MY INJURY JOURNEY
On the 29th of July 2023, an ordinary day of playing rugby league turned into a life changing experience. I unfortunately suffered a dislocation and fracture of my left hip. This blog will outline my recovery post-surgery, how I’m going now and how my rehabilitation is progressing.
SURGERY
Once I arrived at hospital, I was immediately sent for an X-ray. Once there, doctors described how I had not only dislocated my hip, but also fractured my femoral head (the part of your hip that sits in the joint). The injury is so rare that doctors had thought I was in a car crash before hearing my story.
I was then immediately rushed into surgery to put my hip back into place, but because of the fracture I also had to have a traction device in my knee to ensure my hip remained stable.
I was then transferred to St George Hospital and 2 days after dislocating my hip went in for my second operation to insert some screws into my hip. Thankfully, once in theatre, the surgeon was actually surprised. My hip was in better shape then originally thought as they feared I was going to need a hip replacement at first. Both operations went smoothly and I was sent home the day after my second operation.
Recovery
0-2 WEEKS
Once at home, things were tough. I had no strength in my left leg and was unable to even move it to the edge of the bed without assistance.
For the first 2 weeks I relied heavily on my partner and other family members to assist me with simple tasks. I’ll admit, going from a young and fit 25 year old to someone who needs help even getting up out of bed was tough, but I had a great support system around me which helped me get through this tough time.
The first 6 weeks involved very little exercise from me as I was unable to put any weight through my leg.
2 WEEKS
I was fortunate enough to be allowed to do Hydrotherapy after 2 weeks once my wounds had healed and I believe this helped me tremendously in my recovery.
I did have a little set back where my wound slightly reopened, but just covering that up for a week sorted that out.
6 WEEKS
After 6 weeks, I was cleared to start walking with the crutches and allowed to do some gentle exercises to help maintain some of my leg strength.
I kept myself sane during this period by doing a lot of upper body workouts, watching way too much TV and getting back into reading.
12 weeks
After 3 months, the day had finally come where I was allowed to walk without crutches again.
Not going to lie, it felt extremely weird and I would describe myself as an adult baby learning how to walk again but it was awesome to get back to some normality.
My dog also very much enjoyed being walked constantly as I wanted to walk as much as possible after 12 weeks without being allowed to do so.
Hydrotherapy 2 weeks post-surgery
Walking with crutches 6 weeks post-surgery
Walking without crutches 12 weeks post-surgery
Where I am at now
4 months after my operations and I have finally returned to work. I am feeling great for the most part and crushing my rehab. I am occasionally sore but this is general muscle soreness from getting back into exercise and proper movement rather than my hip being sore.
I am walking normally now and am back at the gym focusing on just building up my strength in my leg again, especially my quads and glutes. I am also very much loving doing some Pilates to help improve my range of motion, strength and coordination. I’m still not allowed to do any running or certain exercises at the gym like deep squats or leg press for a few more months.
Overall, I am stoked with how far I have come in such a short time.
Sadly, I don’t know if I will be able to ever play footy again, but as they say “when one door closes another one opens”. I have been lucky enough to become the Assistant Coach of the St George Illawarra Dragons Under 21s team.
The reason I wanted to write this blog was not only to outline my journey but to show that even us Physiotherapists can go through tough injuries and what are some ways to overcome it.
I had a great support system with me throughout this experience and they helped me tremendously.
I also have relied heavily on other Physios and my Pilates instructor (who luckily enough is my fiance) to help build back up my movement and strength.
If you have any hip pain or any sporting-related injury, please don’t hesitate to contact us and book in with a Physiotherapist.