CT Scan Results

Right Hip

Maximum alpha angle (9:30): 44 degrees
Coronal Center Edge Angle: 29 degrees
Sagittal center edge angle: 62 degrees
Femoral neck shaft angle: 146 degrees
Acetabular version: (1:00) 11 degrees
Acetabular version (2:00) 15 degrees
Acetabular version (3:00) 20 degrees
Femoral version angle (6 degrees)

Left Hip
Alpha angle: (1:00) 49 degrees
Coronal center edge angle: 36 degrees
Sagittal center edge angle: 57 degrees
Femoral neck shaft angle: 132 degrees
Acetabular version (1:00) -6 degrees
Acetabular version (2:00) 12 degrees
Acetabular version (3:00) 18 degrees
Femoral version angle: 13 degrees 

CT Discussion

I spoke with my OS a few nights ago to go over the CT scan. Overall everything is pretty normal (will post numbers soon). My right hip is a tad more shallow than my left but still normal. The right is also a little more retroverted than the left, but within normal. He still stands by his theory that the problem is a neuromuscular control issue and more/ more consistent PT should help. I am seeing a new therapist since my PT has drastically cut back his days/ hours and I can't see him on a consistent basis. My OS said he would come to PT the next day to speak with my new PT and go over things with her.

My new PT initially had to undo the damage from last week, get me out of spasm and realigned. Then she worked on core control and glute control, saying I don't fire my muscles in the proper order unless she cues me to. She did release some of my hip muscles a little bit, including my psoas, iliacus and obterator. It didn't change the level of joint pain. It was discouraging that some simple exercises increased the joint pain. My OS came by and once again discussed my hip angles, assured me he didn't take down too much bone and reinforced his theory about the neuromuscular control. The plan is to see this PT for 4 weeks in a consistent basis and see what is happening at that point.

A Concussion In My Hip

That is what I am feeling. According to WebMd, a concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall, or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. I feel like my hip is in a constant battle inside the joint, slamming into the front and back side of the joint, causing groin pain or butt pain. I can address one but then the other returns.

My PT has taught me how to get the femoral head back inside the socket, or at least to move it back a little and it alleviates the groin pain. But what has been happening is that the posterior pain returns and the anterior muscles go crazy, the spasms I have been having are breathtakingly painful. I have been taking Baclofen like candy the past few days to try to get some control over this. The spasm go into my back as well so along with hip pain I have developed back pain too. I'm going to try to not do the repositioning exercise today and see what happens.

I am supposed to speak to my OS on Tuesday to go over the results of the bilateral CT scan that I had last week. I will keep you posted.

Me and Zk

Sometimes You Have To Keep Trying

My poor physical therapist works so hard when I see him to try to find a way to make my pain decrease. I am 3 1/2 months post op and things recently took a turn for the worse. Today, after almost a month of pain, he was able to give me some relief.

His theory is that my femur sits too anterior and is causing a lot of problems for me there. Why it sits too anterior I'm not sure (I will get the answer from him tomorrow). So what he had me do today was increase the coverage of the femoral head by rotating my pelvis over the femoral head. It worked!!! My pain level decreased significantly (this was after many attempts at different exercises and different manual techniques). It has been 2 hours since I left him and I'm not 100% pain free like I was then but I am feeling a lot better. He is also having me do abdominal setting/ bracing exercises to try to help keep the femur in proper position.

I had my CT scan yesterday and wont be speaking to my OS until next week.

I had this "anterior femur" thing before, it was a problem after my last surgery as well. It makes me believe even more that my acetabulum may be a bit too shallow now since the femur keeps wanting to come out. I hope to god that I am wrong bc you can always take more bone off but you cant put it back on :-(

A Look Inside My Head

As I have been telling you, I have been in a lot of pain. I have had a lot of free time on my hands lately and just a little too much time to think about things. Why does my hip continue to return to being painful? What are we missing? Is it possible that too much bone was taken down from my right hip? There is definitely more bone on my left hip and my left hip is great. I did ask my PT last week but I think I made him uncomfortable with that question. It's a tough question, an uncomfortable question. But it had to be asked and I had to get it out there.
I broke down on Monday and emailed my OS. I know something is not right with my hip, I'm having a lot of joint pain, in the groin and the back of the joint. At times the pain is unbearable. We spoke tonight and he immediately blamed my dysfunctional muscles. He wants me doing more PT ( my PT only works every other week right now) and getting more hands on treatment. We got around to discussing the bones and comparing both sides, and I just came out and asked him if it's possible that too much none was taken down from my right hip, resulting in all of these issues. In a nutshell, he doesn't think so but wants me to get new bilateral CT scans to really see what the 2 sides look like and compare them. We finished the conversation with him assuring me that we both have the same goals in mind, to get my hip to stop hurting and to keep me out of the OR. I replied to him that I want him out of my life just as much as he wants me out of his life!!!

Not Happy

About a week ago I mentioned that I'm having a flare up in my hip. It has not gone away :-( it has progressively gotten worse. My first day of PT this week was incredibly unproductive, everything we tried hurt. I was so sad and frustrated. I had been doing so well for such a long time. My second day of PT this week went better and we found that avoiding exercises in the sagittal plane was the key to reducing my pain. Things went much better but the next day I woke up in horrific pain. I seem to be in a cycle of pain that is so intense and irritating, inside my joint, that it brings me to tears and narcotics. Then, I can feel so much better without doing anything specific. It is a terrible cycle that I can't break. I told myself I'd give it until the end of he weekend and then decide what to do. I am not happy.

2 weeks since PRP

I don't know if it's too soon or if this is the placebo affect but I don't really care, I CAN SIT !!!!!

3 months post op

It has been 1 1/2 weeks since my prp injection to my hamstring and 3 months since my surgery. Initially after the prp injection I had soooo much pain. It has resolved and I am finally feeling better from it. Hopefully over the next few weeks/ months it will continue to help.

My hip had been consistently getting better and I seem to be having a set back at the moment. It is very hard for me to deal with this given my poor history with "issues" with this hip. When I had the prp injection the physiatrist commented that he thought some of my issues were partly a result of having Crohns disease and difficulty healing and being more prone to tendinitis.

A lot of the pain I had pre op has returned in the last week or 2. I am also having a ton of clicking and clunking, same as I had before this surgery. I'm not sure what is going on but I am extremely unhappy with this. I am tired if being in pain and this has become unbearable at times. My OS told me to give it 6-9 months before things are fully healed. I return to PT this week and hopefully it will bring me back to where I was before.