Diagnosis of FNSF

Fast forward for the next two weeks. My “hip” (groin) continued to be sore. I even took a few days “off” from running (I realize how stupid this sounds now with the benefit of hindsight, but at the time I really just thought I had severely strained something). I tried running, but the pain was present (a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1-10).  I continued to bike and swim (which ironically didn’t hurt at all, even when I would stand out of the saddle on the bike).

By early August, it was obvious that something serious was wrong with me. After reading through as much I could on the internet, I was convinced I had suffered a labral tear (though I didn’t have the catching symptoms in the hip), and I finally began the process of getting diagnosed. (Yes, I waited for a month to go see the doctor, which I realize was the most pigheaded and foolish decision).

My Family Practitioner ordered a hip xray (which had to be done initially before insurance would approve the MRI). The MRI was ordered, but it was contingent on approval from the insurance.  The Xray came back “normal.”  I can’t explain this, given what was to follow, other than I wonder if the docs were simply looking for soft tissue separation problems in the acetabular region. (In other words, while the xray wouldn’t have detected soft tissue (cartilage) abnormalities, it would have given an idea if there were separation issues between the femoral head and the acetabular. That I had a developing femoral neck stress fracture wasn’t seen on the xray, and my only conclusion is that the docs simply weren’t looking for it, or the early radiograph simply didn't detect it. Regarding the latter, I've read that early x-rays are often initially negative for stress fractures, including femoral neck stress fractures.

The symptom which was the nail in the coffin for me (again I was still thinking labral tear):  Getting out of a car or a chair was very painful. Standing erect would notably send a pain in my groin, which would require careful walking to simply make it diminish. I was notably limping.

One week later (early September) I had another X-ray (see image) and the approved MRI.  With the MRI,  I had an arthogram injection to help with contrasting. (If you suspect labral tears, this is the way to go, I’m to understand). Two hours after I had the MRI, I received a call at home (a bad sign) from the radiologist that I was to immediately get off my leg, because of a notable femoral neck stress fracture. This began my journey with the FNSF recovery.

A close up of the two troubling areas:

The orthopedic specialist would adjust the contrast back and forth on these images, and the small disruptions to the bone cortex became more apparent, as did a "reaction" area just inside the compression side.