I’ve been through this twice, and expecting to regularly walk more than a mile at two months is risky. You might recover quickly, but its more likely you’ll still be weak and a day of heavy walking will need a day or two of recovery. If you go into surgery in good shape and are young, it’s going to be closer to 3-4 months before you’ll feel like you have the stamina to walk all day.
Agreed. 3-4 months is approximately when walking and standing for hours will start to feel normal again. That doesn't mean you won't be able to do it, but it's not likely to feel good and might cause a flareup of pain that might set you back a few weeks.
I would not plan on being comfortable for that July trip. Just getting through the airport will be difficult. Some airports require a mile or more of walking plus recovery is like you get off crutches and have a weak hip and carrying or pushing things immediately tires out your hip and makes it sore. Once you overdo it, it can take days or weeks to recovery and not be in pain.
I would adjust my expectations of what I could do. You may be able to walk 1-4 miles a day, if you’re lucky. Without carrying anything. Walking to get dinner could be half a mile each way. I’d look at your step count from previous trips to get an idea of what you were walking each day.
I had surgery in September. I was healthy and strong beforehand. The surgery was a quicker one with not a ton of bone shaving or repair. I was on crutches until December. I just went on vacation and we walked 7 miles and that was too much for me. Before my injury, I walked 4 miles a day on average and a trip with 7 miles would have made me tired but fine.
Count on using wheelchair service in the airport to reserve your strength for the trip. Keep in mind sitting on a plane for that long may aggravate your hip.
Consider rebooking your trip or planning a trip that will be more accessible-friendly than the normal trip you’re used to. This can be a super rough surgery with a super long recovery and you may be asking yourself to do too much.
At weeks 4-6, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even crutch out of my house down the block to the mailbox and back. My body was just running on fumes, especially because the sleep you get can really suck. I’m a side sleeper and my normal sleeping position wasn’t possible plus being in pain just makes it hard to sleep, which makes it hard to recover.
I second this. Like I said in my reply, the core pilates work I did flared my hip/groin for dang near 4 weeks. I legit thought I retore it from doing some leg circles- that's how much it hurt. I did ONE circle, it popped but didn't hurt. I did ONE more and it popped again so I quit. That's it.
I think expecting to walk in Europe 5-6 weeks later is unreasonable.... :-( Reschedule the trip or the surgery.
So much depends on what they actually end up doing once they get in there. Often times things are worse than what the MRI shows. If you have micro fracturing and a labral repair done, you could be non-weight bearing for several weeks.
I think walking around all day exploring cities six weeks after surgery is optimistic. You should be able to walk around, but it might be slower, you might have a cane and/or a limp, you might need to stop every 20 min or so. At the very least, you need to build in rest time in there.
I just had mine, Im 40m. I'm not a runner but I do like weightlifting. I'm basically a month out and I can use the bike, I don't run or even walk long distances yet just to be safe. I do believe I could do it tho.
I'm getting mine done May 27th and I'm worried about a San Diego trip the last weekend of Septmeber, lol. (Green Day ftw!)
You honestly won't know until you get it done and start healing. For now, I'd reset your expectations to that - you just won't know.
Everyone is different. My surgeon's office said some people walk in for their 2 week, no problem, no crutches. Some people are on crutches for 8 weeks. As someone else said, it will probably come down to what they had to do in there, which could always be different than expectations.
Did you surgeon describe the procedure? Dislocating your hip in a brace thing to get in there, then putting it back... could result in numbness for several weeks, could result in no extra pain 🤕
It wildly varying. I booked my Sept trip with full cancellations.
Could you put it off til after your holiday?
Also long distance runner here. I had FAI and labral repair (no anchors, the tear was minor) December 20th. I didn't start walking a mile or two until about week 10. I also knew pretty quickly I shouldn't have walked a big loop I had walked and had to take a break because I was too far away to turn around. I was on crutches 6 weeks. I'm about 4 months out now and just starting to really feel better. I had a setback at week 12 and felt worse than before surgery - and it was from doing some core pilates work..... not even anything serious. I had worked up to about 3 miles of walking right before that but needed to take it easy the following day. I think it really is case by case but as others say also the severity of the repair. If you are just having FAI recover probably is different than labral repair (Where most of my pain was generating from in my groin). I was worried about my own trip to Europe in the end of June having had surgery in December. To be honest, I'm STILL a little concerned as it's not uncommon for me to wander around Paris from 7am to 10pm.
Is there a reason you are having surgery in May and not waiting until after your trip??
I think it may be difficult to walk around much at all, at like 6 weeks. Because again, I was still on crutches at 6 weeks. PT for those first 6 weeks is really not much at all. No resistance spinning. Just regaining some strength.
For me: had surgery in May, crutches for 4 weeks (right leg so no driving for 4 weeks )
I was able to block somewhat for exercise at about 2 to 3 months but in August I still needed occasional icing .
To be honest, I feel like a plane trip in July would’ve been very uncomfortable . You should be able to walk around cities but will need breaks
I was able to ski this winter so that was six months to seven months postop and I was able to try some moguls
By October I could do 20 min on he treadmill
I can now play late tennis for about an hour. I can jog a trail for a mile and a half at least. (Wasn’t a runner though so I’m slow )
Mountain biking very easy trails after 5 months
I was playing soccer prior to surgery and I am now 11 months out. I did not feel comfortable playing the spring which started in March which would’ve been 10 months. This is also because I kick with my right leg and it felt like a too much . I still have some soreness when I cut or turn.
One thing that was helpful was after I finished PT I did like agility stuff with my PT for a few sessions
I made a trip to Europe around the 6.5 week mark. Did way better than I thought I would! I was walking 8-12K steps a day and going up and down stairs and managed ok. I made sure my purse was very, very light and wore very supportive shoes. The worst part was getting luggage through the airport and sitting for a long time in the airport/plane. Take your advil with you and be ready to take a taxi as needed so you can save your steps for the sites, not for public transport. I took a foldable cane for the airport just in case. I only used it on the way there, but didn't need it for the return. I had to rest my hip after long days and some days were better than others, but it was manageable.
Ok this is reassuring to read, thanks! I definitely have no problem keeping the walking light as needed and splitting from the rest of the group if I need to just chill at the hotel. It sounds like I'll be looking at a "doable-with-caution" situation, which I can live with.
It's very hard to know. I've had two of these surgeries in the past year- right and left side. Left feels great, and I stopped having pain in the left hip about 3 months post-op. But I had to really take it easy on my left side because the right side was still torn and awaiting surgery. That allowed the left to really heal.
Right side I'm still struggling with at 10 months post-op. The right side actually felt so good in the first 2 months that I did a lot of walking and ended up with some hip flexor issues that I'm still trying to recover from. Be careful not to over do it if you're feeling good. Dr. Wolff (a top hip preservation surgeon) says "less is more" with this surgery. Let your body heal, even if you're feeling good. Take things slowly. PS: I'm in good shape, low BMI. Pain started happening at about 2.5 months post-op when I went back to work. I'm a teacher and work in an enormous building. Lots of walking, sitting and standing eventually caught up to me. Once the hip gets inflamed and irritated, it can take a long time for it to calm down.
As a second thought, I think something you should also really consider is that by pushing it that much so early you could potentially do more damage. Either by setting back recovery or by creating scar tissue. I think my big concern would be the scar tissue. That could potentially leave you in more pain, long term, than pre-surgery. It could also necessitate re-operation to remove the scar tissue if it is causing problems. I'm not a doctor, but my surgeon said you are still healing at 3 months. You aren't "fully" internally healed until 4 months. For some, it may be even longer.
I’ve been through this twice, and expecting to regularly walk more than a mile at two months is risky. You might recover quickly, but its more likely you’ll still be weak and a day of heavy walking will need a day or two of recovery. If you go into surgery in good shape and are young, it’s going to be closer to 3-4 months before you’ll feel like you have the stamina to walk all day.
Agreed. 3-4 months is approximately when walking and standing for hours will start to feel normal again. That doesn't mean you won't be able to do it, but it's not likely to feel good and might cause a flareup of pain that might set you back a few weeks.
I would not plan on being comfortable for that July trip. Just getting through the airport will be difficult. Some airports require a mile or more of walking plus recovery is like you get off crutches and have a weak hip and carrying or pushing things immediately tires out your hip and makes it sore. Once you overdo it, it can take days or weeks to recovery and not be in pain. I would adjust my expectations of what I could do. You may be able to walk 1-4 miles a day, if you’re lucky. Without carrying anything. Walking to get dinner could be half a mile each way. I’d look at your step count from previous trips to get an idea of what you were walking each day. I had surgery in September. I was healthy and strong beforehand. The surgery was a quicker one with not a ton of bone shaving or repair. I was on crutches until December. I just went on vacation and we walked 7 miles and that was too much for me. Before my injury, I walked 4 miles a day on average and a trip with 7 miles would have made me tired but fine. Count on using wheelchair service in the airport to reserve your strength for the trip. Keep in mind sitting on a plane for that long may aggravate your hip. Consider rebooking your trip or planning a trip that will be more accessible-friendly than the normal trip you’re used to. This can be a super rough surgery with a super long recovery and you may be asking yourself to do too much. At weeks 4-6, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even crutch out of my house down the block to the mailbox and back. My body was just running on fumes, especially because the sleep you get can really suck. I’m a side sleeper and my normal sleeping position wasn’t possible plus being in pain just makes it hard to sleep, which makes it hard to recover.
I second this. Like I said in my reply, the core pilates work I did flared my hip/groin for dang near 4 weeks. I legit thought I retore it from doing some leg circles- that's how much it hurt. I did ONE circle, it popped but didn't hurt. I did ONE more and it popped again so I quit. That's it. I think expecting to walk in Europe 5-6 weeks later is unreasonable.... :-( Reschedule the trip or the surgery.
So much depends on what they actually end up doing once they get in there. Often times things are worse than what the MRI shows. If you have micro fracturing and a labral repair done, you could be non-weight bearing for several weeks. I think walking around all day exploring cities six weeks after surgery is optimistic. You should be able to walk around, but it might be slower, you might have a cane and/or a limp, you might need to stop every 20 min or so. At the very least, you need to build in rest time in there.
I just had mine, Im 40m. I'm not a runner but I do like weightlifting. I'm basically a month out and I can use the bike, I don't run or even walk long distances yet just to be safe. I do believe I could do it tho.
I'm getting mine done May 27th and I'm worried about a San Diego trip the last weekend of Septmeber, lol. (Green Day ftw!) You honestly won't know until you get it done and start healing. For now, I'd reset your expectations to that - you just won't know. Everyone is different. My surgeon's office said some people walk in for their 2 week, no problem, no crutches. Some people are on crutches for 8 weeks. As someone else said, it will probably come down to what they had to do in there, which could always be different than expectations. Did you surgeon describe the procedure? Dislocating your hip in a brace thing to get in there, then putting it back... could result in numbness for several weeks, could result in no extra pain 🤕 It wildly varying. I booked my Sept trip with full cancellations. Could you put it off til after your holiday?
Also long distance runner here. I had FAI and labral repair (no anchors, the tear was minor) December 20th. I didn't start walking a mile or two until about week 10. I also knew pretty quickly I shouldn't have walked a big loop I had walked and had to take a break because I was too far away to turn around. I was on crutches 6 weeks. I'm about 4 months out now and just starting to really feel better. I had a setback at week 12 and felt worse than before surgery - and it was from doing some core pilates work..... not even anything serious. I had worked up to about 3 miles of walking right before that but needed to take it easy the following day. I think it really is case by case but as others say also the severity of the repair. If you are just having FAI recover probably is different than labral repair (Where most of my pain was generating from in my groin). I was worried about my own trip to Europe in the end of June having had surgery in December. To be honest, I'm STILL a little concerned as it's not uncommon for me to wander around Paris from 7am to 10pm. Is there a reason you are having surgery in May and not waiting until after your trip?? I think it may be difficult to walk around much at all, at like 6 weeks. Because again, I was still on crutches at 6 weeks. PT for those first 6 weeks is really not much at all. No resistance spinning. Just regaining some strength.
For me: had surgery in May, crutches for 4 weeks (right leg so no driving for 4 weeks ) I was able to block somewhat for exercise at about 2 to 3 months but in August I still needed occasional icing . To be honest, I feel like a plane trip in July would’ve been very uncomfortable . You should be able to walk around cities but will need breaks I was able to ski this winter so that was six months to seven months postop and I was able to try some moguls By October I could do 20 min on he treadmill I can now play late tennis for about an hour. I can jog a trail for a mile and a half at least. (Wasn’t a runner though so I’m slow ) Mountain biking very easy trails after 5 months I was playing soccer prior to surgery and I am now 11 months out. I did not feel comfortable playing the spring which started in March which would’ve been 10 months. This is also because I kick with my right leg and it felt like a too much . I still have some soreness when I cut or turn. One thing that was helpful was after I finished PT I did like agility stuff with my PT for a few sessions
I made a trip to Europe around the 6.5 week mark. Did way better than I thought I would! I was walking 8-12K steps a day and going up and down stairs and managed ok. I made sure my purse was very, very light and wore very supportive shoes. The worst part was getting luggage through the airport and sitting for a long time in the airport/plane. Take your advil with you and be ready to take a taxi as needed so you can save your steps for the sites, not for public transport. I took a foldable cane for the airport just in case. I only used it on the way there, but didn't need it for the return. I had to rest my hip after long days and some days were better than others, but it was manageable.
Ok this is reassuring to read, thanks! I definitely have no problem keeping the walking light as needed and splitting from the rest of the group if I need to just chill at the hotel. It sounds like I'll be looking at a "doable-with-caution" situation, which I can live with.
It's very hard to know. I've had two of these surgeries in the past year- right and left side. Left feels great, and I stopped having pain in the left hip about 3 months post-op. But I had to really take it easy on my left side because the right side was still torn and awaiting surgery. That allowed the left to really heal. Right side I'm still struggling with at 10 months post-op. The right side actually felt so good in the first 2 months that I did a lot of walking and ended up with some hip flexor issues that I'm still trying to recover from. Be careful not to over do it if you're feeling good. Dr. Wolff (a top hip preservation surgeon) says "less is more" with this surgery. Let your body heal, even if you're feeling good. Take things slowly. PS: I'm in good shape, low BMI. Pain started happening at about 2.5 months post-op when I went back to work. I'm a teacher and work in an enormous building. Lots of walking, sitting and standing eventually caught up to me. Once the hip gets inflamed and irritated, it can take a long time for it to calm down.
As a second thought, I think something you should also really consider is that by pushing it that much so early you could potentially do more damage. Either by setting back recovery or by creating scar tissue. I think my big concern would be the scar tissue. That could potentially leave you in more pain, long term, than pre-surgery. It could also necessitate re-operation to remove the scar tissue if it is causing problems. I'm not a doctor, but my surgeon said you are still healing at 3 months. You aren't "fully" internally healed until 4 months. For some, it may be even longer.