Re-injury post hip arthroscopy

Pain & Rehab Forum [Moderated]
1

Hi BBM,

About 6 months ago I had hip arthoscopy and femoraplasty to repair a torn labrum in my left hip and remove a bony cyst. These injuries were causing me a lot of pain in daily activities for well over a year, e.g. pain while walking, going up stairs, tying my shoes, etc. The surgery went smoothly and aside from a few weeks of missing PT because of issues with my insurance I was back to feeling pretty good and starting to lift again, albeit with limited ROM and very light weights.

However, about 6 weeks ago I was lifting an empty suitcase onto a bed and heard/felt a huge pop in my hip. Within about 6 hours I had all the same symptoms that I had prior to the surgery, only worse. Symptoms include a deep ache in the front/inside of the hip, tightness in the hip flexor, discomfort when sitting for more than ~10 mins at a time, along with frequent popping.

My surgeon believes that something has just been “tweaked” and there’s likely no damage to the repair. He told me to go back to PT for a few sessions and take a ton of NSAIDs. However, at this point, even mild activity (e.g. warm-up exercises) or missing a single dose of NSAIDs leaves me in pain for days. I have an upcoming appointment with a PT on Wednesday, but given how much any activity is hurting, I’m not optimistic about the outlook from that perspective. I’m curious if anyone has had experiences like this or has any insight on the following questions:

  1. Is re-injury post surgery common for these kinds of operations? What are the typical complications?
  2. What are the non-surgical options for treating this? If I keep going down the current road suggested by the surgeon, I’ll end up with a cortisone injection and another MRI. However, since I don’t consider the first operation successful, I’m skeptical of surgical solutions moving forward.
  3. Any recommendations for clinicians in the Chicago area that have experience with hip pain and rehab?

At this point, I’m taking things slow and I’m not looking to start squatting/deadlifting again any time soon - I’d just like to get back to normal day-to-day activities without pain.

Many thanks!