Hip labral tear surgery experiences?

Has anyone here had surgery for a hip labral tear and what were your experiences healing wise?

Not myself but my OH who is an otherwise youthfull 48 year old. Previously very fit in her 30s and until two years ago had a decent level of fitness. Enjoyed mountain biking and mountain walking until two years ago when she started having serious hip pain which meant she struggled to walk down rocky mountain descents until she came to the point where she felt she had to give it up along with riding. The pain is pretty constant now to the extent that it impacts her sleep.

Since the pain started GP refered her to physio but the exercises proved too painful to carry on(since the correct diagnosis it turns out they may have done more harm than good). Earlier this year she was referred to a musculo-skeletal specialist who suspected something else and arranged an MRI which revealed the labral tear but no signs of arthritic changes in the joint. He suggested surgery which she was keen to have so he referred her to a surgeon,

About four months ago she had an appointment with an Advanced Practice Physiotherapist who is part of the surgeons team who examined her and had discussion about the surgery with strong emphasis on the possible problems it could cause and said she would present her case at the next team meeting. More physio of the correct type was recommended in the meantime which OH has been doing but no real change to the pain has occured.

Earlier this week OH had a follow up phone call with the APP and said that she was still in constant pain an still was keen to have surgery. APP kept talking about the risks to the extent that OH felt she was being pursuaded against it but the APP agreed to arrange an appointment for her with the surgeon.

I understand that they have to clearly explain the risks but is it really necessary to play on them so much that it puts people off? OH still wants to go ahead on the basis that she can’t do what she wants to do now so what’s to loose?

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

I had surgery for a labral tear ~3 months ago. Mine had a cam style impingement so no amount of physio would really help, though I got it to a state where it wasn’t too bothersome. I could have lived with it but the impingement was starting to do cartilage damage.

Very minimal pain after surgery. Immediate weight bearing and crutches for ~10 days. Thinking of my first mtb ride this weekend. Some pain remaining but that’s believed to be tendon issues with the adductor caused by years of overuse to try and stabilise the tear. But the pinching feeling in the front is much better.

Both physio and consultant said that without an impingement you can manage a tear very well without surgery. If there’s a structural issue then surgery is recommended to avoid more and more damage and an early hip replacement.

@enigmas thanks for your reply. That’s interesting and encourageing, I failed to mention in my first post that the scan also showed that OH has an impingement in the form of a bone spur extending down the outside of her hip joint. Docs have said this could be removed during the op to fix the tear.