I am thinking about having the FAI and labarl tear scope surgery- But that aside here is the deal see what everyone thinks???
I have strange symptoms in the HIP I do get groin pain but I also get pain all around the hip outside front back etc. More upper hip region like near the belt line area of pants. Sitting seems to cause the trouble. I am a triathlete the way it started for me was in late july my hip seemed to lock up on me after PT and massage and couple days off I was back to 100 percent then after about two weeks of training and an olympic distance race with no problems it locked up again this time no massage or pt really helped. Then for the past month I have gone through advil cycles etc a couple days off and I am almost symtom free but once I train I am back to pain. What does this mean? I have been to my local ortho and he did a anti inflamtion shot and a MRI with dye which shows a small tear at best (might not be torn) and my x-ray shows an FAI but not a major one? The only thing that seems to help is no training.
I have been racing and training for 6-7 years with no hip issues (that I knew off). I appericate any insight. Nothing seems to hurt more than the other. I have a new PT who is saying I need to strengthen my lower back. My current ortho is trying everything else before surgery. PS when I say groin pain I mean more of an annoyance than an actually pain. Maybe that is the triathlete in me? I would say a 2 out of ten. My primformis is fine this is not itband either I have had that before. Another thought I have always had left side issues (knee itband etc) and this hip stuff is right side. Driving (using the right foot) killed me. The driving part has gotten better.
Can FAI or a tear come out of no where like this? I mean over the last 7 years I did two ironman’s 5 plus half ironmans tons of other tri’s the Boston marathon and a 2:05 olympic distance and nothing until this season which was best and I was racing at a lower weight? My training has been similar to years past. I am 30 years old I turned 30 the day I got my MRI.
It’s very possible that you’ve had the FAI and tear for a while, and never knew it. I have tears in both my hips–one hip is teh result of a bike crash, the other had no apparent acute cause.
Groin pain is a pretty common manifestation of a labral tear, actually. I have more than one in my left hip, and where/how it bothers me depends on what I’m doing. Running, it tends to be groin/thigh pain and a sort of “watery”, locking, needs to pop sort of thing. Riding my MTB isn’t bad, nor my road bike, but my tri bike bugs me in the groin and outer hip/butt areas. The worst pain, though, came from the bursitis I developed…that hurts right over the greater trochanter.
My PT has me strengthening my core–and by core, I mean glutes, back, hips, and abs–not just abs. I did a lot of core stuff before, but mostly abs. It has helped some, but really, what helps the most is not training.
I am having knee surgery next week, and am hoping the downtime, along with continued core stuff will help make the tear more asymptomatic. If when I start ramping up the mileage again next spring it starts to bug me again, I will probably seek out a surgical consult. Unlike knee surgery, hip surgery isn’t something you really want to do if you don’t have to (well, NO surgery is really what you want to do in all cases, but…). Very few surgeons are well-trained in hip surgery, and the recovery can be tough.
Yea i am working on CORE stuff right not glutes back hip with a PT. Seems like once I ramp up the milage it is going to come right back? Can one really change their strength enough to compensate? So you had no symptoms from the tear for a while? I guess it is hard to say when the tear happen.
the medical term FAI means a Hip Impingment which can lead to a tear. My glutes and piriformis where tight but all that seems to have gone down now with only Groin pain.
I got ya I hope you never have to learn about it. I am tyring to find a triathlete ortho who does FAI and hip scopes who would look at my MRI and my xray’s
Areas of discomfort sound a lot like what I’ve experienced for simple periformis tightness…but my level of discomfort is much lower and thankfully only flares up while walking and standing still; I can train with no discomfort at all.
My periformis issues started literally overnight…I speculate a result of a slip/fall on ice putting something out of alignment.
I can’t tell from your notes if you can see a definitive tear on your scans or have other evidence of a significant problem…so just a word of caution to keep an open mind that your problem may not be as serious (a tear) as you think and thus wouldn’t require something as drastic as surgery. Keep asking questions and probing.
I have no idea when it happened. My other hip (the one from a crash)…I had one flare up a year ago, did PT, and it has never bothered me since (or post-crash but before flare, really)
But yes, the idea is when your glutes and back and abs are strong enough they will rebalance the load. It doesn’t take too much of a shift to affect yoru whole kinesthetic chain. And, like I said, it HAS helped… will it solve the problem entirely for next year? I don’t know. That remains to be seen. But I am certainly willing to wait, as the outcome for FAI/Labral tear surgery can be sketchy.
I am thinking about having the FAI and labarl tear scope surgery- But that aside here is the deal see what everyone thinks???
I have strange symptoms in the HIP I do get groin pain but I also get pain all around the hip outside front back etc. More upper hip region like near the belt line area of pants. Sitting seems to cause the trouble. I am a triathlete the way it started for me was in late july my hip seemed to lock up on me after PT and massage and couple days off I was back to 100 percent then after about two weeks of training and an olympic distance race with no problems it locked up again this time no massage or pt really helped. Then for the past month I have gone through advil cycles etc a couple days off and I am almost symtom free but once I train I am back to pain. What does this mean? I have been to my local ortho and he did a anti inflamtion shot and a MRI with dye which shows a small tear at best (might not be torn) and my x-ray shows an FAI but not a major one? The only thing that seems to help is no training.
I have been racing and training for 6-7 years with no hip issues (that I knew off). I appericate any insight. Nothing seems to hurt more than the other. I have a new PT who is saying I need to strengthen my lower back. My current ortho is trying everything else before surgery. PS when I say groin pain I mean more of an annoyance than an actually pain. Maybe that is the triathlete in me? I would say a 2 out of ten. My primformis is fine this is not itband either I have had that before. Another thought I have always had left side issues (knee itband etc) and this hip stuff is right side. Driving (using the right foot) killed me. The driving part has gotten better.
Can FAI or a tear come out of no where like this? I mean over the last 7 years I did two ironman’s 5 plus half ironmans tons of other tri’s the Boston marathon and a 2:05 olympic distance and nothing until this season which was best and I was racing at a lower weight? My training has been similar to years past. I am 30 years old I turned 30 the day I got my MRI.
Any help would be awsome.
Eugene
I have similar symptoms… and have seen a number of docs (and am a doc)
Firstly, it’s not for certain that it is FAI. FAI is hard to diagnose. Only a few ortho’s are good at the hip arthroscopy at this time.
My situation turns out to be actually referred pain from the spine. My X-rays were essentially negative and my hip arthrogram was normal.
Just make sure your back gets checked out as well… it could well be the cause.
My xrays are not negative they show a impingment but that has been there for years. My MRI showed a possible tear small at best. Or maybe none. My symptoms change alot sometimes it is painful to walk sometimes to sit. I am going to keep probing and working hard at what the PT tells me. The pt says I am having trouble squatting and we are working on that. Wonder how that would be effecting it all?
Very cool that is super helpful that an xray alone can show this but can suggest. yes it was a arthrogram with cortozone and numbing medicine. I am going to for sure metion the mckenzie back presses. Any reason this has flared up like this on me?
Yes, those are the ones. I have symptoms down my right side and my PT has me doing these and ‘off-center’ press-ups. These are done by keeping the pelvis off to the left and the hands/chest and the legs off to the right. This allows you to work on PT on the (in my case) right side of the spine/disc. Do the opposite if your symptoms are left -sided.
No one can diagnose over the net, just make sure they rule out the back as a cause before you have any hip surgery.
I’m on a surgery waiting list to get labrum tear/FAI fixed. Classic symptom of labrum tear is the inability to sit cross-legged (indian style for the politically incorrect). My pain started in my groin seemed to get better but then pain continued to radiate throughout my hip, lower back, SI joint. The source of pain can be misleading. A tear will not fix itself - not enough blood flow. If you don’t get it surgically repaired, it can lead to arthritis and eventual hip replacement - particulary for those of us pushing our bodies to the limit. Good luck
You mentioned that you’re having recurring issues on the left and recent symptoms on the right. Have you considered going to a specialist to get a precise measurement on any leg length discrepancy, or possible pelvic tilt issues?
Does your left foot pronate more than the right? itb issues as a result?
what sort of knee issues have you had on the left?
Your hip issue could be just another symptom of an underlying condition which until treated will go on. Or it could be what you suggest (FAI).
I’m on a surgery waiting list to get labrum tear/FAI fixed. Classic symptom of labrum tear is the inability to sit cross-legged (indian style for the politically incorrect). My pain started in my groin seemed to get better but then pain continued to radiate throughout my hip, lower back, SI joint. The source of pain can be misleading. A tear will not fix itself - not enough blood flow. If you don’t get it surgically repaired, it can lead to arthritis and eventual hip replacement - particulary for those of us pushing our bodies to the limit. Good luck
I agree with your assessment. What you have described is classic FAI. However, radicular pain from a bulging disc can cause a quite similar picture. The cross-legged test is a good one… which is something I can do pretty easily. (mine is a back problem). Another thing is that being in aero position on the bike in theory should aggravate FAI more than a disc. But even this can be misleading if your bike position is not a good one.
Bottom line… make sure you rule out spine issues before deciding for sure that it is a hip problem… and of course vice versa
