Not a great return to cricket

Monday October 8, 2012

My hips felt tight today with tingling and soreness, especially in the left side. I had karate in the evening. I started off feeling very tight but loosened up and felt quite ok by the end of the session. However I got sore as I cooled down. It kept me awake through the night.

Tuesday October 9, 2012

I spent the morning working at the computer with very uncomfortable hips. I drove 160km to Maryborough and back in the afternoon and felt very tight. Back at the computer in the afternoon and I was very uncomfortable. At night I was sore in my recliner chair watching TV but wasn't too bad sleeping compared to the night before.

Wednesday October 10, 2012

The top of my left hip is aching and the left groin is burning. This is all while I'm sitting at work watching the kids do an exam for 1.5 hours. I am concerned that the minimal exercise I have done has caused this flare up.

What now? It aches above the joint in the pelvis, and into the groin and below the pelvis.

I went to karate and felt good once I warmed up at karate but I'm very sore tonight.

Resuming cricket

I bowled 16 overs in 3 spells in the first game of cricket for the year. I only bowl medium pace but bowling involves a lot of twisting in the hips, knees and ankles. A very unusual and unnatural action really.

I felt tight throughout the day having felt quite good in the weeks prior – the boy who cried wolf! I was quite sore in the upper left hip that night.

Olympic Park Sports Medicine - I'm excited!

I went along to meet sports science doctor Andrew Jowett at Olympic Park Sports Medicine today and was excited in the knowledge I'd be getting some definitive answers to what was going on with my body! After years of being treated for assumed lower back and groin issues I was looking forward to finding out what was really going on.

I didn't have to wait long after filling out an initial details form and went into Andrew's office where he asked me about my history. I informed him I'd had a knee reconstruction as a 19 year old, several years of short-lived groin issues and a left ankle injury in April 2011, among other minor issues.

I told him my symptoms really flared up in July when I started running for fitness and noticed hip, groin and thigh pain, especially in the left side. I said I have pain when I sleep and with prolonged sitting, especially driving. I mentioned I occasionally feel the pain in my lower leg and have an occasional limp when I walk or run.

He then tested me for the range of movement in my hips and watched me walk up the corridor to check my gait. He noted I had "some mild left gluteal wasting and a mild antalgic gait". "Left hip pain in full flexion and bilateral abductor guarding". He said I have "hip pathology".

Andrew then sent me next door to have x-rays and ultrasound which showed I have flattening of the femoral neck on both sides but he thought the left side looked worse.

He has diagnosed me with a Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI) of both hips with hip joint synovitis that is secondary to the FAI. It is the cause of the inflammation and pain around the hip joint. I also have moderate thickening and scarring of the illiotibial bands.

Andrew's initial explanatory diagram of FAI.

Andrew has recommended a 3 week course of anti-inflammatories with a potential cortisone injection in the hips under x-ray if it doesn't settle down. He has suggested I strengthen the gluteals under physio guidance and says I can continue with karate, cycling and swimming and told me I can do straight line running that is cricket specific.

He has advised me to continue to be as active as possible within these limitations.

Unfortunately he also told me that surgical intervention has a limited role at my age, as the outcomes may not be predictable from hip arthroscopy and labral debridement. According to Andrew my running days are over

This is not what I wanted to hear and was a real downer. Feeling very flat as I am pretty sure I won't improve with exercises and strengthening. There is more to my pain than weak muscles.