No Pain . . . No Pain.

Pain.

I didn't realize what was happening with my hip and my body. I wonder how many of us ever really do. Until there is pain. For me as a lifelong athletic person, I was accustomed to pushing through the pain, often at an cost. From age 11 when I discovered figure skating I was so committed to what I was doing that I never gave pain a second thought. Unless it was really bad. Define really bad? Unable to walk. I don't think I was ever there more than a couple of time as a teen and as an adult.

Fast forward to this year. After I gave birth to triplets five and a half years ago (THAT certainly messed with my hips), I went back to skating, thinking that would be the path to weight loss and happy ever athletic forever. I competed seven times between 2009 and 2013, with increasing hip, back and neck pain. I successfully lost weight in intervals, gained back some, but managed to maintain. I went to the gym to supplement. But then . . .  something tore. Something tore physically, which was much more than my daily mind losing schedule of managing triplets, two with special needs.

The day of my last competition I was practicing at 7am. I had a good plan of stretching prior to skating these days, careful to make sure I didn't over do anything. My husband had pointed out that sometimes discipline means holding back. So instead of attacking my skating the way I had always done, I took off the 'all business' face and patiently stretched and enjoyed what I was doing. All zen and stuff. Uh huh. It was actually pretty nice. So there I was, practicing, five hours before my event. I went up into a jump, and when I landed, it felt like an arrow doused in searing flames had been shot into my right hip. I crumbled to the ice, unable to walk. Somehow I got off the ice, and someone got my shoes for me. I hobbled over to the PT and she stretched me out and gave me directions to the local ER. I seriously considered going, but decided instead to eat Advil, take a bath and a nap in my hotel room and compete. I convinced myself that I could 'dumb down' my jumps and make it through, which I did. I even placed third. But I knew that would be my last skate for awhile, which is probably why I made myself do it.

Since that time, I have had several X-rays, an Arthrogram and an MRI. I have consulted no less than four doctors nationwide. I full expected to be told I had a tear, and it could be repaired by arthroscopy. What I hear instead was, "You have dysplasia". Huh??

Determining a dysplasia diagnosis
A normal center edge angle for a hip joint is 25 degrees. Mine is 15.

Apparently dysplasia and labral tears are very common in figure skaters and dancers. Yay for what I love taking me down.

Options:

1) Arthroscopy - this will repair the torn labrum, but likely destabilize my hip due to the underlying
issue, dysplasia. Could also cause rapid inset arthritis.

2) THR (Total Hip Replacement) - unnecessary for me as I have good bone, cartilage and joint space, and no visible arthritis.

3) Do nothing - will most certainly worsen my existing issues of pain and mobility, also possibly cause arthritis, though not as quickly as arthroscopy.

4) PAO ( Peri-Acetabular Osteotomy) - This is a preservation surgery, which allows me to keep all my bones and parts. However, it involves detaching the hip socket from the pelvis, and repositioning it correctly over the femur (thigh bone).


At first it was all surreal. I have had one major surgery, a c-section, and two broken toes. Very healthy, only stayed in the hospital on bed rest during pregnancy.

This surgery is going to require a six week near total bed rest before I am even ALLOWED to begin PT. Then 3-4 months of crutch/walker/cane dependency while I learn to balance on my newly situated anatomy. Anxious? You bet. But you know what they say . . . no pain, no pain. This is going to be painful. It better be worth it.