It's funny, after I started having problems with my hip, and even more so later when I had to have a double hip replacement, I can't tell you how many people asked me if it was because I was so active or from running. You have to stop and really think about that question. Because if that were the case than almost everyone I know would need a hip replacement at a young age. I am an active person but I am in no way what I consider as active as athletes are or anyone who runs marathons or competes in major triathlons. In fact I never even ran until about 6 years ago, and I only started because I signed up for a sprint triathlon. About 2 months before the race I figured I should start running. Needless to say I wasn't a very fast runner by race time but I finished my first triathlon at the age of 46. Then I swore I would never do another one.
I even told my husband that there was no way I would ever say I liked running. I did kind of keep it up and much to my amazement actually looked forward to certain aspects of running. I am lucky to live next to the beach in Florida so I would get up and run at sunrise. I would run along the water where the sand is harder packed but it's a challenge. You never knew what you would see, baby turtles hatching, sharks in the surf, crabs on the beach and sometimes some amazing shells, just to name a few things. The sunrises were always beautiful and it was a great way to start the day. And being Florida I could do this pretty much year round, I love where I live.
One of the other things I grew to love about running was that when I traveled I would scout out places to run. One time in Lime Rock, Connecticut, next to the race track there, is an offroad trail my husband found. Lots of elevation changes and beautiful scenery. My husband is a sports car endurance race car driver and we often ran the race tracks he competed on, always fun. My husband races all over the world and I found some amazing places to run in France, along the river in parks. So when I had to give up running I actually missed it.
I am a Personal Trainer and I used to be the Fitness Director as well at a local country club. I don't usually teach group classes but for Thanksgiving one year I did a boot camp that morning. My hips had always ached after running but I took Advil and it wasn't that bad. After I did the high energy boot camp my right hip really hurt and didn't get better. In fact got worse with time and I had to stop running. So off to the orthopedic doctor I go.
Right off the bat he tells me I may have osteoporosis, a fracture, or a labral tear. I, of course, tell him that none of those options are probable, he's crazy. He kept asking if I'd been in an accident or had some incident that might cause the fracture or labral tear. I had not even fallen so it just couldn't be those two issues. I had a bone scan and my bones where great. X-rays didn't show anything, some arthritis but nothing major. I go for an MRI and it doesn't show anything. All of this takes time, it's not like you schedule all the tests in one day. You do one of the tests then schedule back with the doctor, schedule the next test, schedule back with the doctor. All along he kept asking if I felt something catching or could hear any clicking. At the time I didn't so I was very skeptical about what he was suggesting. If he hadn't come highly recommended by multiple people I would have gone elsewhere.
I had made friends with a physical therapist, Rett, that had worked on my husband years ago. Rett is one of the best I believe in the country. So I introduced myself so I could ask him questions about clients and also refer clients to him. I won't refer people to anyone I don't know or who I don't think is one of the best in their field. Rett had recommended this doctor highly so I stuck it out. Looking back I laugh because I really though he was so far off the mark but from day one he had it pegged exactly what it was.
Finally he sent me for an MRI with contrast. So fun, they stick a ginormous needle in your hip joint and inject dye. It wasn't the worst thing in the world but not fun. Then they do the MRI. Well son of a gun! It showed clear as day a labral tear in my hip joint. At the time this was relatively rare unless you had been in a car accident or older. Labral tears in the shoulder were very common, specially with baseball players and other athletes. My doctor says my options are arthroscopic surgery or live with it. I decided to live with it, which lasted all of 3 months. I started limping and it started catching.
A labral tear is in the soft cartilage of your joint, doesn't matter if it's the shoulder or hip it's the same thing. The cartilage tears and you have a piece of bone sticking up which will then catch as the joint is used. Obviously not good in the hip as you use your hips to walk, sit and just about everything you do in life. Long story short, I had osteoarthritis in my hip which produced bone spurs and when I moved a certain way with force it tore my cartilage. Of course I tried to ignore it, isn't that always the first recourse to problems? As I said, that didn't last long as it just kept getting worse.
In my next post I'll talk about the next part of the journey. It's all a process and I've learned you better be proactive about it if you want the best results. No hiding under a rock! No matter how much you would like to :) It's your life, make it the best it can be.
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