hey! So, before I had any surgeries in terms of my hips my symptoms were terrible lower back pain, pelvic pain, deep groin pain with catching in my joint, I couldn't walk anymore and became bedbound.
My knees also crunched and were very painful, however the hip consultants and physiotherapists believed that the knees might get better once my hips would get fixed (which can happen in many cases).
I had three MRI scans that showed nothing, until I went for an MRA scan with contrast injected into my hip joint: this showed that my cartilage (labrum) in my hip was torn and needed surgery. By this time I had also developed hip tendinosis due to living with this tear for 11 years before diagnosis. While I was waiting for surgery I went for a second opinion because I was suspicious about my lower back pain and also the surgeon told me that a labral tear should not disable me as I was. I went to see a complex hip specialist and I was diagnosed with mild dysplasia. Because my dysplasia was mild, they recommended the hip Arthroscopy. I had the Arthroscopy and four weeks later my cartilage tore again, this time it was even more painful and couldn't twist or stand or walk.
I travelled quite far to see a hip dysplasia specialist, and he agreed on a periacetabular osteotomy where he did two corrections (tilted the acetabulum forward and sideways to correct mild ante version). I had the PAO and my symptoms immediately improved. 8 months later I had the same surgery on the other side, this time without the Arthroscopy. My hip with PAO only is perfect, the one where the Arthroscopy was done is much better and my quality of life has improved but sadly still causes me some trouble because of the thickening of the tendon that is irreversible, but I've accepted this and would never recommend a hip Arthroscopy to anyone with hip dysplasia as it destabilises it further.
My knees never improved, in fact they got worse and my right knee started dislocating more call my almost daily. Again the MRI scans showed nothing but the knee surgeon could see how unstable and hypermobile it was so he recommended this procedure which he pioneered called “internal bracing”. It was supposed to have minimal recovery time but sadly when he fitted this brace, my saphenous nerve got trapped under the brace and I spent a week of my life in sheer hell, couldn’t sleep, eat, I just screamed and cried. A week later I was admitted for an emergency surgery, and luckily a nerve was intact (or so I was told) and it was released from the brace. I believed at this point I would get better, however my knee progressively got worse until I couldn't walk and a year later I had a third knee surgery and much more damage to the cartilage was found. I have no idea what he has done to me but my knee is much worse then when I started this journey. My physiotherapist agrees but surgery should have never been rushed and I should have allowed time to rebuild the stabilising muscles after the hips surgeries. I had a total of nine surgeries in three years, Including hardware removal. now my hips and back are doing very well but I have to be careful with the tendinosis, piriformis tightness and sciatica. For this I have to strengthen and stretch a lot, physio helps me.
My knee still has Patellofemoral pain syndrome And I have developed metatarsalgia in my feet. orthotics war made for my feet and knee and I try to live my life and the best way I can.
My biggest piece of advice is to address 1 problem at a time and allow yourself time to strengthen and fully heal before addressing the next problem, find a good physio to support you through all of this. Surgeons know about joints but physios know everything about imbalances and referred pain.
I hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions.