Then why am I not feeling better? That was THE QUESTION for my surgeon and I didn't even have to ask because my surgeon knew that's what I was thinking.
Before I met with Dr. Sampson I took two hip x-rays to compare with my last post-op x-rays from a few months ago. Dr. Sampson needed to compared my x-rays. My joint space hasn't changed which is good. I have a little bit less joint space on my surgical hip but not a huge difference. My joint space is about .3 mm more or less. .3mm isn't a fantastic amount of joint space but it is good enough. Overall my x-rays look good and there hasn't been any further deterioration.
My mobility is good and what Dr. Sampson could tell from my great mobility is that there are no adhesion inside my hip joint. There may be some adhesion in hip flexor and surrounding muscles but those adhesion can work themselves out.
Okay, so why am I still in pain? One reason I am still in pain is because my rectus femoris muscle is still healing from the surgery. Dr. Sampson took part of my tendon from the rectus femoris muscle to graft me a new labrum.
Another reason I am still in pain is because a lot of my soft tissue inside my hip joint was frayed. Dr. Sampson cleaned the tissue out to smooth out my joint, however little particles of the tissue are still floating around in my hip joint causing inflammation. I just need to wait for my body to get rid of that tissue in my joint.
Also, since Dr. Sampson grafted a new labrum, that new labrum could still be healing. All these things could be causing pain at 7 months post-op.
Dr. Sampson said some patients just feel better after 8 months or after 9 months post-op. It is just a waiting game. I have to be PATIENT! At 27 it is hard to be patient, I just want to get on with my life. I need to wait at least a year before considering a revision surgery. A revision surgery could consist of cleaning up any adhesion inside my joint. I have another follow up visit with my surgeon in November which is the 1 year anniversary of my surgery.
There is also a possibility that my hip may never feel good. Ugh! I don't want to think about that.
Dr. Sampson also sent me home with some Flector Patches samples. Flector patches are an awesome anti-inflammatory patch that actually worked for me. You change the patch every 12 hours. It defiantly took my pain down at least 2 points.
Okay, well I am off to go be PATIENT and play the hip waiting game.
No comments:
Post a Comment