How I Beat FAI Hip Pain Without Surgery

FAI. Hip Impingement. Hip Labral Tear. Getting a diagnosis like this can throw a wrench in the next few years. The diagnosis and the pain take a hold of your life.

Figuring out how to get out of hip pain from FAI changed the course of my life. It changed how I looked at just about everything—how my hips move but also how the rest of my body functions.

How my Chronic Hip Pain and FAI Started

I’ve always identified as an athlete and more specifically, a basketball player. In 2010, I enrolled in Law School, and by 2012, my hip pain decided to make its introduction.

When I landed after a rebound, the sensation in my hip was a sharp and intense pain that I’d never experienced before. I went to my doctor who recommended I see an orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon looked at my MRI results and told me I had FAI and a torn hip labrum. He explained that the only way to truly fix FAI is through arthroscopic hip surgery.

I decided to give the cortisone injections and physical therapy a try first. I was amazed at how ineffective the cortisone injections were.