As a yoga teacher, I have seen raised eyebrows and shocked expressions when I told people I needed a hip replacement. It is humbling. But first things first: yoga did not do this to me. I repeat: yoga did NOT do this to me. Every orthopedic doctor I have seen assured me that almost any sport or repeated movement could have triggered my injury: biking, running, walking, dancing, yoga and so on.

As a regular yoga practitioner, I noticed something was ‘off’ with my right hip about 6 years ago.

Half pigeons (hip opening yoga posture) no longer felt good. They instead delivered painful sensations, like a streak of lightening into my pelvis and hip. Other poses felt as if they were pinching me. This sensation is called an ‘impingement’ and led to my first appointment with an orthopedic doctor specializing in hips and joint mobility.

After some X-rays, the prognosis did not look good. At the ball and socket of the hip joint, sits the labrum, an ‘O-ring’ cartilage cushioning of the socket of the joint. My doc spotted a significant labral tear at the ball and socket of my right hip. X-rays also revealed early onset arthritis which were indicated by the development of bone spurs in my hip. Repeated movements in combination with the bone spurs ground away at the cartilage of the socket of my joint. Unfortunately, early onset arthritis is something that runs in my family.

Labral tear surgery seemed my only option, but the idea of it was daunting. Recovery from this type of surgery can be incredibly painful and could take up to a year. It seemed an impossible scenario for a yoga teacher and mom of two young boys. At that point of my life, my family needed every bit of the income I was making. Surgery meant I would have to stop working for a significant amount of time. How would my husband be able to work full time and take care of me and my kids (who were 6 and 9 years old at the time)? I was determined to delay the surgery as long as possible.

Labral tears at the hip socket rarely repair themselves but I thought I would try. As an effort to evade surgery, I took periods of rest, underwent months of physical therapy, acupuncture (to help increase the blood flow for healing), red light therapy, infrared heat, juicing & detoxing.

At the same time, I began to modify my yoga practice, taking more breaks and discovering the balance between how much yoga I could take, modify, and teach for optimal health given my limitations.

As the pain increased and was no longer tolerable, I began getting cortisone shots to reduce pain and inflammation in the joint. Cortisone shots reduced pain and inflammation, would last for up to 6 months and were an effective way to put off surgery .. (at least for a while). But in the long run, cortisone wears down the joint, can accelerate arthritis in the joint and tax the immune system. And my immune system was already taxed.

Each time I received a shot, I knew I was edging closer and closer to surgery.

Fast forward to January 2022 during the Omicron wave of the pandemic: I was done. The pain was simply too much to bear. “UNCLE.” It was time to surrender. My kids were older (12 and 15) and were more independent. Financially, we were in a much better position for me to take a giant timeout. I waved the white flag and told my doctor I was finally ready to have the surgery to repair the labral tear.

We took more X-rays. My arthritis and bone spurs in my hips were past the point of no return. Said the doc, “At this point, if I were to sew up your labrum, you will most likely come back several months later very upset with me, because you need a total hip replacement.” The bone spurs had multiplied and my hip joint was toast. My labral tear specialist referred me to another Orthopedic doctor specializing in anterior hip replacement. I was so ready to move on from all of this. I was given 3 months to plan for surgery, as ‘elective surgeries’ at Edwards Hospital in Naperville were frozen due to an excess of Covid patients during the Omicron wave. That meant one final cortisone shot just so I could make it to the other side of a three month wait.

I keep hearing how quickly people recover from hip surgery. But my doctors have been really honest, returning to yoga is entirely different and requires more care and time. When could I take and teach yoga again?

Straight shooter estimates from my doc:

3 months of recovery to take or teach passive practice (yin/restorative)

6 months for a level 1 standing sequence

12 months for a level 2 sequence.

So that is what this blog series is about: A path of ahimsa (loving kindness) and self-care. A path back to the practice. Yet another opportunity to take right action and let go of the results (abyasa/vairagya). An opportunity to explore the 8 limbs of yoga in a different way.

I received my new hip last Thursday, April 28th, 2022 and am doing okay given the circumstances.

Next blog: the surgery and first 10 days of recovery.

Later, meditaters

Love to all!

Kristin