About 11 months ago I had shoulder surgery for a torn labrum, and a bone that was digging into my supraspinatus rotator cuff tendon.

Obviously it's not the same surgery, but the labrum as you know is a pad of cartilage type stuff that stabilizes the ball in the socket. It won't heal itself. I did all sorts of physical therapy, etc. before changing doctors & finding out what it was.

The GOOD thing about this is - we have the medical technology to fix these things now.

I was a powerlifter, loved lifting heavyweights, and couldn't stand it that I couldn't do it. My shoulder is fine now (at least the one that I had surgery on), but the other shoulder is having the same pain (yes I started lifting heavy again...)

I'll eventually have surgery on it, but have some "life circumstances" I'm dealing with now, so it'll have to wait for a year or 2.

Frustrated that I couldn't lift, I turned to running. I'm still a "beginner", been running about 2 months now, but I'm up to 20-25 miles/week, and am planning on running a marathon in about 7 months.

My point with telling you all this is - if you can't run, find something you can do while your surgery heals. The sooner you have it, the sooner you'll be running again. Do ALL the physical therapy they tell you, no matter how much it hurts, and you'll heal much faster.

I'm 40 and I did just fine.  Good luck!

I had the surgery to repair two labral tears 3 days ago.  The surgery went well and I am already feeling a difference in my hip area- the clicking is gone.  Recovery- I am still on crutches- but not sure if I need to be.  I have a follow up with the surgeon in 3 days- I am going to take it easy until then.  I am anxious to see when I can start some sort of work out routine- although today I did an upper body and ab work out without permission- but listened to my body and I felt as though I could do it.  I took pain meds the first two days- mostly to allow me to sleep.  I understand that I will be starting physical therapy- water preferred- starting next week.  I already feel pretty good and am thinking I will recover sooner than the expected 6-8 weeks- but I will know more once I see the surgeon at the follow up appointment.  I recommend the surgery- I suffered through cronic pain for several years before the diagnosis- I cant wait to be able to do the physical activities I used to do.

I wanted to thank you all for posting this thread, since you are giving me very good material to discuss at my doc's appointment.
I've been battling my injury for 3 months. I got a diagnosis of hamstring sprain at the head of the muscle around the hip joint area, but my PT did not buy it...
My symptoms are very similar to what I read here. I am scared, but at the same time, I feel that having a diagnosis is the best thing, even if I eventually have to face surgery.

Carissa - I wish you the best on your surgery! (((((healing vibes)))))

ybeal - I wonder if you have surgery... I am probably moving from Boston to Raleigh and will likely look for the doc you mentioned since he is familiar with the injury...

I am so lucky to have found this post....about a year and a half ago I had a hip injury after I started training too soon after a marathon. So after a clear x-ray I took 8 weeks off and then slowly started running again and everything was good. I ran a spring marathon and then I just ran a marathon 4 wks ago. I felt really good so I pretty much jumped back into training and then the pain came back! It has to be more than a groin/adductor/hip flexor strain cuz I did the rest and ice thing without results. after reading all of your posts I can now suggest to my doc (who I see for the first time on monday) a possible labrum tear. I'm seeing a sports med ortho at Mass general hospital in Boston who specializes in hip injuries so we'll see. thanks again!

My husband had hip arthoscopy for a labral tear exactly a year ago.  His surgery was performed by a sports medicine doctor in Van Nuys, CA, who was highly recommended.

As of today, my husband is doing a LOT better but still is not 100% back to "normal," and definitely is not back to running like he once could. He still feels some discomfort in his hip on some days, especially if he tries to run for any length of time even on a treadmill. He is hopeful that some day he will be able to run pain free, but so far that isn't the case.

I know that everyone's recovery time is different depending on their exact circumstances. I was just wondering if there are other folks on the board who had this procedure a year or so ago who did not see "immediate" improvement (say, within the first 6 months to a year) but nonetheless did eventually return to running relatively pain free.

[http://This message has been edited by Nayola (edited Nov-22-2006).|http://This message has been edited by Nayola (edited Nov-22-2006).]

Carissa - Glad to hear things are going well so far !  I'll be interested to see how things work out for You so keep us posted on your recovery and return to running !

It is helpful to see others who are going through the same issues. 

I am a 40 year old casual runner who is fairly active. I have had pain in my right hip for 10 years and have been through multiple MRIs, PT, and doctors telling me i have bursitis/tendinitis but nothing wrong in my hip. In 1996 I had a hernia operation (which I think was misdiagnosis) from very bad groin pain.

Last summer a doctor ordered an MRI with contrast and a labral tear was found. I had an injection in August that helped relieve my pain for about 2 weeks. After a second opinion it was decided that arthroscopy would be a good solution.

I am having Hip Arthroscopy tomorrow morning and looking forward to hopefully relieving my pain.

I had surgery Friday morning and it went very well.  I was taken to surgery around 8:40 and returned 10:45.  I was discharged at 12:45 pm.

My Doctor said it was the worst labral tear he had ever seen -- the back side of the labrum was shredded and the front part had a tear and large flap that was dislodged. He cut away and repaired the tears. The good news is that my doctor thinks my pain should be eliminated in the short run.

The bad news is that the damage was extensive and due to the years of rubbing on bone, there is arthritis and that I will need some type of hip replacement in the future. He thinks due to my age and relatively good joint structure it is likely that I would be a candidate for hip resurfacing or just placing a new cap over the joint rather than replace the joint.


The recovery has been much easier than expected. We got home around 2 pm Friday and I used crutches to get from the car to inside my home. I spent the rest of the day resting in bed and taking short walks to the bathroom without crutches. I took 3 sets of pills (oxycodone) friday afternoon and night to help me sleep.

Saturday I walked around without crutches and went up and down the stairs several times. I did not take any pills for pain. All I am taking now is 1 aspirin per day. This morning I woke up with significantly less pain.

I see the doctor a week from Monday to remove the stitches. He said that i can start to do some light exercises later this week.

I am glad to finally know after 10+ years that the source of my pain was real.  I am hopeful to have some relief in the short run.  I'll keep you posted on my recovery