First surgeon appointment

Drove down to Melbourne today with Dad and my boy Tom for an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon Michael Pritchard. He is apparently very highly regarded and does alot of the AFL players' hips.

Michael concurred with the opinion of the sports science doctors and was happy to open me up and get stuck into my FAI issues. Unfortunately it looks like he is moving his operations to Hobart and therefore I'd be expected to fly to Hobart, get a hip done, stay a night, fly back to Melbourne then drive home to Ballarat. Then I'd repeat that a week later. THEN I'd repeat that 4 weeks later for a post-op consultation. I'm not so keen and I wish I had have known about this earlier.

This saga just keeps on keeping on.....

On the plus side, Tom had surgery to remove some teeth a couple of days before so I took him with me down to Melbourne for a Ferris Bueler's day off. We visited Collingwood FC training, had a tour of the MCG and went to the National Sports Museum before my appointment. We had a great day together.

Tom gets a signature from Dale Thomas

At the MCG

Meeting Nick Maxwell

Meeting Tom's hero Dane Swan

With Cadel Evans' Le Tour bike

A happy boy with signatures on his jumper

At the MCG

Tom's press conference!

Phone appointment with sports doctor post-MRI

This morning I had a phone appointment with Dr Chris Bradshaw from Olympic Park Sports Medicine in Geelong. He is the club doctor at Geelong footy club and is very highly regarded. I had an appointment with him a couple of weeks ago and he was a very nice bloke. Some specialists tend to talk down to you, or at least their secretaries do, but Chris was a terrific bloke.


At the first appointment, Chris agreed with the assessment that I had FAI and its associated issues but did not concur with Andrew Jowett that surgery was not an option. This was such a relief as I felt that my progress had plateaued and I was getting nowhere.

The MRI tells him I have cam impingement on both sides with labral tears. Fortunately there is no wear and tear in the hip joint itself.

He recommends surgery and is going to get Mike Pritchard (Hobart-based surgeon) to contact me and get the ball rolling. He is also very pleased that cricket is finished for the year (I think he reckons I'm a bit mad playing out the year).

He reckons that if I get the femoral neck (top of the thigh bone) reshaped it will give me my mobility back, get rid of the pain in my hips, groins and lower back and head off any associated degeneration and potential hip replacements down the track.

He said to continue with glute and core strengthening exercises (which I have been very slack with).

It will be a very long process, both in getting into the surgeon, getting the surgery done and completing the rehab especially as it will be both hips.




I'm getting somewhere.....slowly.

MRI scan

I had the experience of having an MRI today. Apparently an MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to take pictures inside the body. It is especially helpful to collect pictures of soft tissue such as organs and muscles that don’t show up on x-ray examinations.


I was asked to remove all metal objects, including wristwatches, keys and jewellery. I had to undress and put on a surgical gown.

The MRI machine looks like something from a sci-fi movie. I had to lie on the scanner’s bed very still with my legs and neck held in place and upright by foam triangle shapes. When I was ready the radiographer made the bed slide into the MRI cylinder.

While it is in operation, the MRI scanner makes noises such as knocks, loud bangs and clicks. I barely noticed as I was still super tired after celebrating our winning cricket premiership and actually fell asleep! The next thing I knew the radiographer was tapping on my shoulder saying, "Mr O'Loughlin. Mr O'Loughlin." Apparently he'd never had someone fall asleep in his machine before!

The scan took around 15 minutes.

I'm not getting anywhere with this

I'm not getting anywhere with these strengthening exercises. If anything they make my symptoms and pain worse. I've returned to my doctor to get a referral and second opinion with Dr Chris Bradshaw in Geelong. Something must be done.

Post sports science doctor physio

Went along to see my local physio, Matt today. We discussed the sports science doctor's findings and recommendations and then went into the gym next door to go over a strengthening exercises regime.

After a 10 min warm-up of walking he wants me to stretch the hammys, quads, groin, lower back and gluteals.

Then strengthening exercises including bridging, Russian twist using the Swiss ball (SB), leg raises (SB), planking, dog leg lift, side planking, hammy curls (SB) and back curls (SB).

A 4 min warm-down walk to finish.

I have appointments each week from now until Christmas too. Let's see how we go.

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.

Referral to a sports science doctor

It's on now!! My GP has referred me to a sports science doctor at Olympic Park Sports Medicine in Melbourne. I told him I "feel like an old man" and he even included that on the referral.

I've made an appointment in Melbourne for November 11.