Ashley’s 2026 Hip Adventure: PAO Surgery

144

On April 14, I will be undergoing a PAO surgery. Wait, what? Yeahhh. I will be having corrective hip surgery and will be taking 12 weeks off of work to focus on rest, recovery, and rehab. Here’s all the details if you’re interested! 

Some history: 

I’ve always had a bum hip. Ever since high school this left hip has been giving me trouble. My friends would tease me because I’d be walking down the halls and have to pop my hip. It often felt like it caught or got stuck and popping it out – with a snapping sound! – was the only way to make it ‘work’. It didn’t hurt per se but was often uncomfortable, notably after long periods of walking. 

It was just something I lived with; no one ever suggested seeing a doctor about it. It was just my weird hip. 

This continued through my 20s, when the popping became necessary more frequently and where the hip became more painful. Of course, I chalked it up to my lack of fitness and needing to strengthen and stretch my muscles. Or maybe it was just due to wearing crappy shoes for so many years, so I started wearing shoes with support. 

Through my 30s, the discomfort persisted, becoming more annoying, more aggravating, and eventually more painful. I would stretch this hip for hours and hours, sitting in deep stretches like pigeon, but it never got looser. It was always tight. The last few years of my 30s, it became a daily presence. Honestly, it’s probably been going on longer, but it’s just been such a part of my life I almost stopped noticing it. I learned to live with the pain, stretching, heating, icing it and ultimately using it less. Finally, the pain became impossible to ignore, and I decided to investigate.

WELL. Turns out: I have hip dysplasia. IN BOTH HIPS. Suddenly, everything makes so much more sense and my entire life has been re-contextualized. 

Hip dysplasia is when the hip joint doesn’t form correctly, meaning the “ball” doesn’t fit properly into the pelvis’s “socket,” leading to instability (check), pain (double check), and even early arthritis if untreated. Oh boy. 

The first ortho, who diagnosed the dysplasia, sent me to a surgeon who specializes in hips. That’s all she’s been doing for 20+ years. When she saw my x-rays she said, “yup! You definitely have dysplasia.” And apparently, they expected me to complain about my right hip, not my left. So that just makes me wonder if I’ll be going through all of this again in the future on the other side. 🥴 Oof. Let’s get through this one first!

The dysplasia diagnosis made everything click into place, so to speak. No wonder it is always uncomfortable: it doesn’t fit! And the recent spike in pain is due to a labral tear (the cartilage that sits between the socket and ball) that could be fixed but would tear again without fixing the source of the problem: the malformed socket and ball.

Enter the PAO surgery: Periacetabular Osteotomy

This hip preservation procedure treats the dysplasia by cutting (EEK) and repositioning (AAAH) the hip socket to better cover the femoral head, improving stability (woo!), reducing pain (WOO!), and delaying arthritis and hip replacement (YESS). They will cut around the socket, rotate it to a more appropriate position, and then screw me back together, allowing new bone to grow and fuse it in place.

SOUNDS SUPER FUN, doesn’t it? It’s going to be a brutal, rough recovery process, but I am excited about what life could be like on the other side. I’ve walked weirdly and dealt with this discomfort and pain for so long, I have no idea what it would feel like to have a “normal” leg/hip. 

For example, it has never been comfortable for me to lie flat with my legs out straight. Anytime I’ve had to do “corpse pose” in yoga, I can’t lie with both legs straight. I either need to have my legs bent with knees touching, or have to turn my left one out at an angle, so my left foot touches my right thigh. This is why I’ve always slept with one of my legs up. It is just deeply uncomfortable to have my left leg straight. 

I can’t sit still for long periods of time and have to constantly shift my sitting position. I often “manspread” or cross my left leg over my right knee to avoid the discomfort or to alleviate pain. WHAT will it be like to NOT NEED TO DO THAT? Im so curious! Excited to find out. 

Anyway, let me know your best recovery tip! I’m building my arsenal of post-surgery accoutrements and making a Convalescence plan.