Hello,
When I was a teenager I did lots of running and cycling, I thought nothing of doing a 10k pretty much every day after school. Eventually I gave that up and lived pretty sedentarily but maintained a healthy weight. At 23 I began weightlifting, including lower body workouts. Squats and lunges just didn't feel natural and eventually brought on a pain in my left hip that never went away. That was in April 2023. Eventually my right hip joined in the pain for the fun. Initially my medical team told me it was Bursitis (GTPS), I accepted this diagnosis and was told that it'll just take time to get better with physio. It never did.
In 2024 I returned to my consultant and they ordered an MRI. The MRI shown CAM lesions on both hips. I was scheduled for a surgery for the left hip. The surgery was completed in January 2025, recovery was slow but initially positive. In July 2025, I have surgery on the left hip, initial recovery was much quicker. I was reasonably active and achieving my PT goals.
In October of 2025, everything reversed. I was increasing my physio work and incorporating heavier work, including with machines (I say heavy but thats relative to me, for a normal person it was really no weight at all), this went ok for about two weeks until I got a flare up. The flare up never went away. I got new imaging (1.5T MRI) which shown some residual CAM in the right hip (the least affected from the flare up) but nothing else remarkable. It also noted some labral degeneration but I'm told this is to be expected during a repair. My surgical notes also stated my labrums were in pretty good shape and just got a bit of debridement. I got a hydordilation injection into the left hip, it did nothing.
Eventually I was sent to a specialist PT, it has been two months working with them and whilst I can feel some very slight strength increase, there is no corresponding relief to pain. I get flared up so easy, mostly for no reason. I often wake early in the morning with a dull ache from above my knee to the top of my pelvis. Front and back.
My medical team don't think that I could have done anything wrong back in October, but the reversal seems so sudden that I'm unsure. They seem to suggest that a serious impact would have had to happen. Additionally in October I developed a soreness in my Neck/Upper Traps that is almost as debilitating. I put this down to being so sedentary for so long and then straight back to upper body workouts. Although It has lasted for far longer than it should.
I just don't know where to go from here, this condition is so punishing. I understand for most people it arises from living actively, like we're all told that we should. It's a cruel irony. I'm trying my best to keep sanity, but I really can't imagine living out another 50/60 years like this. I'm only 26. I think back to when I lived pain free, normally, and it is like another life. I cannot go out in the world and do the things I want to do, I'm constantly held back. The only solace I have, is that I have a stable mostly WFH job, own my home, and I have no dependents to care for. I can't imagine people suffering this while having to take care of family. Their strength amazes me.
I suppose the point of my question is, has anyone had this expierance. An initial good start, and then a prolonged reversal? The early days prove to me my hip is capable of being healthy as for a few months it was, that is the hope I'm clinging to, but as time goes on, I get unsure.