Had the surgery 2 years ago, will be doing my 2nd IM since I have been back. Same symptoms, where are you located? I had mine done by Dr. Snibbe in Beverly HIlls. Here is a link to his information, he is the best! I researched 4 other surgeons, he was hands down my favorite!

http://bhorthogroup.com/dr_jason.htm

I also blogged about it...

gradyfunk.blogspot.com

PM me if you have specific questions, I have been through it all!

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"If you have to tell people you are, you probably aren't."

Tks for quick reply. I'm in Utah trying to find the best of the best. I have done PRP (blood transfusion), Rhizotomy burning 3 nerves off in lower back area, all sorts of Structural Integration Massage blah, blah, blah. I know my Labrum is torn for sure and it's nice to have a concrete fact however my personal Dr. doesn't have a lot of faith that this surgery for labrum is going to fix back problems. That's why I'm trying to find out exactly how common back issues are related to labrum issues.

Tks

I see, makes sense! I had the high hamstring problems and limited mobility in the hip but never back problems. You might want to also try and contact Dr. Philippon who did the surgery for Alex Rodriguez. He is kind of the "guru" on these, at least you can see if he has run across anyone with your similar symptoms... Best of luck!!

http://bleacherreport.com/...uccess-on-two-levels

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"If you have to tell people you are, you probably aren't."

I have had three hip surgeris on the right hip. The first two were removal and osteotomy, the last most recent one was a transplant/graft. Dr. Nho at midwest orthopedics at rush did mine. I've done two ironmans and numerous shorter races. The hip feels good but never felt like my other hip. Do your homework on it and find a Dr. who will take their time on the surgery, mine were 5 hrs plus and I couldn't be happier.

Check out TJ Tollakson's post about his offseason hip surgery. http://www.tollakson.com, click news, then scroll to the March 18 entry.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

To be sure GFunk is the king of fast reply, and knows what he is talking about labral tears. On his suggestion (and another one here on ST), I had my left hip scoped just 4 weeks ago at Dr. Snibbe's office and so far everything has been way better than expected. Had a small tear reattached w/ 2 anchors and braided stitches, had a bunch of bone spurs removed off the hip socket, and had the femur reshaped. I was only on crutches 4-5 days, and only took pain meds for 2 days. Was on the bike trainer after 3 days and am up to 45 min once or twice a day. Yes, I had very serious issues in my SI joint and lower back, and terrible tightness in the upper glutes that would not respond to traditional methods prior to surgery. Dr. Snibbe assures me that all these problems will be a thing of the past once I fully recover w/ the proper rehab. Find the best doctor in your area who has done 1000 of these procedures. Dr. Snibbe does 5 to 7 a week so I was very confident in his skills. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Anthony

That is great news. I just got a cortisone shot yesterday in my SI Joint because it has been killing me. We all know the hip and back are all connected but deciding what sypmtoms are from what problems has been an absolute nightmare. I'm hoping the surgery will fix the problem because any experimental stuff they have done with my back for the past 2 years has produced zero results. I'm thinking once I gain mobility from my hip everything else will settle down and stop trying to do work that it shouldn't have been doing in the past. And I agree trying to find a Dr. who does these on a regular basis is a tough thing because there aren't that many out there.

Tks

Your struggle sounds familiar. Suffered with lower back and SI joint issues for years, kept at bay with frequent chiro visits and keeping the SI joint from freezing. Diagnosed with FAI and labral tears in summer 2009. (Ultimately broke down at St. Anthony's in 2009 halfway through the run). Was on the waiting list with Phillipon when he stopped taking my insurance so opted for Dr. Byrd in Nashville. Did right and left hip in 2010, 5 months apart. Back to 100% on the bike very quickly but cut down running mileage significantly but overall I still feel waaayyy better then pre-surgery. Unfortunately, I still struggle with fairly minor back issues (not so much SI joint anymore) and am currently working on a core strengthening/hamstring lengthening/ART routine that is aimed at fixing some of the soft tissues injuries I'm still experiencing post-surgery. My job requires me to sit a lot which exacerbates my issues. Overall I'm pleased with the results of the surgery and everything has improved, but I will never be back to where I was before I broke down. Just biding my time until eventual replacement/resurfacing. 40 y/o male.

I am in the same boat. I have had lower back/butt/hip pain for 2+ years as well. I went through 3 Dr's, different MRIs and plenty of physical therapy.

It was manageable all last year, but after a few weeks where it was worse than ever this spring, I went in for another MRI/opinion. This time they did a steroid injection and also used dye for the MRI.
The results showed FAI and some definite labral tearing. Like you, I was skeptical that the tear was the cause of my back/butt pain since several others I know that had tears had pain in the front of their hip.
The fact that the pain temporarily went away from the injection however, makes me think it's probable.

I tried to schedule surgery right away, but since I haven't had any major setbacks and I couldn't get in for the surgery right away, I decided to postpone it until after IM Cozumel.

You can have 2 different types of surgery. You can have the tears fixed, or you can have the cause/FAI corrected. Fixing the tears is a fairly minor surgery with 4-6 weeks of recovery. Correcting the cause/FAI can be a lot more serious and require 4-6 months of recovery. I would monitor it closely after the injection and then as others have suggested, find a Dr. very familiar with it to discuss your options. It sounds like you have tried everything else, so if the injection helps, the surgery would definitely be worth a shot.

Sacroiliac (low back unilateral) pain is very common with labral tear. I just had a hip arthroscopy this week and the surgeon was able to manage it with a labral debridement and synovectomy, although the hip is stiff and I have limited range of motion (post op day 3) pain is pretty low and no back pain, could be because I am on anti-inflammatory meds though. Thankfully I had hip symptoms only since May, MRI/CT in June, surgery in August-hope to be ready for winter training and 2012 season. Tim Thomas (think Bruins) and TJ Tollakson (think Eagleman and IMLP champ) had this surgery recently and have done quite well this year. Good luck

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"If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health"
- Hippocrates, 460-370 BC

That is great news. I have read so much about surgery's that have gone well and ones that have gone bad. If this will take away back pain I will be extremely happy. I don't mind the groin pain from the tear but the 24/7 SI/Low Back pain is beyond a level of me finding any comfort. I'm still trying to find very reputable Dr's who do this on a frequent basis as I'm not ready for any experimental work. Suggestions on Dr's who do this type of procedure regularly? Tks

Depends on where you are, I am in NH. There are only a handful of surgeons who do this type of surgery, I would say the local orthopedic guy would know who specializes in hip arthoscopy. I would suggest you have it done by someone that has several years of experience and does it several times per month. Bryan Kelly in NYC is well regarded but it is my understanding there are a fair amount of out-of-pocket expenses.

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"If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health"
- Hippocrates, 460-370 BC

Yes I'm out in Utah and I have been told there is a guy in Vail Colorado who does 5-7 a week. Guess we will see what insurance does and doesn't do to help out.

Tks

WTF!!!!!!!!

My insurance (Tricare) denied the arthroscopic procedure to repair my torn labrum. Anybody else had insurance deny the procedure? WTF now? Am I stuck letting them flay me open? I don't have the kind of $ to lay out of pocket for such a thing.

Orthopaedic Associates in Portland, ME are good. I have had hip pain treated by them - small labral tear; no surgery for me, but they'll do it if needed.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I suffered from Right FAI and Labrial tear for 15 years. Very similar symptoms as you describe. I had surgery by Dr. Phillipon in Feb 2009. It was a fantastic experience and allowed me to keep running. Find an experienced surgeon, one that can fix your FAI as well as the tear. It is a process but well worth it. There is a good Facebook page called Understanding Hip Impingment where you can meet people with similar experiences. Please let me know if I can help.

Mike
mosborn@pol.net

Thanks for the info. I will check it out. I sat down with the Ortho today for first time and went trough MRI's with him and it was very obvious what my problem was. Not only a tear but my hip socket on my left side looks nothing like my "good" right side. His analogy was that my good hip looks like a light bulb that where it is rounded and gets narrow and my left side has no shape distinctions at all. He said he will repair tear but also shave off bone to create more space. What he says makes perfect sense but will go talk to at least one more Dr. to see if everybody is in-line with each other. Glad to hear there is hope.

Can anyone recommend a boston area ortho surgeon for this? Thanks

How long are you post-surgery and how is it holding up?

My surgery was Feb of 09, 2 &1/2 years ago. I was lucky even though I had pain, weakness and gait difficulty for 15 years my cartilage looked good. So he relieved the pincher impingment with the osteoplasty and anchored the librial tear back the to acetabulum. I feel like he reset the clock. I was spinning without resistance immediately after surgery, light running by 8-12 weeks, riding by 12 months, running all I wanted at 6 months. I ran a trail 50K 7 months post op. I have tightness on occasion with long runs but it goes away afterwards where before I had pain 24/7. They say the longer you have symptoms pre-op the longer people have them post op. So I may deal with it the rest of my life. But, without surgery I suspect I would have been staring at a hip replacement in my 50's, now maybe I can make it to my 80's.

I had a similar surgery to yours except I did have some cartilage damage that needed attention. They cut a flap of cartilage out and put some synthetic in- 9 weeks ago.
Same thing- like turning back the clock.
After 9 weeks I am riding quite well- running is up to 20 min.