To want to cry with hip pain

[Excitedannie]

All. The. Time.

I'm a shadow of my former self. 52 and osteoarthritis in my left hip but the burning stiffness pain actually radiates down the other side. Every day the pain is different - it's like the gift from hell that keeps on giving. I barely go out and I walk like I've birthed an elephant for the few Stephanie can manage. Waiting list for a replacement is a year at least but the consultants say to manage it with steroid injections. Oh wait - there's a 10 month waiting list.

My life is awful - everything has changed - I feel so sorry for the teenage DD who has to see me like this.

Sorry - just ranting. How can my right side hurt so much when it's my left side - AIBU to just curl up and cry? 😭

Referred pain. You’re using the other side more to reduce the use of the affected side.

Without seeing and examining you, I'd guess that the right side is taking more than its fair share of work since the left side is arthritic-y, and that's why it's causing you pain. You may be walking unevenly and throwing extra stress onto the muscles.

Have you seen a physio recently and if not, can you arrange an appointment? A physio can assess those muscles around your right hip, buttock and back, treat any trigger points and advise on any exercises that might help strengthen and loosen them up.

This sounds horrendous.
What pain relief are you on?
Speak to your GP? You can ask for a referral to hospital out of area if that might work for you?
Obviously will have challenges logistically but maybe worth considering if it is significantly quicker.
For instance unit linked below has excellent reputation & waiting list v likely shorter than you’re experiencing.

https://www.eoc.nhs.uk/how-to-get-referred/

It’s soooooooooo painful and I am
so sorry you are going through this.

Is there any way you can get a loan to pay if you don’t have it in savings already?

To give you an idea My hip replacement cost £15K - if you have mri scans already or £16K if you don’t.

You could be on the healing side in a matter of weeks. I am 8 weeks post hip replacement it’s amazing how different life can be.

Definitely give acupuncture a go! It really helped me, especially with the referred pain and made the wait for the op much more bearable - worth a try x

Thank you all for your kindness and advice. Made me sob a little more!!! Yes I've been seeing a physio who has been wonderful but has more or less said that he can't do anything more but to keep up with the exercises to help with the eventual recovery.

I'm going to look into private and the referral link you sent me. I'm so scared. But I can't believe how my life has changed in 6 months. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Just feeling down and sorry for myself tonight after a particularly bad day. I'm sure I'll wake up tomorrow and have a better day x

Excitedannie.....huge hugs lovely. I'm suffering with my hip too. My g.p has given me steroid injection. Its an absolute nightmare, trying to explain to people how much it hurts is unreal. CBD capsules take the edge off for me. Maybe ask your doctor if they can do steroid injections at your local surgery??? Good luck 🍀❤️🤞

I’m in a similar state. I’ve just ordered some turmeric and black pepper capsules as some people swear they reduce inflammation and therefore, pain. I’ve no idea if they’ll work but I’m going to give them a try.

I also try and eat a low carb diet as I know when I eat a lot of sugar/carbs the pain is worse.

It’s awful pain and I really feel for you. DH had similar, and trying to walk around it means you end up with pain in other places because you’re favouring the bad hip.

At 52 you might want to put off a hip replacement for as long as you can (this was the advice given to DH - based on when the replacement would then need replacing).

Could hip resurfacing be an option?

I'm going through similar, and also waiting for appts. One thing that does help me at night is a Tens Machine (Tens 7000). I place one pad on the muscle just behind the hip bone and one more in the centre of the buttock (It's also my left that is the problem). Then I turn it on to as high as is comfortable to tolerate. It runs for 30 min. Each wake up through the night I turn it back on. I don't move much at all through the night, so this works well for me. There are wires, so if you move about a fair bit in your sleep, you would need to take it off before drifting off. If you sit at work, you could use it then too. I also move the pads to the lower back sometimes to reduce the tension there.

I love this machine. It relaxes the muscles so it reduces a fair bit of the pain. It's not a fix, but it's helping me deal until I can get proper medical treatment. I started using mine after I got to the point where I could barely walk and could not lift my leg any higher than a few inches without screaming pain.

Hope you find something that works for you OP

Can I ask if there’s any pattern to the pain? As in worse in the morning or after a walk etc? I ask because I had utterly horrendous hip pain for 2 years until 3 months ago I saw a physio who suggested adverse neural stretches … within 3 weeks I literally haven’t had a twinge .. it’s quite extraordinary… having said that got to the last week of term chaos and forgot to do them and the pain came back a bit …honestly they worked for me so perhaps give them a try? My physio sous the pattern is the fact there is no pattern … Pain would come and go for no reason … so the stretches are easy .. every morning before you get out of bed (even before you run to the loo … you need to be tight and stiff from the night) …. I’m going to send a link I can’t really explain. … hang on … but please give it a go I know it sounds quite mad 🙏🏻

Here it is … it’s called the slump test … I hope it helps xx

Thank you - I'll give anything a go!!!

I understand why they don't want to operate on people at this age because there is a risk that I'll need another one in my 70's/80's but this is the time I need my life

I'm with you - I was born with a shallow hip socket and at nearly 50, it is fucked and I need a new one.

I am restarting the path to replacement because it is just getting worse.

Here is what I do to help:

1. Sleep on a heated pad every night. The heat is very soothing (probs for the arthritis)

1. I go swimming with a kick float to build up the muscles around my shit hip which are quite wasted due to the pain.

1. I bought a Micro three wheeled adult scooter and walk the dogs with it (actually dh walks the dogs) along the paths. I push with my affected hip/leg so there is no weight bearing but lots of parallel movement.

1. I avoid stairs. My bedroom is now downstairs but yesterday I was tidying my kids rooms and did a few trips. I can feel every sodding step I took today.

Good luck op - I wish you a speedy hip replacement.

I'm so sorry you are having this awful pain. I had my left hip replaced 9 years ago at 42. I went private because I couldn't suffer the pain any longer. The difference was immediate. Make sure you continue with the physio so get the muscles stronger for recovery. Unfortunately I have other conditions that have resulted with me being not as mobile and active and my muscles have deteriorated and the pain is back albeit less. I've had nerve release which omg make a huge difference both sides. I sometimes use ice packs and alternate with my hot water bottle. Good luck and please know you are not alone. Tight hugs. Xx

I hear you, I really do.

I'm suffering with the same, dreadful pain in the right hip and walk with a limp. Sometimes I cry with pain. Asked my GP about it, they sent stronger painkillers (useless, they made me "spaced out" and didn't touch the pain) so I am on paracetamol day in, day out, can't imagine what that's doing to my liver.
There's no offer of steroid injections, no hip replacement waiting list - I'm 64. They just sent me for an X-ray and said, Oh yes, osteoarthritis. They did give exercises....utterly useless, made no difference. And I'm quite active as well, I don't sit around doing nothing.

Would love to know what to do about it....watching this thread with interest.

Sorry for you all going through this. Joining in for tips too. My relative has RA and it’s sooo painful for them.

I know just how you feel OP. They can and do operate on people our age I had a total hip replacement at 50. Yes will need revision but hopefully not till 70 which is the age alot of people have there fist. The view to delay is quite outdated and the issues you get from lack of mobility increase the risk.of other diseases. I would do 2 things, ring the secs of the consultant you are under and say you are rapidly deteriorating and can you be reviewed, if so when you see consultant ask why he feels need for delay and can he refer you to a young hip specialist if he still wants delay. B get to gp ask for referral to pain local pain management nd for more effective pain reilf, also if they know anywhere with shorter list and young hip specialist. ( youbar a young hip) mine was life changing and I'm now back at work as a physio!

Should add join the young total hip replacement Facebook page for some support!

The outcomes for hip replacement surgery are very good. You shouldn't need to put up with such reduced mobility. Speak to a surgeon that is used to dealing with younger patients. Injections can be helpful but you can't have a hip replacement within a few months of steroid injection. Hip resurfacing apparently has a lower success rate in women so isn't usually offered. At your age revision surgery could be needed in the future but that would be the case if you waited 5 years anyway so no real need to delay from that point of view.
Hope you get sorted

Well worth saying you can accept a cancellation, can go to another hospital, and are happy for any surgeon to operate. I got a op date with 3 days notice.

Hip ops overseas (eg eastern Europe) are much cheaper. I thought about it for spinal surgery, but UK waiting list was not too bad and clot risk with that op for travelling meant I'd have to stay there ages. I discovered that different surgeons in UK have different length waiting lists. Also, see a surgeon privately just for a consult and they can put you on NHS list ( maybe ask what their waiting time is first) it cuts off months of waiting time. I did not know this. Maybe get your own MRI if not already done.

The view to delay is quite outdated

It was the advice 2 years ago from both our GP, who is a musculoskeletal specialist, and the orthopaedic surgeon. It will most likely be patient dependent but DH was advised that arthroscopy or resurfacing was the better route given his age. I wasn’t aware that hip resurfacing was no longer suitable for women.

That's what I was told by my surgeon. The outcomes aren't as favourable for women as they are for men. I think he said it was due to the smaller bone structure or something.

Can empathise - currently waiting for my second hip replacement at 47 and had my first at 44. Second is due to supporting my other hip whilst it was bad. Definitely no age barrier here.
I'm on butec patches for the pain as I'm on the surgery list and just manages to get my BMI down to be able to be outsourced to a private hospital but through NHS. Maybe worth asking if that is an option in your area? It's the same surgeon just done in a private hospital to speed up things as the backlog in my area is due to theatre space.
Things I find help are a heated pad at night, sitting with my legs elevated and also the shoes you wear really impact on the pain levels - to my shame at the moment I live in crocs as they are honestly the only footwear that dont exacerbate the pain.
The pain is still debilitating though and I'm a grumpy tired old bitch at times as I'm not sleeping much eithier. I'm just holding onto getting the op done and coming out the other side as my life has pretty much stopped since it got worse.