The Start of my hip history

For those of you who are following my blog and want to know more about the surgery that I have planned for April next year, here is a link to a video on my surgeon's website which shows you what will be done:

http://www.jitbalakumar.com.au/hip-and-pelvis/periacetabular-osteotomy.html

My Hip history up until now...

As long as I can remember I have always been very active. From the age of 4 I did gymnastics and eventually competed at National level. I had a few usual injuries while growing up such as a broken arm (who knew that roller skating down a steep hill over a stick wouldn't end that well!?!) and rolled ankles. I would say that I had never had any hip problems until I was 18 however when looking back I have realised that throughout my childhood there were many indicators of my left hip dysplasia which went un noticed. My mum tells me stories of how difficult it was to put a nappy on me as my legs were like springs and as soon as she let go to hold the nappy my legs would recoil back in towards my body and she would have to start all over again! I remember dreading sitting on the floor in primary school because it was an effort to sit with my legs crossed and I would much prefer to sit with my left knee rolled in instead of out. As for gymnastics.. I was the least flexible gymnast going around!! My coaches would tell me to relax and they would sit on me in side splits to try and stretch me further but I insisted that I was not stopping them.. it felt like the bone was stopping me!!

When I was 18 and I had finished school, I moved to Bundoora to attend LaTrobe university to follow my dream of becomming a physiotherapist. Having only recently obtained my manual car licence I spent a lot of time driving and I would get a deep pain in my groin, but I thought that was normal. One day out of the blue I was walking between class and I felt a sharp catching pain deep in my left groin. The pain was so shap that it took my breath away. My friends did not know what had happened.. I had been walking along talking and then all of a sudden I was curled over in pain. After a few minutes the pain subsided and I was left with an ache in the left hip region. Thinking nothing of it I kept on with my day. This pain started to occur more frequently so I thought I better find out what was wrong!

Being a hot shot 1st year Uni student I diagnosed myself as having a hip muscle strain!! (mainly because thats the only thing I knew about the hip region at the time). My doctor who clearly knew a lot more than I did sent me for a hip and pelvis Xray which showed 2 abnormally looking hips with my left being much more abnormal than the right. She referred me to a specialist on the peninsula who took one look and me and my scans and told me I would eventually need a hip replacement but until then I should stop doing anything that hurt. "Hrrmmm" I thought... "But I get pain with mundane activities such as walking and sitting... and my pain isnt just a mere annoyance but it is aggony!!". Unsatisfied with the surgeons lack of empathy I sought a second opinion. I was sent to get an MRI (needle = me fainting = not a very nice experience) which showed the cause of my pain... a labral tear. Trusting the specialist's opinion I had a large portion of my left acetabular labrum removed and I had not more pain and everything went back to normal.. or so I thought!!! ...