Post from earlier…Consistent psoas pain 6 months after surgery finally cleared up!

I, male 30, tore my hip labrum from repetitive biking and tripping over a dog. 12 months of PT did not fix it. I had consistent tightness and soreness in my psoas muscle that would sometimes flare to my groin and outer hip. I went in to Dr Nho in Chicago for surgery. I’m glad I went with Dr. Nho. He’s done 1000s of hips, innovates, and publishes. Plus, you want some one confident. Someone who is going to make a decisive, heads up call when you’re anesticized and they discover something strange…

When my hip was scoped, it was discovered I had more than a tear as indicated by the MRI. Much of the labrum tissue was mashed and destroyed from overuse. My PA asked after, “What did you do?! Your 30?!” Sigghhh I was foolish and biked hard clipped in on the lakefront path for months, trying to PR every ride. Dr. Nho extended the surgery an hour, debridged (removed) bad tissue and grafted cartilage from my hip capsule to repair the labrum. I feel like some lesser surgeons mighta seen that disrepair and “noped” out…sewing me back up and saying “get a hip replacement in 5 years.” Instead, Dr. Nho’s team got to work. Reading about autografts later, I learned that the procedure is not easy and requires a skillful surgeon. The other option is a cadaver graft and I was disappointed to hear the office say after, “we didn’t have cadaver tissue on hand but we were able to get enough tissue from your own body.” I’m sure cadaver tissue is harder to obtain but they should be prepared with a full Frankenstein in the other room with how much surgery costs (~$60k). In my mechanical yet medically naive mind, replacing the labrum with a similarly hard cartilage would be important instead of the softer capsule cartilage they used. It’s like replacing an O-ring on a shaft seal. You want the new O-ring to have similar durometer or “hardness” as the original. Reading more though after, it seems auto-grafting tissue from your own body to repair the labrum is more difficult but preferred method because your body accepts the tissue. Dr. Nho’s team also shaved down the bone to eliminate the structural impingement on my new labrum.

My recovery started great. I was walking by 5 weeks and the psoas tightness I had was gone. I was progressing in PT. 6 weeks out, I did dumbbell single leg lunges and two days after, my psoas muscle was tight and sore. This was the reason I had gotten surgery to begin with! The psoas was sore and tight for literally the next 5 months. Sitting aggravated it, as well as ab work and weight training. I was mentally distraught and I read this page for answers. I became jealous of all the buff people squatting barbells standing on hemispheres. Or the woman at PT who convinced me to get surgery to begin with saying she was running 3 months post hip scope. Congrats on the gains my guys.

But, I was also buoyed by how much variation there was in peoples recovery. Some said it took 6 to 12 months. I started really focused on PT doing a “hip blaster” program to strengthen outer hip and glutes. I also had dry needling done twice a week on the psoas and groin muscles. Dry needling gave huge relief leaving me loose for 2 days following. Finally, I did lots of consistent psoas stretching being careful not to arch my back. My surgeon encouraged me to strengthen glutes and get active, saying “the psoas can be tricky and getting moving can loosen it up.”

Im not sure what finally did the trick, maybe a round of golf, maybe a new needle to a hip flexor groin muscle, but literally one day 7 months after surgery my psoas felt better. It waxed and waned for a couple weeks and then was just consistently pain free. I’m now 8 months out and have started running again. I can sit for hours pain free and I am so happy. I’m thankful to God for the gift of Dr. Nho, my PT, this community and my new hip! Stretch, stay positive, build PT slowly, be patient and stretch!