Hip pain....

[Jst1mr]

Well, intense pain in my left hip finally drove me to the doc. Not due to an injury or accident, it has been sneaking up on me until it has seriously limited what I can do. Diagnosis: advanced arthritis. Options: Do nothing, or try cortisone shots, or consider a hip replacement. Figured I would start out small, so he used ultrasound to guide a formidable-looking needle into the joint and inject cortisone. Said it would take a couple days to become effective, but no way to tell how long it would remain effective. Not liking the thought of that needle on any kind of regular basis! Anybody else have experience they would like to share?

 

[kudzu3]

About ten years ago, I was having some really annoying hip pain in my left hip. I was getting my hair cut one day, complaining to my barber about it. He said "take your wallet out of your back pocket and put it in the front". I did and in a few days, the pain went away and I have had no trouble since. Not saying that it would fix your problem but just may help some. Good luck with it, hope you feel better.

 

[fonejack54]

I tried the cortisone shots a few times. First one lasted six months. The second one leaked and my leg was numb for a couple days and it didn't last long. Others didn't last very long and if you get the wrong doc the shot will bring you up off the table.
I had the hip replacement and I swear I've had dental procedures that hurt worse. Came home with 80 percocets and never took one. Wish I would have had the surgery two years earlier. Good luck.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Jst1mr:

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis - the wife and I have arthritis out the wazoo, and she has already had a hip replacement. As you may know, there are different forms of arthritis. If you don't know, you should ask your doctor what kind of arthritis you have in your hip as this will help you understand what options you have. As an example, I have osteo (bone) arthritis, versus rheumatoid arthritis. A rheumatologist wouldn't do me a lot of good right now, but a Sport Medicine / Rehabiliation doctor guides my treatment.

Good luck,

Dave

 

[SW_shooter]

Interesting timing. My 75 y/o dad has been going through severe left hip pain. He thought it was from a fall he took last December or arthritis. He suffered through a steroid shot and then physical therapy (which finally brought it to the final boiling point of pain).

He finally got his doctor to send him to an Orthopedic doc. They did an MRI and found out it was neither. He actually has a condition where the head of the femur has stopped receiving blood flow and basically died. He is in for a hip replacement.

He's freaking out over it as we lost three grandparents after they had hip operations. But all were in failing health and two died from blood clots. He has finally decided to do it but is researching as much as he can. He's going to go to the Rochester Mayo Clinic to have it done.

Good luck to you Jst1mr, I've been through hip surgeries on both sides and two back surgeries. I always felt better after the surgery and physical therapy.

 

[Erich]

Rochester Mayo is awesome; great care. If you go with him, stay at the Fiksdal across the street - great folks. (My sister had a brain tumor removed in '11, and - believe it or not - the experience was almost pleasant due to the lovely people we encountered in Rochester.)

I've had a bum hip since a car accident driving to my after-school job at Dairy Queen when I was 16. Arthritis got so bad once that I almost had to have a replacement, but I was fortunate that when I changed some things, it got manageable. Best of luck to you, Jst1mr, and to your dad, SW_shooter (tech is so much better on hip replacements now - he'll be fine and he'll enjoy life so much more afterward).

 

[kozmic]

I had a hip resurface surgery 2 years ago and now I'm about ready to have the other side done. I went through the full regime of treatments before my surgery and I found none to be very helpful.

I had very good results from my surgery and won't hesitate when I do the other one.

Good luck.

 

[TACC1]

Years of climbing and kick-starting Triumphs finally
caught up to me. You can try walking bentover like
a broken action figure to ease the pain; works for me,(kinda).
TACC1
(Oh yeah, for goodness sake, don't bump into anything
with that leg!)

 

[YogiBear]

Aloha,

Get the hip replaced

The Wife did it in April and is glad she did.

She said she should have done it sooner.

I agree, she's less crabby now.