@RPness, thanks for the advice, The sports doctor was the last resort after I'd tried physio, podiatrists, cortisone etc and it was the physio who referred me to him. The MRI showed chondral wear and subchondral cysts with surrounding oedema. Tendons, ITB, TFL and bursae were in fact normal, and no labral tears. The physio was telling me I had to stop martial arts, the doc said do it as long as you want to, stop if it hurts; it won't make it any worse. No-one is pushing me into surgery, the doc just recommended glucosamine and panadol, but that the long term prognosis will be a THR if/when the pain becomes debilitating.
I've started daily glucosamine (was sceptical, but have seen it do wonders for my elderly dog) and omega 3 from flaxseed, (fish products make me ill). Have stopped physio and put the orthotics away. Since then have done two gradings and won a medal, and hip snaps have gone from several a day to one a week or so (the snap is a stabbing pain that leaves me breathless and nauseous for a few seconds, horrible) So maybe I'll keep going for a few more years on just a few things I can get from the health food shop and loads of non aggravating excercise.
