Newbie Posting - Be Gentle! :)

[Montyjam]

I am a 56-year-old female with OA in both hips. The right hip has been bothering me now for almost 8 years. It started with "catching" after sitting for long periods of time (I was a legal assistant for 20+ years) which caused me to limp. Then it started giving me pain and felt like my legs were different lengths. I was seeing a chiro who was adjusting my sacrum to straighten me out but the problem continuously recurred. We got an x-ray and he confirmed I had arthritis.

I finally got a referral to the Holland Orthopaedic & Arthritic Centre here in Toronto. After more x-rays and a physical examination, the senior physiotherapist told me to continue exercising, stretching and walking for as long as I could and to use OTC drugs to help with the pain. She said to come back and see them when I couldn't get my socks on anymore and they would schedule a THR for me. As you can imagine, this news was less than thrilling to hear.

Fast forward to February 2013, while wintering in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I met a surgeon who was treating OA and the burning, throbbing pain I was experiencing with stem cell regeneration of the cartilage. He said I was a good candidate as I was between Stage 2 and 3 (Stage 4 being no cartilage). It was a day procedure during which they froze me from the waist down with an epidural, extracted bone marrow from my iliac crest, spun it the lab and then injected me with my own stem cells and blood platelets. And that pain is gone. Totally gone and hasn't returned.

Unfortunately, I also agreed to have an oesteophyte removed at the same time and he cut me directly over my femoral nerve. I've been suffering from nerve pain ever since. The Lyrica for nerve pain caused me to gain weight which is not good when you have a weakened hip. After much trial and error, I am now working with a team of three amazing women: a chiropractor who gives me acupuncture with stimulation, a massage therapist who beats me up and a personal trainer who is an RN with a kinesiology degree. My pain is still there but my legs are so much stronger.

We have come to the conclusion that I might have FAI because the discrepancy between my right and left legs. I have less than half the lateral movement in my "bad" leg than my "good" leg, which sucks when I'm doing yoga or any kind of leg exercise. I will be getting an MRI next month when we return to Mexico to see how my cartilage is doing. I am hoping that it will show some type of deformity to explain the difference between my two legs. In the meantime, I am busy absorbing all the good information on this site! I am Canadian so very interested in the experiences of my fellow Canadians. My experiences in Mexico have been wonderful and very inexpensive.

Thank you Pat for all your help so far!

Juliana

[HippyDogwood]

Juliana

Welcome to the forum.

First up, it is great to hear that the stem cell treatment is working for you. I am in the UK and was diagnosed with FAI cam type both hips 4 years ago when I was actually having knee surgery and told not to do anything as the symptoms were minimal.

Two years on and I was feeling catching and regular groin pain so I looked into having an arthroscopy for FAI removal and was shocked to be told that I was beyond that and would need a hip replacement, probably within 2 years. This was confirmed by two other surgeons and I then found this wonderful site and hooked up with one of the top resurfacing surgeons in the UK who also told me I have a leg length discrepancy of about 1 inch.

He told me I was a great candidate but to wait until I was ready for resurfacing. Wind the clock forward and I have absorbed a huge amount of information and have never felt ready, aged 47. Instead I found about stem cell treatment and met with one of the few UK surgeons who carries that out. In two days time I am having FAI removal, stem cell treatment, labral re-attachment and a few other things! Your post has really encouraged me as many here have had limited success with arthroscopies where arthritis is present as it does nothing to regenerate the missing cartilage and the bone on bone is the key cause of pain.

FAI seems to be something only really recognised in the last 10 years or so and most research suggests it is not present at birth and can often be linked back to having enegaged in activities at an early age which hyper-extend the joint. Removal is straightforward, but some research suggest you will always be susceptible to it growing back. But as you are finding, it causes related problems. It generally results in labral tears and osteo arthritis, hence I have concluded the advice I was given to do nothing was poor and in your case they may have treated the outcome and not the cause.

It is easy to tell if you have FAI - hard to explain but there are bound to be lots of videos on you tube, but essentially you lie on your back hovering your legs bent at knees at a 90 degree angle (feet maybe 18 inches off the floor) and if someone holds your knee steady, they see if they can rotate your lower leg outwards. A normal joint might have around 30 degrees movement, someone like me with FAI can have literally zero. It is easy to spot on x-rays

Hope this helps and good luck with the MRI

David

[Montyjam]

David, good luck with your surgery! My stem cell procedure required no cutting -- just three punctures: one for the epidural, one for the bone marrow extraction and one for the injection into the cartilage. I had one small round bandage on the extraction site. The hardest part was staying off my hip and leg for 10 days!

I get PRP injections every six months as a booster shot for stem cells. It is a very easy procedure. I fast overnight, give blood first thing in the morning, go eat breakfast and then attend at my doctor's office for the injection. While some people do experience burning from this, I never have. Apparently I am a model patient for stem cell regeneration. We will be checking my hip next month to see how it compares to my pre-procedure condition.

As you can tell, I am a firm believer in using our bodies to heal themselves. The bonus is no rejection with this type of procedure. I am very excited to hear how you get on with everything. Where are you in the UK? My husband is British so we get across the pond a couple of times a year.

[Montyjam]

It is easy to tell if you have FAI - hard to explain but there are bound to be lots of videos on you tube, but essentially you lie on your back hovering your legs bent at knees at a 90 degree angle (feet maybe 18 inches off the floor) and if someone holds your knee steady, they see if they can rotate your lower leg outwards. A normal joint might have around 30 degrees movement, someone like me with FAI can have literally zero. It is easy to spot on x-rays.

Did this easy test and it was very telling! My right leg had zero movement and the left leg was very different with about 25 degrees of movement. Thanks for this.  :D

[a sensation]

Montyjam,

How many sessions or treatments do you need with the stem cells.  And what is considered not expensive?  Do they plan on removing the impingement in the joint? Is it Cam or pincer, or both?

[Pat Walter]

Montyjam

I wanted to wish you good luck with your treatments.  I am sorry to hear about your nerve damage.  Hopefully, it will be resolved with your treatments.

If you ever want to know more about your FAI and possible hip replacement treatments, there are very experienced hip resurfacing surgeons that will give you free email consultations.  I know you aren't ready for that yet, but it is there if/when you need it.

http://www.surfacehippy.info/listofdoctors.php

Pat

[HippyDogwood]

David, good luck with your surgery! 

I am very excited to hear how you get on with everything. Where are you in the UK? My husband is British so we get across the pond a couple of times a year.

Thanks Juliana - I am down near Southampton but had the procedure in Cambridge as there is a centre of excellence there and I wanted to go to someone who really knew their stuff

All went as planned and only time will tell as there was a lot wrong and grade IV cartilage damage. I think its fair to say conventional arthroscopy would not have worked so it all comes down to whether the stem cell / fibrin treatment coupled with microfracture produces the desired result, failing which I will be back looking at resurfacing.

I'm still looking at proceeding with having similar treatment on the other hip in 7 weeks time, so I feel for me it is worth a go, albeit recognise I could go through all of this for nothing!

Will check back in here from time to time with progress and good luck yourself
David