More Surgery

After meeting with my Orthopedic Doctor on Tuesday we have decided to go ahead and repair the hip impingement (see last paragraph) and torn cartilage in my left hip. We are unsure when this will take place for sure but it should be sometime in late February or early March.

The procedure consists of a cut near my hip to enter to get to my hip socket. They will then cut the ball off my femur to allow them to dislocate my hip. After this is done the doctors will file down the bumps on both my ball and socket (saddle part of socket is best way to describe it). Then they will pull up and reattach the torn cartilage to properly cushion my joint again. Then they will relocate my hip joint and screw the femur back onto the ball. That will be the easy part for me. When I wake up I will have to spend 3 or so nights in the hospital before they release me. Then spend about 4-6 weeks on crutches putting no weight on my hip. Then another 3-6 weeks of coming off the crutches and a total recovery of up to 6 months before I am back at it, and playing golf again...UGH!

What this surgery will do for me is fix the bone on bone contact I have so as I age my hip won't have to be replaced. Doctors believe that what I have ultimately leads to bad arthritis and eventually total hip replacement. This is a fairly new study, about 12 years old but so far others having it done have had great results.

Hip Impingement description:

The syndrome is produced when excess bone forms around the neck of the femur, and which, on flexing the leg, impinges on the acetabulum edge (ladrum), thus putting pressure on the cartilage. There are also cases where there is no excess bone protuberance at this point but the acetebulum is longer than normal and so, on flexing the joint, the femur neck impacts against the excess bone on the wall of the pelvis and pushes the femoral head outwards, causing pain and obstructing flexion. In most case, both phenomena occur together. According to the specialist, the symptoms of those suffering from this syndrome are pain in the groin, in the gluteal region, in the thigh or around one side of the hip, on making flexing or rotational movements.