Most people go home the same day as hip arthroscopy, the keyhole operation used to repair a torn labrum or reshape the bone in hip impingement. You’ll use crutches for anywhere from a week or two to about two months, depending on how much work was done inside the joint.
Desk work often resumes within one to two weeks. Hard exercise usually waits until around three months, and a return to competitive sport commonly takes FOUR to SEVEN months.
That wide range is normal. A simple clean-up of a frayed labrum recovers far faster than a labral repair with bone reshaping. Your surgeon’s protocol comes first, because only they know exactly what they did.
What was done changes everything
- Debridement, a trim of loose or frayed tissue: usually the quickest recovery. Crutches may only be needed until you stop limping
- Labral repair: the torn rim is stitched back to the bone with small anchors. The repair needs protecting while it heals, so expect partial weight on crutches for a few weeks
- Bone reshaping for impingement: the extra bump on the ball or socket is shaved away. The bone needs time to settle, so heavy loading and impact wait longer
- Cartilage work or a labral reconstruction: often the slowest route, with longer crutch use and a more cautious program
Ask your surgeon for your operation note in plain words: what was repaired, what was removed, and how much weight you can put through the leg.
Week by week
- Days 0 to 3: home the same day with crutches. Someone needs to drive you and stay the first night. Ice, rest and short walks around the house. Ankle pumps and gentle muscle squeezes start straight away
- Weeks 1 to 2: swelling settles. Many programs start a stationary bike early, with no resistance and the seat set high, to keep the joint moving. Gentle range exercises and buttock squeezes. Desk work may be possible if you can keep the leg comfortable
- Weeks 2 to 6: weight on the leg increases step by step. After a repair, many people wean from two crutches to one and then none somewhere between weeks 3 and 6, or later after bigger repairs. The goal is walking without a limp before the crutches go
- Weeks 6 to 12: strengthening builds up: bridges, side-lying leg work, step-ups, balance. Longer walks, swimming once the wounds have healed, and the cross-trainer if your physio agrees
- Months 3 to 6: running progressions, jumping and change-of-direction work, only once strength and control tests are passed. Sport-specific training
- Months 4 to 7 and beyond: most athletes return to their sport in this window. It can take 3 to 6 months before activity stops leaving the hip sore, and some people keep improving after that
A labral repair heals on a timetable. Strength and control decide when you’re ready for more.
Normal things that worry people
- A gurgling or sloshing feeling: fluid used to fill the joint during surgery. It’s absorbed within days
- Numbness in the groin, inner thigh or foot: the leg is pulled on during surgery to open the joint. This usually fades over days to weeks
- An aching knee: also from that pull. It settles
- Pain at the front of the hip when you lift the leg: the hip flexor muscle can get irritated during rehab, and some exercises, like straight-leg raises, can set it off. Tell your physio rather than pushing through
- Good days and bad days: a flare after doing more is common in the first months and doesn’t mean the repair has failed
What helps
- Crutches exactly as instructed. Putting full weight through a fresh labral repair too early is one of the few ways to set it back
- The bike, little and often: it moves the joint without load and helps stop stiffness
- Buttock and trunk strength: these muscles control the hip and take pressure off the repair. They were likely part of your plan before surgery. See hip labral tear
- Respect early movement limits: some surgeons restrict turning the leg outward or bending past a set angle for the first few weeks. A brace may be used to enforce this
- Break up long sitting: get up and move regularly. Low, deep seats are often uncomfortable after impingement surgery
- Build back gradually: add one new thing at a time, whether that’s distance, a new exercise or a return to the gym
When can I…
- Work at a desk: often within one to two weeks. Physical jobs take longer and depend on your repair
- Drive: once you’re off crutches and strong painkillers and can do an emergency stop without pain. After left-hip surgery in an automatic car it may be sooner. Check with your surgeon and your insurer
- Swim: once the wounds have fully healed. Front crawl with a gentle kick first. Breaststroke kick twists the hip, so leave it until your physio says so
- Run: commonly from around three months, on a graded program, if strength tests allow
- Play sport: most athletes return somewhere between 4 and 7 months. Pivoting and contact sports sit at the later end
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons explains the procedure and recovery in its guide to hip arthroscopy.
If there was arthritis in the joint
Arthroscopy tends to do less well in a hip that already has worn cartilage. If your surgeon found more wear than expected, recovery can be slower and pain can linger. That’s worth a frank conversation about what comes next.
See hip arthritis.
Call your surgeon today if
- Your calf is painful, swollen or warm, or you feel short of breath. Go to the emergency department if breathing is hard or you have chest pain
- A wound is red, hot, spreading or leaking, or you have a fever
- Numbness is spreading, or your foot or leg feels weak rather than just numb
- You fall, or the hip suddenly hurts badly and you can’t put weight through it
Mention it at your next review if
- Numbness in the thigh or groin hasn’t eased after a few weeks
- Pain at the front of the hip keeps flaring with your exercises
- You still need crutches or still limp well past the time you were given
- Progress stalls for several weeks in a row
Crutches protect the repair. Strength is what gets you back to sport.