Hip Flexor Injury

#1bballmomfan posted:

Well this year has not started as we had hoped.  3 weeks ago, before the first game son injured his hip flexor gunning a runner down from left.  He heard a loud pop and fell to the grass.  He was not able to walk off the field on his own accord.  They sent him to the training office to be evaluated.  They diagnosed him with a Hip Flexor Strain (saying they didn't know if it was 1,2,or 3 and strain pretty much covered all of it) and he has been doing therapy on it daily since.  They had him do some pool work, massage, heat, tinge, stretching and he actually managed to do a light jog.  Majority of his pain has been in his lower abdomen attachment point with some obviously in the groin area.  There was no bruising that he could see.  HC said they would treat it conservatively for a few weeks and see how he heals.  HC sent me long text msg basically saying it was his experience that if this didn't take care of itself with minimal treatment it usual meant he would be medically unable to play for an extended length of time.   Therapy has helped but the trainer feels he is not healing quite as well as they would like to see.  They are sending him to the sports orthopedic rehab docs tomorrow for an evaluation.  Can anyone tell me about medically redshirting in NAIA?  He was never able to play an actual game as his injury was in an intersquad  game.  Has anyone any experience with this injury? What is the general outcome returning to 100% with this type of injury.  He's a speedster and he's a little nervous about his ability to return to full speed and frankly we are all a little on edge.    

Please go see the doctor!!  Son heard similar pop while running and it was a Pelvic Avulsion Fracture.  It can take from 6 weeks to 6 months to heal depending on the type of athlete, severity of fracture or if surgery is required.

CatsPop posted:

#1bballmomfan posted:

Well this year has not started as we had hoped.  3 weeks ago, before the first game son injured his hip flexor gunning a runner down from left.  He heard a loud pop and fell to the grass.  He was not able to walk off the field on his own accord.  They sent him to the training office to be evaluated.  They diagnosed him with a Hip Flexor Strain (saying they didn't know if it was 1,2,or 3 and strain pretty much covered all of it) and he has been doing therapy on it daily since.  They had him do some pool work, massage, heat, tinge, stretching and he actually managed to do a light jog.  Majority of his pain has been in his lower abdomen attachment point with some obviously in the groin area.  There was no bruising that he could see.  HC said they would treat it conservatively for a few weeks and see how he heals.  HC sent me long text msg basically saying it was his experience that if this didn't take care of itself with minimal treatment it usual meant he would be medically unable to play for an extended length of time.   Therapy has helped but the trainer feels he is not healing quite as well as they would like to see.  They are sending him to the sports orthopedic rehab docs tomorrow for an evaluation.  Can anyone tell me about medically redshirting in NAIA?  He was never able to play an actual game as his injury was in an intersquad  game.  Has anyone any experience with this injury? What is the general outcome returning to 100% with this type of injury.  He's a speedster and he's a little nervous about his ability to return to full speed and frankly we are all a little on edge.    

Please go see the doctor!!  Son heard similar pop while running and it was a Pelvic Avulsion Fracture.  It can take from 6 weeks to 6 months to heal depending on the type of athlete, severity of fracture or if surgery is required.

He goes tomorrow.

#1BBALLMOMFAN, I just sent you a PM.

Yes.  Son heard a pop in fall ball his college freshman year.  Got an MRI and it was a labral tear due to hip impingment.  (It was bilateral, and is usually inherited). 

The backstory was that every spring in high school baseball  he had hip issues and did therapy, stretches, etc.  It helped some, but it wasn't until he heard the pop that something could actually be done about it.

He played all college freshman year injured.  The following summer he got the 'full tune-up' and had both hips repaired one month apart.  After 6 months of PT and he was back on the field for sophomore year.

As far as redshirting, for D1 I think if you play less that 30% of the games you can get a medical redshirt.  The trainers and coaches were watching son closely freshman year to see if he needed to redshirt.  He elected to played through the pain.  Since the damage was done, it wasn't like it was going to get worse.

GET AN MRI!

btw....in high school that is what the doctor's kept telling him...."it is your hip flexor; do exercises".  

PM me if you have questions.

keewart posted:

Yes.  Son heard a pop in fall ball his college freshman year.  Got an MRI and it was a labral tear due to hip impingment.  (It was bilateral, and is usually inherited). 

The backstory was that every spring in high school baseball  he had hip issues and did therapy, stretches, etc.  It helped some, but it wasn't until he heard the pop that something could actually be done about it.

He played all college freshman year injured.  The following summer he got the 'full tune-up' and had both hips repaired one month apart.  After 6 months of PT and he was back on the field for sophomore year.

As far as redshirting, for D1 I think if you play less that 30% of the games you can get a medical redshirt.  The trainers and coaches were watching son closely freshman year to see if he needed to redshirt.  He elected to played through the pain.  Since the damage was done, it wasn't like it was going to get worse.

GET AN MRI!

+1 

X-ray and MRI should be done. 

keewart posted:

btw....in high school that is what the doctor's kept telling him...."it is your hip flexor; do exercises".  

PM me if you have questions.

I can relate..he's battled a nagging leg for many years but nothing this severe. We are hoping our appt. tomorrow will shed a lot of light on what's going on.

keewart posted:

btw....in high school that is what the doctor's kept telling him...."it is your hip flexor; do exercises".  

PM me if you have questions.

Yeah, I don't mess around too much with hip flexor injuries before sending them off to orthopedics. We'll typically give it a couple of weeks and see how things go. But continued pain warrants an X-ray and evaluation by the orthopedic surgeon. From there, MRI arthrogram may be warranted if no improvement. FAI is the most common cause of labral tears. FAI is considered to be a congenital condition that over time can lead to the labral tear. 

keewart posted:

 

As far as redshirting, for D1 I think if you play less that 30% of the games you can get a medical redshirt.  

What I should have said was  ".... declare medical redshirt before 30% into the season...." 

keewart posted:

keewart posted:

 

As far as redshirting, for D1 I think if you play less that 30% of the games you can get a medical redshirt.  

What I should have said was  ".... declare medical redshirt before 30% into the season...." 

You can redshirt up to midway through the season.  He just can't play in more than 30% of the seasons games and any game beyond halfway through the season.

Well still perplexed slightly.  He and his dad just left the doctors office.   Took several xrays in many angles and  position and said based on those and the exam they think it is just a really bad strain.  Said if in 2 more weeks it is not still improving they will order an MRI, but that he needs to continue the therapy he's been doing.  The one thing the doc said that boggles my mind is the doc said if he really wanted to he could continue activity as tolerated pushing himself even when it hurts slightly because he wasn't going to hurt it more..........but then said if not better in 2 weeks come back for the MRI.  Does that sound right?  I'm getting this second hand from the hubs so I can't elaborate more then what was told to me.  Guess we have another 2 weeks to wait it out.   I would just think you could cause more problems if you attempt to do more things with it already being hurt. I sent questions to his dad to ask about the Pelvic Avulsion Fracture and  Gilmore Groin.  Doctor said he wasn't concerned about any type of fractures based on his evaluation and xrays.  Would love feedback from anyone having dealt with this before if this sounds normal.  Thanks for all your information so far.

#1bballmomfan posted:

Well still perplexed slightly.  He and his dad just left the doctors office.   Took several xrays in many angles and  position and said based on those and the exam they think it is just a really bad strain.  Said if in 2 more weeks it is not still improving they will order an MRI, but that he needs to continue the therapy he's been doing.  The one thing the doc said that boggles my mind is the doc said if he really wanted to he could continue activity as tolerated pushing himself even when it hurts slightly because he wasn't going to hurt it more..........but then said if not better in 2 weeks come back for the MRI.  Does that sound right?  I'm getting this second hand from the hubs so I can't elaborate more then what was told to me.  Guess we have another 2 weeks to wait it out.   I would just think you could cause more problems if you attempt to do more things with it already being hurt. I sent questions to his dad to ask about the Pelvic Avulsion Fracture and  Gilmore Groin.  Doctor said he wasn't concerned about any type of fractures based on his evaluation and xrays.  Would love feedback from anyone having dealt with this before if this sounds normal.  Thanks for all your information so far.

If he felt a pop, it may be a soft tissue injury which wouldn't show up on the x-ray, right? Why wouldn't he just order the MRI now?

Protocol for insurance to pay for the MRI is several weeks of therapy, with no relief of pain.  At least it was in our case with the college's insurance footing the bill.  If self pay....do what your pocketbook can pay for!

Call around. An MRI can be done for $400 or so.  You decide if you want to wait on insurance to pay.

Son injured hip flexor as a youth and couldnt walk well for a week or so.  It took weeks to (mostly) fully heal.  Had issues with it though for couple of years.  I think it was walking lunges that helped for therapy?? cant remember.

I think a contrast MRI may be more expensive? 

Whoa, I just pulled son's files....MRI with contrast was $2950.00 for anyone who cares.  That did not include arthrogram, injections, drugs, ....

keewart posted:

I think a contrast MRI may be more expensive? 

Whoa, I just pulled son's files....MRI with contrast was $2950.00 for anyone who cares.  That did not include arthrogram, injections, drugs, ....

Ouch!

Thankfully at this point school is footing the bill and we were told they would continue to for the course of the treatment.  We anticipate a MRI in the coming weeks based on how he's progressed over the past 3 weeks.  I really appreciate all the information and recommendations from everyone.  We will definitely make sure to get MRI with contrast if we end up having to do that route.  I did clarify that what the doc meant by activity as tolerated was during therapy and all and that he wasn't released to get on the field and play.  Coach was very compassionate and he, son and trainer agreed if he wasn't 100% he wouldn't return and would save his eligibility.  I have heard so many horror stories of uncaring selfish coaches, but I have to say we have been blessed with an incredible coach who really does care about his boys and does try and do the right thing by them.  We are very thankful for this.  He has no applied any pressure to son what so ever and has encouraged the resting and rehabing.

hshuler posted:

#1bballmomfan posted:

Well still perplexed slightly.  He and his dad just left the doctors office.   Took several xrays in many angles and  position and said based on those and the exam they think it is just a really bad strain.  Said if in 2 more weeks it is not still improving they will order an MRI, but that he needs to continue the therapy he's been doing.  The one thing the doc said that boggles my mind is the doc said if he really wanted to he could continue activity as tolerated pushing himself even when it hurts slightly because he wasn't going to hurt it more..........but then said if not better in 2 weeks come back for the MRI.  Does that sound right?  I'm getting this second hand from the hubs so I can't elaborate more then what was told to me.  Guess we have another 2 weeks to wait it out.   I would just think you could cause more problems if you attempt to do more things with it already being hurt. I sent questions to his dad to ask about the Pelvic Avulsion Fracture and  Gilmore Groin.  Doctor said he wasn't concerned about any type of fractures based on his evaluation and xrays.  Would love feedback from anyone having dealt with this before if this sounds normal.  Thanks for all your information so far.

If he felt a pop, it may be a soft tissue injury which wouldn't show up on the x-ray, right? Why wouldn't he just order the MRI now?

 

The reasoning was that even though he wasn't progressing as fast as they would like he was still progressing and getting better.  They want to give it a few more weeks and then will decided if an MRI is warranted.  What I'm hearing is they have to prove it's medically necessary since the school is covering the costs......

keewart posted:

keewart posted:

 

As far as redshirting, for D1 I think if you play less that 30% of the games you can get a medical redshirt.  

What I should have said was  ".... declare medical redshirt before 30% into the season...." 

In this case it would be a medical waiver, classification not granted until after the championship season and NCAA approved.

Just find that there is confusion at times for some.

keewart posted:

I think a contrast MRI may be more expensive? 

Whoa, I just pulled son's files....MRI with contrast was $2950.00 for anyone who cares.  That did not include arthrogram, injections, drugs, ....

I was in waiting room for regular MRI, and they said it was going to be $2100.  I called a couple of places and found the one for $400 - two blocks away.  These prices vary wildly.

MRI is a well-oiled money machine. 

MRI arthrogram three weeks ago.  Retail was $2,150, network discount was $1,314 fyi.  

While we are comparing, PRP $400.

Edit:  Just looked at an invoice.  It looks like PRP was $205.  But it seems that they take a little here, give a little there on the services.  In other words, we may have paid more for something else that was effectively really a PRP add-on.

Agree that it pays to shop around for MRIs and not just go to the location the Doc sends you too.  Most healthplans offer price comparison tools that will show you the exact cost of each procedure for each provider within a given number of miles.  When I had my last MRI I used my health insurer's tool to price shop and saw the exact differences already noted - from $400 to $2500.  I also think that in the current environment in healthcare it also makes sense to tell the provider you are at that you're willing to go to another location that charges $400 unless they're willing to provide the service at or near the same price - this assumes you're self paying and not going through your insurance (where they have their own rates set).  

Folks, contrast MRIs are different than regular MRIs.   Everyone on this board recommended that my son have the contrast MRI, which cost more.  Be sure you are comparing apples to apples if you are going to do so.

Well we finally go for the MRI Tuesday....and then follow up with doc that Thursday.  Apparently the doc relayed information to the trainer that there could be impingement, but husband or son never remember doc saying that to them.  Wondering why we have tried therapy for weeks longer and doc never relaying that to son and husband at the appt.   Husband and myself will both be going to the appt on Thursday so that we can both hear.  He has been medically red-shirted this year which is good considering the alternative.  Initially they said the xray's looked good so not sure what exactly we are going to hear on Thursday after the MRI because son said trainer told him the xray's revealed the deformity/damage but this was not relayed to us.  Feeling a little left out of the loop because apparently the trainers and doctors are talking but only giving us a little bit of information at a time.  It will all work out I know and told son if we don't like what this doctor says we will get a second opinion.  Does anyone have any names of good sports docs in the DFW area?  

Don't know of good sports docs in the DFW area, but I would ask if they are doing an MRI with contrast (see Keewart's comment directly above).  If they say "no," get them to explain why not.  They may have a good explanation, but I do know of people who've been sent for an MRI, then sent for another, with contrast, because they couldn't see anything wrong on the first MRI.  Good luck!

MomLW posted:

Don't know of good sports docs in the DFW area, but I would ask if they are doing an MRI with contrast (see Keewart's comment directly above).  If they say "no," get them to explain why not.  They may have a good explanation, but I do know of people who've been sent for an MRI, then sent for another, with contrast, because they couldn't see anything wrong on the first MRI.  Good luck!

Just found out they are doing it with contrast.....big sigh of relief.

My son had torn labrum from impingement and so did I. 

They tried to rehab my son as well with no improvement. 

He had his surgery and it took six months for him to play again. 

Itwas long recovery but he did well. 

My surgery improved mine as well

best of luck

#1bballmomfan posted:

Well we finally go for the MRI Tuesday....and then follow up with doc that Thursday.  Apparently the doc relayed information to the trainer that there could be impingement, but husband or son never remember doc saying that to them.  Wondering why we have tried therapy for weeks longer and doc never relaying that to son and husband at the appt.   Husband and myself will both be going to the appt on Thursday so that we can both hear.  He has been medically red-shirted this year which is good considering the alternative.  Initially they said the xray's looked good so not sure what exactly we are going to hear on Thursday after the MRI because son said trainer told him the xray's revealed the deformity/damage but this was not relayed to us.  Feeling a little left out of the loop because apparently the trainers and doctors are talking but only giving us a little bit of information at a time.  It will all work out I know and told son if we don't like what this doctor says we will get a second opinion.  Does anyone have any names of good sports docs in the DFW area?  

I don't know what part of the DFW you're in, but Dr. Kyle Stuart at the Sports Medicine Clinic of North Texas is a hip specialist. He's done hip arthroscopy on two of our athletes and they've done well. One was back to her sport in 14 weeks (really fast!) and the other one was back to his sport at around 18 weeks. 

Sports Medicine Clinic of North Texas can be found at www.smcnt.com. 

Well we just dropped son off and hubs and I headed on our 5 hour drive back home.  Doc said it is in fact cam impingement with torn labrum.  Doctor has recommended surgery.  He said he would refer us to surgeon who specialized in hips.  Said he should have full recovery and be back on the field by October.   Not exactly what we were wanting but at least he knows path in front of him and can start working on his plan.  He handled it like a champ and only wanted to know what the rehab and end outcome probability was of him getting back in the field and at what level.  Told him he should be able to continue at same level only better now that pain would be gone.  Son just called and said coach as asked him to get a second opinion. ��  Not sure if coach is just doing that for insurance purposes to show necessity on the schools end or what.   We had planned on getting 2nd opinion any way but planned on doing that on our dime.  We did get MRI CD and final report since they were sending us to another doctor.  Guess our road just got a little more bumpy.  For those whose sons have had this surgery how did it impact their speed?  Lingering pain? Son has commented wondering if it will impact his speed long term.  

#1bballmomfan posted:

Well we just dropped son off and hubs and I headed on our 5 hour drive back home.  Doc said it is in fact cam impingement with torn labrum.  Doctor has recommended surgery.  He said he would refer us to surgeon who specialized in hips.  Said he should have full recovery and be back on the field by October.   Not exactly what we were wanting but at least he knows path in front of him and can start working on his plan.  He handled it like a champ and only wanted to know what the rehab and end outcome probability was of him getting back in the field and at what level.  Told him he should be able to continue at same level only better now that pain would be gone.  Son just called and said coach as asked him to get a second opinion. ��  Not sure if coach is just doing that for insurance purposes to show necessity on the schools end or what.   We had planned on getting 2nd opinion any way but planned on doing that on our dime.  We did get MRI CD and final report since they were sending us to another doctor.  Guess our road just got a little more bumpy.  For those whose sons have had this surgery how did it impact their speed?  Lingering pain? Son has commented wondering if it will impact his speed long term.  

Send me a PM and let's talk... 

Son came back faster.  First time without pain in YEARS!  Both hips were done, one month apart.

3 MRI's and we have a few answers.  They found he had a sports hernia among other things.  We will start with the hernia and see if that corrects a large portion of the pain.  They saw a 5-6mm cartlidge tear/missing and partial labrum tear. We will be doing to a sports hernia specialist to get that part fixed and then will come back to hit specialist to work on the next step. Anyone been through any of these type of surgeries/rehabs?  We are taking 1 step at a time and trying not to get overwhelmed. 

Son has progressed and done wonderfully so far.  We are hoping that the repair to the sports hernia will be all he will have to endure as far as surgery.  We won't know for sure until he gets back on the field and pushes himself to see if the labrum/cartilage will cause him any more discomfort or if all the pain was coming from the sports hernia.  After surgery doc said that it was 100% necessary to repair the sports hernia.  There was a lot of old blood and scar tissue present.  He was able to say without hesitation that this would/could be causing significant pain and would explain a lot of his issues.  Thus far his leg has felt really good.  He's pushed himself some and has gotten back in the gym with little to no discomfort.  He says slight discomfort from being sedentary for 2 months but he's working himself back in to baseball shape.  Coach renewed his scholarship and we are looking forward to a productive year on the field.  Thankful for all those out here in baseball land checking in and all the advice from beginning to end.  It was because of some of your advice that we kept pushing for more answers and tests until we got the answers we knew we needed.  Hopefully this one is in the books.    

What a difference few months has made...I updated back at the end of August that things were progressing nicely.  So far there is no indication of additional surgeries needed.  He's feeling slight tightness, which is expected but is able to stretch it out before and after with the trainer.  3 weeks back to school (3months post surgery) they did time trials on the players 60 times.  He called very disappointed that his time was only a 6.9.  I laughed and told him that to still be a sub 7 and that he's just recently been back to full blown working out after being out for a year was amazing.  He being the kind of guy he is wasn't satisfied with that number and vowed to be back in the at least6.5 range at least.  He's recovered wonderfully.  He's been cranking the ball and hit his 3rd HR this week........ has highest batting average on the team and his on base percentage is outstanding.  He's back!!!!!!!!!!  I truly believe this year off has matured him mentally and physically.  He was able to step away and come back fresh and ready to go with less bad habits to break and play pain free for the first time in 6 years.  He broke down his swing and really worked at mechanics and losing the bad habits he struggled with last year.  I am so thankful for all the support and check in's from so many of you.  THANK YOU for all the information and support that's been offered throughout this hurdle in his life.  I can say at this point he's raring and ready to go full throttle physically and mentally.  As tough a year as this year has been on everyone I believe God used it to make a dramatic change for the better.    

Very nice - congrats!

Very good news!!!  He's back!

So great to hear the news about Austin's progress today!  I know that so many of your prayers have been answered.  I hope that he continues on the path toward being back to 101% of where he once was.  Keep us appraised of his activities until he's back in that starting lineup next Spring!

Congrats!!!! Love hearing stories of young athletes overcoming adversity!