My First Hip Surgery Viewer Discretion Advised!

This is my left hip with four incisions from the surgery. I will get my stitches out next Friday

This is my Femur bone with a bone spur on it. The metal instrument is what is shaving it down This is my hip socket. You can see the feathering of my bone from all the damage. This is not normal!


If you have a weak stomach then you might want to skip this post. I wanted to share some of the detailed pictures that were taken of my left hip from my surgery. I have family members who have asked to see the pictures so here they are. I also wanted to update everyone on how my surgery went. I had my surgery Tuesday May 18Th at 10:45am. I was heavily sedated and I was in surgery for over two hours. My doctor had a lot of work to do once he got the scoop inside my left hip. He realized that I had even more going on then he thought. So he told Jason what was done while I was in recovery. Unfortunately when I came to I was not doing well. I got really sick and threw up the rest of the day. I also could not get my eyes to focus and I was very out of it. It was the worst experience I have had with anesthesia. I also have had the worst sore throat due to them sticking a tube down my throat to keep me breathing. They also were concerned because as I was coming was not breathing. So I had to stay in recovery longer then I thought. All I can say is that I am so thankful for pain medicine. Once again Jason took real good care of me and took care of the house and kids the rest of the day. He is such a trooper to go through all this with me. He is truly the best!

So here is a little more on what was suppose to happen on my surgery.

I was suppose to have a illiosois release done on my tendon because we all thought that it was causing the cracking and popping in my hips. My doctor knew he would also need to repair torn cartilage as well. Once inside they realized they needed to disconnect my hip socket and bone so they can repair damage to my tissue and cartilage. He also realized I had a bone spur growth on my femur bone and it was causing a lot of issues with my tissue. He was surprised to see how bad it was. So they took this metal small scoop and shaved my femur bone till it was normal. There was some feathering of the tissue in one of the pictures that they also said was not good to see. Everything was very inflamed which is not normal. I think the worst part for me is when they told me they pulled hip socket and femur bone apart to locate the problem. "Yuck"!

So after all was said and done my diagnosis was the following. You might want to google it to understand it more fully. I am still confused on how to pronounce the darn thing! So I copied and pasted a little about what it is and what I have had for most my life. Enjoy :)

Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI)

What is Femoral-Acetabular Impingement?

Impingement occurs when the ball (femoral head) doesn't have full range of motion in the socket (acetabulum). This is caused by too much bone around the femoral head and/or the socket turned backwards (retroversion) and the femur bumps into the rim of the acetabulum and causes pain and possibly damage over time.

What are symptoms common with impingement?

Impingement can present at any age between 20-50 years old. Most of the time, people will start to get pain in the front of their hip (groin) after prolonged sitting or walking. Walking uphill can also be difficult. Sometimes they feel a dull ache in the groin, other times catching or popping.

What happens inside a hip with impingement?

When the extra bone on the femoral head and neck (ball) hits the rim of the acetabulum (socket) the cartilage and labrum can be damaged. These tissues are the cushion between the ball and socket (clear space on x-rays), and when damaged can cause pain and start to degenerate (get small tears and form arthritis). If left untreated, pain and arthritis continues and usually a hip replacement (total hip arthroplasty) is needed at some point

I also was diagnosed with snapping hip syndrome. When the doctor told me this I thought it sounded made up. It's not it is a real problem, and yes I have it! So this is a little of what I found out about this

What is snapping hip syndrome?
Snapping hip syndrome is a condition that is characterized by a snapping sensation, and often an audible 'popping' noise, when the hip is flexed and extended. There are several causes for snapping hip syndrome, most commonly due to tendons catching on bony prominences and "snapping" when the hip is moved.