I have a hip plant and now I have a 70% torn, gluteal, minimus tendon

Hi Melanie,

Sorry for what you are going through. 9 years is a long time since your THR.

If the surgeon used a posterior or lateral incision (as opposed to anterior), then some of your glute muscles would have cut for the replacement. They would have been sewn back together before closing, but it seems likely that scar tissue would form. Even so, at 9 years, healing would have occurred. The tears may bot be related to the surgery, hard to tell.

Because you list the degree of tears, I assume you had an MRI. I would go back to your hip surgeon first for advice. For tears of such significance, I would think surgery to repair the muscles is called for, but I'm not sure, and I'm not sure if an ortho Dr would even do that, or if a different specialist is required.

Please let us know what happens, and in the mean time, all the best to you.

(In the short term, ice is always a good choice for fast but temporary relief.)

Joe

Thank you Joe
The surgery question looms over me as others report that they have as much pain after surgery as before. The PRP has given me great pain relief, but is it going to heal anything? Is this a temporary fix? yes, my surgery was not done anteriorly if something was cut at the time of surgery surely I would’ve known about it because my recovery was very fast and I was up on my feet walking and back to work quickly. It was after the five-year mark that this started to happen.

You asked, "The PRP has given me great pain relief, but is it going to heal anything?" The answer is "probably." PRP is becoming a not-so-secret weapon in the realm of treatment for damage muscles. Right now, I am nor sure how much data there is on the gluteus, but more data is being gathered every day. Be sure to let your treating doc know right away when/if the pain begins again. The process can be repeated while we wait for other, more permanent therapies like stem cells to be perfected.
Let us know how you are doing after a while.

Thanks Sue. PRP is "Plasma Rich Something? - what does the last "R" stand for?

Advances in non-surgical treatments are happening fast (hopefully that continues). Plasma and Stem-Cell derived treatments seem to hold much promise.

Joe

You asked, "The PRP has given me great pain relief, but is it going to heal anything?" The answer is "probably." PRP is becoming a not-so-secret weapon in the realm of treatment for damage muscles. Right now, I am nor sure how much data there is on the gluteus, but more data is being gathered every day. Be sure to let your treating doc know right away when/if the pain begins again. The process can be repeated while we wait for other, more permanent therapies like stem cells to be perfected.
Let us know how you are doing after a while.

My orthopedic doctor offered PRP treatment after my mid-April arthroscopic surgery/left knee, but he says it is successful only 60% of the time, is not covered by insurance, and costs in the range of $1,200. I did not opt for it.

My orthopedic doctor offered PRP treatment after my mid-April arthroscopic surgery/left knee, but he says it is successful only 60% of the time, is not covered by insurance, and costs in the range of $1,200. I did not opt for it.

My orthopedic doctor offered PRP treatment after my mid-April arthroscopic surgery/left knee, but he says it is successful only 60% of the time, is not covered by insurance, and costs in the range of $1,200. I did not opt for it.

@heyjoe415 @sueinmn @melaniemae @laughlin1947 I just wanted to chime in that one of my top drawer arthritis surgeons at Ucsd. Dr. Abrams warned me about torn ligaments, tendons, that they are not repairable like muscles and that we must take extreme precaution not to tear them when we are older — to stop stressing them when we do tear them so they can heal which takes very a long time. Of course that contradicts the exercise that you want to give the surrounding joints, doesn’t it in that case a consultation with maybe a kinesiology doctor might be best. As far as the PRP and the stem cell injections what I was told about that during my cervical spine surgery by the UCSD team of surgeons was that most of the private doctors selling that stuff is money thrown out the window, which is why insurance doesn’t cover it. And that what those private doctors are offering doesn’t have enough of the right stuff to do any good. I remember I was really jealous that an acquaintance. really jealous that an acquaintance husband was going for PRP and stem cell replacement and I was not; my orthopedic department wasn’t recommending it and I couldn’t understand so they explained that it’s just people willing to take your money and not giving you the quality that needs to be offered. The quality that needs to be off offered is probably too expensive for anyone to be able to buy. So I guess it’s in the research stage still and hasn’t been produced in a way that they can make it affordable to the public.
Knowing that I have connective tissue issues as a problem in my degenerative arthritis condition means that I slow down a lot more when I do any kind of resistance exercise. I make sure my knees and wrists are well supported, and if they start to hurt, like on my stationary exercise bike, I take extra measures to redistribute my weight away from my knees and to the balls of my feet instead; when I open a lot of mail or do weeding, I take care to not overly extend my wrists and keep them in line with my arm, elbow and shoulders, so I can redistribute the weight away from the connective tissue in my wrists. here is something really interesting: scar tissue can be helpful! My left knee is immune to stress created by exercising. It is my only joint that seems to be unscathed from pains. When I was a kid, I felt so many times and my left knee took the brunt of my falls and developed so much scar tissue when I was young that it protects me from problems as I age! As far as the original poster’s problem my suggestion would be to confer with the orthopedic department at a teaching hospital, where their decisions are not based on private motivations or the latest trends, but rather teaching doctors the most advanced medicine. As well, they have different departments and teams to refer you to so you can get a complete picture of what is going on with your particular body. I find that other specialty private doctors are limited to the equipment they bought and what they think Medicare will pay for. It’s hard to get really good medical care these days because of all the politics and money interests involved. You definitely have to take your time have a lot of patience and have to become your very own doctor!