I went to see Dr F (my surgeon) today to complain about the persistent and worrying clicking in my right hip. He sent me to see his colleague, Dr. G, about it. (I had actually seen Dr. G briefly in mid-2004 about my knees.)

After asking me to show the site of the clicking, manipulating both legs and taking 2 hip x-rays, Dr. G concluded that - as I had been told in Oz by a physio - that the repeatable and continuous snapping was the ITB snapping over the top of my right hip bone. The larger, less frequent pop in my right hip was due to a different, deeper ligament inside my right pelvis. This was a relief. Dr. G told me that I should just keep at the physiotherapy and home floor exercises for my lower back, and that he expected my knees and my hip to get better after my lower back strengthened.

At the same time, he told me he had discovered an unrelated problem in my hip called Femoro - Acetabular Impingement. Apparently this is genetic and more common in Caucasian men than in Chinese men. He said I should stay away from squash, tennis and karate - anything that involved repeatedly raising my legs. Basketball is fine, apparently. He told me not to worry too much about it since it wasn't causing any pain, except when he manipulated my legs (by bending the knees towards my chin, and pressing down on my shins while I was lying on my back). He said it was bilateral, but now I think about it, he didn't point it out on the x-rays or even show the x-rays (digital) to me :(.

So I'm going back to physio after around 6 weeks of having fallen off the bandwagon mentally and physically. Next appointment is on Monday.