When to have a hip replacement?

[BeMintFatball]

I’m 59 years old. Have been diagnosed with old age arthritis in both hips and knees.

The joints seem to take it in turns to flare up. But consistently my right hip is the worse. This might have had a knock on effect with my ankles. Both have (self diagnosed) tendinitis , again the right is the worse. I am waiting for a physio appointment for my ankles but that won’t be until late November.

My question is how do I know the pain is coming from my hip joint? The skin around my hip is very sore. I feel
the pain is more fleshy if that makes sense. I walk with a lopsided limp. Is this typical for arthritis?

How bad does the pain need to be before opting for surgery?

I have a high threshold for chronic pain that creeps up. I don’t think I am a good judge of pain. But I am also constantly tired and irritable from the pain.

Have they tried a steroid injection into your hip to see if that stops the hip pain ? They normally do one as a diagnostic tool to check that the pain is not referred pain from your knees or back.

Have you seen a consultant yet? I would be guided by them as to whether a hip replacement is now or later. Your limp sounds typical arthritis but it also sounds as if you could have hip bursitis or a tear.

I had my first hip replacement at 59. Just had my other one done 10 weeks ago. The x-rays showed no gaps in the joint, so the bone was rubbing against bone. The worst pain was in my groin and I lost outward rotation completely.

When I asked my surgeon if he thought it was bad enough for a replacement, his reply was 'well, its not going to get any better'.

I feel for you as I’m 58 and also have hip pain (caused by running), but no one can tell you here for sure.. you need to see a consultant to arrange a scan to know exactly what’s going on before you see a physio.

I’m being assessed at present. If you wait too long it can impact on the other joints as your compensating with how you move. My consultant said to be cautious about steroid injections- they do come with side-effects and can cause problems further down the line. Also, if you’re taking pain meds they can also be problematic. His view is that you’ll know when you need a hip replacement because you’ll not be able to do the things that you want to do.

@Herberty not had a steroid into my hip.

Had a few in my feet for plantar fasciitis and I think the injections have damaged my feet. Had an injection into my right knee and it was good for a long time but not having pain in that knee amplified the pain in my left knee. Doctors made such a thing of the side effects I haven’t had it done since.

Possibly is bursitis in right hip as I have had that before in the left hip. Which was first misdiagnosed as bone cancer. A blood test showed I have MGUS. I am overdue for the blood test repeat, I now have to have annually as MGUS has the potential to turn into bone cancer.

@ChangeOfNameAujourdhui I’m already struggling to stand up from sitting and can’t bend . But it feels more not having the strength rather than pain preventing

@BeMintFatball- there’s a fab Facebook group called Young Hip Replacements (UK). There are loads of people in (or have been in) a similar situation to chat to about this.

@scaredfriend thank you