Pain just below greater trochanter

[cjp3]

Hi

I am looking for some thoughts and advice from anyone who has experienced pain just below their scar around the greater throchanter. I had my hip done 2 weeks ago and now that I am very early in the recovery phase but want to know if this is quite a common thing and how long it may last for. It comes on whenever I roll my leg out like lifting my leg to put a pillow in between my knees when I am on my side.

Any advice on how to manage this pain would great !

[John C]

I had some issues with pain around the greater trochanter, and from what I have read it is not uncommon. It is sometimes diagnosed as trochanteric bursitis, which it was in my case. I had quite a bit of it during the first month after surgery, and then a few more bouts over the next year or so. I have had no problems with it after year two. Some people feel that it can be related to a tight IT band, which I think was true in my case. Using a foam roller across the IT band (lots of fun :o ) often seems to help and it worked for me. In stubborn cases, some surgeons will use a cortisone injection to calm down the inflamed trochanteric bursa.
Not sure if any of this relates to you, but wanted to let you know that it is not that uncommon, and seems to resolve itself, sometimes with a little help.

[whyme]

I felt the area around the incision, including the great trochanter, for months. The first few weeks could be a bit sharper, then there was kind of muted discomfort at times (but mostly not). For many months it felt itchy occasionally.
The incision is not too big and they stretch it a lot and cut various layers to get down to the hip joint, there is a lot of soft tissue healing to be done underneath and it takes time.

You're very early on in the process, icing should help. I applied it regularly for at least 2-3 months. If you've some bursitis, icing will help anyway.

For me, I couldn't sleep comfortably on the operated side until after 7 months.
Some recommend active release technique, massage etc. Around 5-6 months, my physio suggested massage as there was scar tissue underneath the incision. For a few weeks I did a bit of very gentle traversal massage over the incision, applying some moisturizer cream.