Patient Stories

Maddie

My journey with Hip Dysplasia started in August 2017. It was softball season and everytime I ran my right hip would be throbbing with pain. Also whenever I would sit down or stand up my hips would pop. I tried ice and heat to make the pain go away. My mom took me to my primary doctor and she didn’t know what was wrong. I was given a paper with orthopedic specialists in my area. I went to the specialist and she said that ligaments were just hooking onto my femur bone and physical therapy would solve the issue. About 4 weeks go by and the pain wasn’t going away. I was referred to another physician who knew more about the hip and could figure out why I was in so much pain. I had an MRI with contrast done and there it was. A torn labrum. That’s when I was told that I had hip dysplasia. I was so in shock that it was worse than I thought it would be. Then I was told about the PAO surgery. I now went to go see another orthopedic physician who specialized in hip dysplasia. He said that a PAO would help me from having to get a hip replacement for a long time. On February 23, 2018 I had a PAO and labrum repair surgery.

I stayed the weekend in the hospital. The first time standing up out of bed is the worst part of it all. The first week was rough but by the 2nd week I was off the pain meds and starting to do more things on my own.

At my 1 month post op appointment with the orthopedic specialist who said that I was healing fast and I could get wean off the crutches and it would take about 2-3 weeks! I am now about to 6 weeks post op.

I forgot to add that I joined the PAO support group on facebook and asked questions and feedback from people who have had the surgery! Joining a support group on social media or following blogs is a great way to find out more information from people going through hip dysplasia too!