Recovery from a labral tear?

I've had labral repair arthroscopically on my left hip.  I am still having pain one year later.  It's a looong recovery. 

In 2015, I thought I had sciatica.  I was riding my motorcycle A LOT.  I thought once the bike got put away for the winter it would go away.  I was having pain in my ischium or buttock down the side of my leg all the way past my knees.  I couldn't stand or sit comfortably for any length of time.  My hips have been very noisy with movement but never caused me any pain since my 20's.  (I'm now 48 years old)  They occasionally would temporarily lock (that was painful).  I saw Dr. Bruce Levy at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN.  He said I was a mess.  I had tendonitis, trochanteric bursitis, the pain down the side of my leg was the IT band, and I have CAM and pincher lesions.  I got intra-articular injections in the hips and bursal injections in the trochanters.  I was comfortable.  But repeated injections yield less benefit and longevity.  I have had the maximal number of injections now.  I had my surgery in mid April 2016.  The doctor said it would be a worse recovery than a total hip replacement and it was horrible!  I have had more than 13 surgeries in my life time.  This was probably the worst recovery, but bone pain is pretty bad compared to other soft tissue pain.  They were very strict about taking it slow.  I got to get off the crutches in May.  I got to ride my motorcycle the first weekend of June.  I could barely lift my leg off the ground to put it on the foot rest.  I could put it down easily but not up.  I couldn't shave my leg for months because of the swelling and loss of range of motion and I had a very tough time putting on socks.  I was off work for 10 weeks but they wanted me off for 12.  They told me I would regret it and I did.  It took a long time before I could pivot without pain.  Maybe 8 months.  The pain would be bearable for a while and then the next month it was unbearable.  And of course they wouldn't give me anything for pain.  They told me to expect some ups and downs.  Now one year later I still have the same symptoms.  Can't sit or stand for any considerable time period.  Pain down the side of my legs into my knees.  I can't lay in bed on my sides.  Another symptom is the subcutaneous nerve got stretched while my leg was in traction for the arthroscopy.  I had an area of numbness, pins and needles down my leg.  That went away and now it's back again.  I used to be really active but now I feel bone jarring pain when hopping down from a small height.  I might have a short, slow, painful jog at work, but I won't run again any time soon.  I couldn't rise from a squat until February or March.  And to add insult to injury, I've gained weight (30#) from sitting around.  I've never been this heavy!      

I'm assuming you're fairly young compared to me if you're still a student.  What are the implications of having a labral tear?  Earlier joint arthritis and replacement.  Even at my age, I have very minimal arthritis in the joint demonstrated on arthroscopy.  Would I do it again?  Absolutely not!  I have a mirror image labral tear with CAM and pincer lesions on my other hip.  The pain in my legs is the same on both sides.  One labrum has been repaired and one has not.  I'm not convinced the pain is resultant from the labral tear.  Good luck to you with your decision.

Hello missolympic,  I am very athletic and active as well.  My first labral repair was 2012 at the age of 30.  The recovery is very time consuming and sensitive.  You must be extremely careful.  You need to research this surgery in depth because it cannot be take lightly.  I believe the success rate is in the low 60%-70%.  I had my second laberal repair done on my left hip Dec 2015.  I re-injured my left hip 3 months later and was back on the operating table.  I had 2 different doctors do my right hip and my left hip.  I will tell you that all 3 surgeries failed.  I am now being told I need to go the the best FAI surgical doctor in the nation in Veil Colorado named Dr. Phillopon for him to do a re-constuction of the laberal.  I would strongly encourage you to see the very best doctor for this surgery even if it means flying across the country.  Do not see the closest docter available, very tricky surgery.  I am now pushing for a total dual hip surgery.  I am going to search the country(US) for a doctor who is willing to perform it.  I will never go back to any laberal repair surgery again.  In your case though they will make you do the laberal repair because it is worth trying to save it however if it only holds up for a year or two then you need to be weary of jumping right back on the operating table to get it repaired.  They do no have an accurate success rate for this surgery as it is only 10yrs old.

I had hip arthroscopy a little over 6 weeks ago. I had a tear in my labrum and when they went in they found cartilage damage, so they did a Microfracture, which is to poke holes in the bone to make it bleed in hopes of your own stem cells to make new fiberous cartilage. That meant no weight bearing for 6 weeks. The first 2 weeks was the worst. I had to wear a hip brace and could not drive. I am glad I did this at a time of the year where no socks are needed because I wouldn't have been able to get them on. I had to have help showering and dressing for the first 3 weeks. I did go back to driving and work at 2 weeks after. I had a hard time getting anywhere else though because I only had one leg to use still. Getting the groceries alone was out of the question. Wal-Mart didn't have electronic chairs once and had to find another store to shop at. I couldn't cook my own food or carry my plate to the sink. I did use a chair with wheels for making cereal and coffee in the morning. But, eating in the living room was out unless I had someone to take it in and out for me. I mostly read books or watched tv. At week 2 I was also given physical therapy orders. I just began to walk on Friday. I still have pain in the backside if my hip. I don't know if it will go away. Only time will tell.

I was never given a cpm machine to use like some. I don't know why. I also forgot to mention that the first 2 or 3 weeks are ice ice ice. I used 2 ice packs and had another 2 chilling to rotate.

I was up and about from the day after surgery ( with crutches initially), off work for a week following an arthroscopic labral tear repair that required bone anchors.