I had my first physical therapy appointment this morning. After an evaluation, the doc laid out the best-case and worst-case scenarios for my condition:

• Best case: I have extremely tight hip flexors and several biomechanical issues/weaknesses that are causing my hip pain. Treatment: physical therapy two times a week for 12-15 weeks, plus strength, stretching and mobility work at home twice a day.

• Worst case: I have a labral tear in one or both of my hip joints. Left untreated, it will lead to arthritis later in life. If pain doesn’t improve after four sessions, I’ll need an MRI to confirm the diagnosis. Treatment: surgery, then four to six months of recovery. 

In the meantime, I am not supposed to do anything that involves hip flexion, so no running, cycling, squatting, lunging… he did say I could use an elliptical or swim, but I don’t have access to either of those. I forgot to ask about the rowing machine, but I don’t think that would be a good idea either.

In addition to worrying about how serious my injury is, I’m really concerned about how much my treatment will cost. I am starting a new job a week from today, so I’ll have new insurance as of March 1. The PT practice I’m going to is an out-of-network provider for all insurance companies, but with my current health plan the $1,000 deductible is waived and I only need to pay $25 per session. The paperwork I have from my new company (which isn’t very detailed) says I will need to pay a $1,000 deductible and then 40% coninsurance after that. Ack!!!