what to do with myself. Normally, I am very physically active, so this whole laying around thing is driving me crazy. Gah!
Day 10: I went out for the first time today (yay!). It felt like an epic road trip, just going out for lunch with my mom haha. I felt no pain at all before and during lunch, but then we went to a store after lunch and I spent about a half hour looking at necklaces. Wayyyyy over did it. I knew when I was standing there that I needed to leave, but I kept looking (darn my shopping addiction!). So as soon as we got in the car and the rest of the night, my leg was throbbing. Also, my doctor responded to the email I wrote him about still feeling grinding. He said that he took as much off as he could without damaging the femur... hmm.
Day 14: Today was my most emotionally taxing day yet... It's been extremely hard for me to accept being non-active. On a regular basis, I go to the gym, I go to martial arts and I go to band practice. Those three things complete who I am. Working out is progressive for my body, martial arts is progressive for my mind and band practice, as well as being a creative outlet, is my progression towards my career. Without those things, I feel completely lost. Without productivity, I feel like my life has no meaning. Going into this surgery, I knew I wouldn't be able to do the things I love for a while. So I thought I could throw myself into another passion of mine, animal rights. The well-being of animals is, and always has been, a huge platform for me. I thought that since I won't be able to to use my body, I could still use my mind to do important things. This last week, I spent hour upon hour networking this pregnant, very sweet girl that is on her last days at the pound. Unfortunately, I failed her. I couldn't find anyone to foster or adopt her... this pretty much sent me over the edge into a complete emotional melt down. I feel defeated that I can't help that sweet pup. I feel defeated that the only meaningful thing I thought I could do right now, I actually can't do... I haven't saved any animals and it's completely crushing. I validate my life by my productivity. Right now, I have zero productivity. I am doing nothing meaningful. The only thing I have been attempting to do is rescue kill-shelter dogs and I'm failing miserably at it : ( At this point, I just feel like I have nothing to give. I feel a complete loss of control over my life. It takes so much work just to get from point A to point B on crutches. They are so exhausting... and I just found out that I will be on them for another FOUR weeks. Just being on them the last two weeks has been tiresome. I can't even imagine doing another four weeks on them! With all this lack of control that I have been experiencing, I just thought the one thing I could control was saving that dog's life. It crushes me that I can't even do that.
Day 16: I am feeling better today. I have had an emotional last few days. Unfortunately, I had to step away from my animal rescue sites, just to detach a little. It was just breaking my heart too much. So here is an update on the last few days. On the night of my emotional breakdown, my mom borrowed my great grandma's wheelchair and took me shopping to cheer me up. It was definitely nice to sit down and just enjoy the ride, instead of hobbling around on my crutches. The day before that, I had my 2 week post op appointment. It was a rainy day... guess what? Crutches are not rain proof. I walked into Kaiser while my mom was parking the car and bam! Totally slipped! Right in front of everyone. The security guard ran over with a wheelchair and told me to sit there until my mom came in. Slick floors plus wet shoes equals a bad situation. Definitely something to keep in mind for next time it rains. I got my bandage off, as well as stitches. Eek this was painful! More so the bandage than the stitches. That bandage was practically glued to my skin! I finally got the okay to shower, which I did immediately after leaving! My first shower felt like heaven! I let the warm water wash down my skin, just sulking it in. Felt so nice. Showering has been interesting. My first shower was at my house, upstairs (I butt scooted up the stairs). I used a shower chair, which fit great in my shower. I have a couple built in seats and a grab bar, so my shower was really perfect for my current situation. Oh, I did forget to mention that I slipped getting out! I don't have a bathroom rug. Not a great day for me and water... eh. My second shower was at my grandma's house. She has no stairs, so my mom thought her place would be the best for me. So far, this was actually the most difficult. She has a walk in shower (very small), with no grab bars or seats. It was really too small to fit my shower chair. I found it very hard to get out of with no grab bars. Lastly, my third shower was at my mom's house, which is where I am staying right now. I butt scooted up the stairs. The shower is tub style, with a detachable shower head (basically the average shower that everyone has these days). I just sat on the rail, scooted in and laid down. I stayed lying for the remainder of the shower. Wasn't too bad. It seems that as long as your shower has grab bars, a slip free mat and enough room, you won't have a problem. I also got the okay from my doctor to ride a stationary bicycle. So today I hit the gym for the first time! I was so happy to be there! The gym has the best atmosphere. I love just watching everyone else. Everyone there is doing something to improve themselves and I love that. I was told to do 5 minutes and work up to 10 minutes... but I did 15 minutes. Probably overdid it, because when I got home, my hip was throbbing and I needed my medication. Next time I will have to go easier on it.
The doctor told me I will be on crutches another 4 weeks, that's a total of 6 weeks! A couple things you need to know about crutches: they hurt, they are unstable, you need a lot of strength and they are not wet weather friendly. Crutches are not fun at all, but I found something to make them a smidge better. Crutcheze carries cute padded covers and carrying bags! These are super helpful! Or you can go the cheap route, like me, and wrap them in towels. Crutcheze comes in an assortment of colors.
http://www.crutcheze.com
Shower must haves: shower chair, no-slip rubber mat for inside the shower, bath rug for outside the shower, grab bars (hopefully your shower already has them. If not, I believe you can buy some). If you don't want to spend a bunch of money on this, the absolute essentials are the mats! Don't chince out on this! I am a marial artist, so I would say I have fairly good balance and every time I have been on a slick floor with wet feet, I have slipped. You need the mats for sure!
Day 20: Today I felt very unmotivated, not neccarily mopey or sad, just didn't feel like doing anything or going anywhere. My mom took me to the gym anyway and I felt a lot better after. Only did a small workout, if you can call it that, but anything is better than nothing.
My incisions on day 20. They are a little bigger than I thought they would be. They are almost an inch in size. When I first heard that I had to have surgery, I cried over the thought of having big scars all over me. Now that I have gone through it, I don't really care that much. They are like battle wounds and, as I see it, they are something that had to happen for me to improve my quality of life.Day 21:I gave in and ordered some Crutcheze in light blue! I have only had them a day, so I'm not sure if they are more comfortable than the towels yet. So far, I like them. I will give a full review on them later!One of the most used items I've had is the quilted phone pouch necklace that my mom has been letting me borrow. I literally use it every single day. It's not the most fashionable item in the world and I would never wear this normally, but it's been PERFECT for holding my cell phone through this process! They probably can fit a little cash or card and a Chapstick as well. I had planned on using my backpack for all this, but this is much more conveniant and suiting for my needs. They have a lot of these types of things of etsy.com. They also have items called neck wallets on Amazon that may also work, depending on which one you get. With those, read the reviews to check if it will fit your phone. Neck wallets may be more suiting for men.Day 24: Yesterday I went to the gym and one of the personal trainers that I know offered to rehab my leg. I was hesitant and told him that as long as I put no weight on it, it should be fine. Well he put me on a couple of the machines with low weight. Ever since, I have been feeling guilty. I know he was just trying to be nice, but I really feel like I should only be doing the exercises the doctor told me to do. It's my body and I really shouldn't be gambling with my recovery like this. Next time I see him, I'm just going to politely decline his offer to help and stick to the exercises that have been approved for me.
Today I had my first full band practice. It was three hours. I did the whole thing sitting down and I didn't have any pain issues. Obviously, I needed help carrying my gig bag in (which has my in ear monitor system in it). For anyone with more gear (especially heavy gear, like drums or an amp), 3 weeks will probably be too soon to go back. I would suggest waiting until you have an okay to carry heavy items or get help from someone.
One Month: Well it has officially been one entire month! My oh my, has it passed slow... whew! Still another 2 weeks until my next appointment and hopefully I will be crutch-free after that! I'm still healing up nicely. I go to the gym three times a week to do 15 minutes on the bike and my PT exercises that the doc showed me. I also do breathing exercises, mainly because they are just good for your body. They relax the muscles and I tend to believe they will help my recovery in some sort of mystical kind of way. Haha. The PT exercises are getting slightly easier... they still hurt. The muscles in my hip have weakened a lot since surgery. I have no idea what it will be like to walk on, but I'm imagining it will take a bit of time to build the strength back up to carry my body weight again. Right now, that's the main thing I notice, the lack of strength in my hip. Doing leg lifts burns pretty bad after about 5 or 6 of them. Eek! What a far cry from what I could do before surgery! I have a lot of my flexibility back. I still can't bring my knee fully back to my chest. I bring it to the point of pain, then stop. Same goes for pushing my knee outward. It doesn't go fully out. I would say about 75% of my flexibility is back. I ordered some lotions and essential oils to create my own scar remedy last night. I have been using Vitamin E oil for the last week, only to find out that it is made up predominately of soybean oil! So I put a ton of research into the remedy I'm making and hopefully the substances I bought will do the trick! If I have positive results, I will be posting pictures and the recipe. I'm a little bummed at what a late start I am getting on my scar treatment! I read that others started their treatment early on and their scars were totally gone by 6 weeks. I'm 4 weeks post op and, basically, just beginning my treatment, thus, my scars are very dark, at the moment. I was unaware that I could start so early. My doctor just told me I can start when my wounds are closed, which they are now! So wish me luck!
6 Weeks: The day has finally arrived! I took my first steps! Yesterday I had my 6 week post op appointment and the doctor FINALLY gave me permission to ditch the crutches! He told me to spend the next few days transitioning to being crutch free. So I, of course, came home and immediately tried to walk without my crutches... and my leg gave out. Just fell right out from under me! Putting all my weight onto my leg that I haven't used in 6 weeks was shockingly painful. I knew it would hurt my hip the first time I walked, but I had no idea it would hurt my ankle, my knee and the bottom of my foot. The bottom of my foot felt like I was walking on pins and needles. Little shooting pains through it, mainly the heel. My ankle is surprisingly weak. It felt like it was going to explode from the pressure. And my knee literally just flopped forward. There was no stability at all from it. I guess it's not that crazy. I haven't put any weight at all on it for a month and a half. So it makes sense that I need to rebuild the muscles in it. Going into this, I just hadn't even thought about how my other joints would be affected from the lack of use. After my struggle last night, I thought that it would take me another full week just to build up enough strength for my leg to support my body weight. The thought of another week held at the mercy of crutches really bummed me out. So I spent the next 24 hours working on transitioning from my crutches. I started out today using my crutches to take off the weight when walking. So I was walking, using my foot, but not putting all my weight on it. As the day went on, I slowly added a little more weight at a time, until I could finally walk lifting my crutches up in the air, giving my leg full weight. I'm happy to say that tonight I took my first crutch free steps : ) Yes, they were baby steps, but they were still steps!
Should You Massage Your Scars? About a week ago, my scars started hurting very badly. They felt extremely sensitive and tender to touch. Which is odd, because a couple weeks prior, they felt fine. So I took to google to figure out the issue. I watched a video by Doctor Niel Shultz about raised scars. He said that the key to getting rid of scars is actually not as much about the product you use, but rather about massaging them! If you don't massage your scars, scar tissue will form underneath them, making even the slightest touch painful. You should massage your scars for 15-30 seconds every time you put your product on. So I immediately started massaging my scars and within a matter of days, my raised scars turned into flat scars! I saw an immediate difference just from massaging. In my post op appointment yesterday, my doctor confirmed that I should have been massaging my scars this whole time, though he had never mentioned it previously... So don't wait, like I did. Once they are closed up, get to massaging!
I did make a wonderful, moisturizing, all natural scar oil that I've been using for the last week. It hasn't been long enough to give a full review, but I feel like it's going to work. I did a lot of research on what natural substances are best at removing scars and included the best of the best in my scar remedy! If you are concerned about putting chemicals into your scars (as I was), I strongly urge you to make your own home remedy of natural products! Here is my recipe...
