I Tore my Hip Labrum

or “no, I didn’t get a hip replacement”

Two years ago, I went to get out of my seat on a short flight and experienced the first real noticeable symptoms of a torn hip labrum. This is the story of my experience of living with this issue, having it repaired, and my recovery.

First, I will preface this by explaining that my journey is… complicated. There have been many ups and downs and twists in my recovery, but we’ll save the detail around that for another article.

What were your symptoms?

As I was saying, I went to stand up after a short 2-hour flight and I immediately knew something was very wrong. It felt like someone had kicked me in the butt, literally. The pain of straightening up from a sitting position was nightmarish. From that point forward, I had a dull ache in my tailbone any time I sat for more than a few minutes followed by a sharp shooting pain that traveled down my tailbone when I got up.

Over the next month, my pain developed into the feeling of a severe groin pull, and walking became problematic. By the time I was able to get into an orthopedist, I was frequently using a cane to walk. My next journey to my corporate office required me to rent an electric scooter to manage the airport and to navigate the giant building my employer calls home…