It started like this...

Here’s the story about how I came to have a hip problem...

In April 2008 I went to London with Francesca, a good friend of mine. Her parents were visiting from overseas and we spent the day walking around the city taking in the sights. In the latter part of the day I started getting pain in my right hip – something I have not experienced before (at the time I was 29 years old, slim, fit and active).

Upon reaching St Paul’s Cathedral having walked quite a distance around the city, I noticed a more serious problem had developed, as walking up the cathedral steps was quite painful. By this point I had also developed a limp due to the pain, but never having had anything like this before, I assumed it was a one-off problem and one that would disappear in a day or two. Not so…

Ongoing problem

A couple of months down the line I still had minor hip issues. Nothing as bad as that day in London, but the odd painful spell or twinge was never far away. This gradually worsened throughout the summer to the point where the discomfort/pain meant I had to stop most activities and I was avoiding walking where possible. I also developed a problem walking up stairs where a ‘catching’ sensation would cause a shooting pain in my right hip. This has by far been the worst symptom.

Since then, pain in my hip has been up and down, sometimes very localised and other times affecting my thigh, glute and possibly my sciatic nerve. I tend not to walk too far and avoid walking up hills as much as possible, as this is sure-fire way to irritate it. It can flare up for the slightest reason… a slight turn on foot to change direction, getting in the car, stepping out of the shower, crossing my legs, and so on.

Medical advice and treatment

In the summer of 2008 I visited my GP in Exeter. After twisting my leg around and putting pressure on my joint, he was confident that it wasn’t a degenerative hip problem often found in older people. He assumed it was a gait issue and referred me to the local physiotherapy team, based at Franklin Hospital in Exeter.

The physio team initially concluded that the pain I was experiencing was due to inflammation and bursitis, brought on by a right glute that wasn’t doing its job properly. I was given numerous stretching and strengthening exercises, in the knowledge/hope that the additional muscle strength would alleviate the problem and prevent it from happening in future.

However, after 5 or so months of physio it was clear that we weren’t progressing far. The treatment had helped to improve my walking, but I wonder whether this was fixing tense muscles/weakness that had developed during the summer as a result of not walking or doing much. Ultimately, the hip pain was not improving and the shooting pain on stairs continued, despite considerable muscular improvement.

Scans

In April 2009 I was referred to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital for an Ultrasound scan, but it didn’t reveal anything. Later that same month I had a MRI scan at the RD&E, and I was hopeful that this would reveal the problem. A couple of weeks later my doctor called with the disheartening news that the MRI scan didn’t reveal anything untoward.

In frustration at having had the problem for a year without any improvement, I emailed about 20 hip surgeons (details found on a private health website) in the hope that someone would offer some advice about what to do or where to go next. Most went unanswered, but one replied!

Femoro what?

After reading the detailed story about my hip troubles, the surgeon suggested a possible diagnosis: “Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI) and possibly a labral tear”.

What on earth? I had never heard of these things before! They’ve never once been mentioned by my doctors, consultants or physiotherapists. Although trying not to jump the gun, this has given me hope. Hope that we can find the cause of the problem and hope that we can fix it. I’m not saying I’d like to be diagnosed with this condition – from what I’ve read, the steps to fix it are quite something – but this is a new condition that I didn’t know existed, and researching it has revealed information on a myriad of other hip conditions.

I am now being referred to see a specialist hip surgeon in Cornwall (Cornwall Hip Foundation) through the NHS Choose and Book scheme. My initial appointment is a little under two weeks away and it can’t come soon enough!

So that’s my story thus far. This is quite a meaty blog entry as I had to get the background info down, so well done if you made it this far without nodding off. I’ve found a wealth of info on the internet from other sufferers so I hope any information I give, both above and in future posts, is helpful and informative to you.

More soon…