When I was in my teens I would walk around in the malls with friends and. Get a bad cramp in my left groin. I called it the “mall cramp.” Usually 2 hours of walking did that.

In my 20s I didn’t get that same pain. I was a house framer, lifting heavy stuff, working out at the gym. And no pain. In my mid 20s I did a 3-week back packing tour in Europe. The last day I had severe pain in my groin and lower back. I couldn’t sleep. My groin was seized up, and relieving the pain only happened when I would sit and spread my legs to stretch my groin. It would make a big pop.

I went to see a sports doctor. I had an MRI arthogram done, and my surgeon confirmed it was hip dysplasia. This was one year after the trip.

At the time the pain went away. And the doc said I didn’t need the surgery if I wasn’t in pain. Because of the risk of surgery.

10 years later, my son started hockey and I coached it.  The skating was what made the joint aggregated to the point the pain did not go away after the 3rd year.

Then at that point I couldn’t walk for more than 5 minutes

I then made the decision to have the surgery at age 36.

It’s been one year now. I can walk for an hour so far and no pain in the groin anymore. I still have outside hip muscle pain which will go away as I keep walking farther and farther.

I feel very positive about the outcome.