Hip pain

[Dannywayoflife]

After reading so many accounts from people who are/were pre op i notice that most people report being in serious pain. Now i am 2 months out from surgeory but i must confess that i dont really experience that much pain. I am aware of it but on a scale of 1 to 10 its around a 2. Now if i attempt other movements it is aggony.
I know that there is serious OA in the joint as i was told by my origanal surgeon that its at grade 4 of 5. My ROM is dismal and it does effect my sleep as if i turn in my sleep and try to put my leg into a position it doesnt want to go i get woken with the pain.
I do just wonder how many hippys out there have significant OA but insignificant pain?

[Lopsided]

I did not have a lot of pain. Some twinges and continuing nagging feeling towards the end, but I did not feel as though I had to put up with pain. It was the lack of movement that got me.

One surgeon (who did not do me) told me that pain is the primary consideration for surgery. But that quite obviously is not so.

It turned out I had a cyst which Dr. De Smet said had developed for six to twelve months before the surgery.

So do not wait for pain, Danny.

D.

[Dannywayoflife]

Hell Lop i deffinatly do not intend to do so i will be keeping my november apointment with Mr Treacy!
I think that my simptoms sound similar to yours i really struggle doing certain things i physically carnt tie my own shoe laces or even put my socks on!
How long after the op did you get the ROM to be able to tasks such as these for yourself?

[cassiewoofer]

Hi Danny, I wasn't in serious pain, only maybe three times was it unbearable and I was unable to sleep and the codiene didn't do anything. Most of the time there was a slight ache and the weather definately affected it. I could walk a mile on a good day....100yds on a bad but the pain was rarely severe. I'd say a 2 most of the time. I could cycle to and from work all the way up to my operation.
 Don't worry, I certainly started having decision doubts once I was commited!

[Lopsided]

I do not wear socks and gave up lace up shoes years ago.

Before the operation, to put my trousers on I had to sit on the side of the bed with my left leg stretched out and slightly to the side, throw out my trousers while holding onto the waste band and hope to catch it over my foot, manipulate my leg until the foot was in the waste band, slide down the bed a bit while still holding on until my foot was in the top of the trouser leg, then pull the trousers up to the knee, and then put my other leg in. But it did not hurt.

About four to six weeks after the operation, I could put my trousers on standing up, with difficulty, as I had lost much sense of balance.

Three to six months, everything became a lot easier.

D.

[Dannywayoflife]

I do not wear socks and gave up lace up shoes years ago.

Before the operation, to put my trousers on I had to sit on the side of the bed with my left leg stretched out and slightly to the side, throw out my trousers while holding onto the waste band and hope to catch it over my foot, manipulate my leg until the foot was in the waste band, slide down the bed a bit while still holding on until my foot was in the top of the trouser leg, then pull the trousers up to the knee, and then put my other leg in. But it did not hurt.

About four to six weeks after the operation, I could put my trousers on standing up, with difficulty, as I had lost much sense of balance.

Three to six months, everything became a lot easier.

D.

HA Lop you have just described my morning ritual!! well atleast im not alone!
I must say im looking forward to being able to do "normal" everyday things like getting dressed without it being a chore!!

[ScubaDuck]

Danny-

I think it is a question of choosing to deal with pain or reduced range of motion.

I slowly lost range of motion.  The pain was never that bad but definitely caused me to limp.  I also had trouble tying my shoes and other routine things.

Before I knew it was OA I decided the problem was that I wasn't stretching or strengthening anymore.  So I started to create more pain by pushing the limits of the hip.  I started dealing with more pain working out but then then most of time there was less pain and better range of motion.  So I was able to make most of the time better by enduring higher levels of pain for short periods.

It will vary with each person but I think that it becomes a vicious cycle.  We limit our activities and range of motion a little bit to avoid the pain.  The muscles atrophy and shorten a bit, the hip deteriorates a bit more, and then pain again.  This cycle slowly takes away our lives.

Dan

[Dannywayoflife]

Dan thanks for your reply. Yes I aggree it all becomes a visicious circle! It has shrunk my world massively! I concede that other people stuck it out alot longer and coped with alot more pain than I'm in but it's effected my life so much that I want to be put right now!

[FlbrkMike]

I had some pretty significant pain in my left hip before I had the surgery.  Sometimes it felt like it was in the groin area, sometimes more at the back and sometimes it seemed to radiate all the way down to my knee and foot, though my original ortho didn't seem to think that this was possible.  I also had pain in my back from walking with a bent over gait for so long.  I never really had much if any pain on my right side, though the ROM was severly limited - especially the outward rotation.  I also looked sort bowlegged when walking because both legs had turned sort of outward. 

The funny thing is that all three docs who looked at my x-rays said that my right side looked as bad as, if not worse than, my left side.  I'm just glad it's done and I can point my feet straight again (among other things).

[Dannywayoflife]

Thanks mike. Like I say I'm lucky in that I don't have terrible pain so long as I limit myself to not doing certain things and not moving through certain plains of movement. My doc who did my arthroscopy said when he saw the state inside my hip he was shocked how bad the OA was( my xrays didn't look that bad) so I know its right for me to have the surgeory!
I just hope I get a great result like most of you guys have and I can get my life back on track!

[Tin Soldier]

I was a lot like Lop, ROM was main factor.  Although there did seem to be a nagging pain under the knee on both legs that just wouldn't go away (started about 4 months prior to surgery).

Danny - I wondered the same thing, when I would walk with my coworkers, I would walk faster then them, just short strides and a limp.  I could easilly keep up and do my regular job, no big deal.  It was the reduced physical activity, reduced sports, reduced hobbies, and if you read in the section below I admitted to having pretty sharp pain after "other" activities,.... and also the nagging pain in the knees.  I think you'll be surprised at how much pain you may actually have and be somewhat unaware of it. 

I want to touch my toes some day, and climb a tree without getting stuck because I can't lift my leg up, and ride a bike, sit at a picnic table,... I could go on.

[Dannywayoflife]

Thanks for the imput Tin,
                                  I too have developed quite a limp which i am looking forward to getting rid of! I also like yourself have lost a huge part of my life being my sporting life! I have since my initial diagnosis about 16months ago managed to pile on the pounds also which is componding things but to be honest i just cannot exersise as my ROM is so bad. And im no good at eating clean unless im training like a loon!
Ihope that you continue to recover well and get your life back.

[newdog]

I did not have a nagging toothache-like pain as others on here have said. There never was a continuous pain in my hips. I consider myself fortunate that I did not have that. Maybe it was because my hips deteriorated very fast and I got them fixed before I reached that stage, I don't  know.

I did have really bad ROM. If I moved just a little too far or moved a certain way I got a stab of pain that was sudden, very sharp and hurt so bad I would involuntary say "OUCH"! There seemed to be no way of knowing when it would strike. People near would ask me, what's wrong? It was all the time. It seemed I was always saying ouch (and other more colorful words). There were a few times that the pain almost knocked me off my feet and I had to wait for a while to recover then move on. I walked with a limp and was hunched over.

I slept with a pillow between my knees, had to be careful to not stub my toes when stepping over an obstacle, could not ride a bike, could not ride or sit on anything that required spreading the legs apart to straddle. I barely was able to put socks on. And of course there was the notorious picnic table (how about it Tin Soldier?). I could go on.

Every doc and physical therapist who looked at my x-rays was shocked at how bad my hips looked. I can't forget the look in their eyes when looking at the films. Yet still, no constant hip pain. Just as you said, when attempting certain movements it was agony.

Danny, it seems to me that you are getting really excited about your surgery. That's great and it is something to be very excited about and look forward to. The misery that you are experiencing now will soon be a memory.

[Tin Soldier]

Damn picnic table.  I'll make a special effort to tell all and celebrate the day that I can get in and out of a picnic table without thinking about ROM issues.   Might be within a year 

[Lori Cee]

Damn picnic table.  I'll make a special effort to tell all and celebrate the day that I can get in and out of a picnic table without thinking about ROM issues.   Might be within a year 

Maybe we should make it one of those days just as special as a birthday, where there is cake and presents and a big celebration with those people that 'get it'! 

I still hate the picnic table.  I had a run in with it last weekend.  I'm trying to figure out just how much more flexion I need to get to step over it.  Having never done it (that I can remember), I'm not even sure that is the best way to climb over the seat.  I might have to take one of my physio sessions to the park so I can figure it out with a professional  

It's on my to do list.  Everything will be checked off soon

[hernanu]

I did it after about eight months. My daughter loves this hamburger stand that opens in April, she insists we sit on the stoopid picnic tables, so my left side was at 8 months (my left was at 5 months, it was a silent partner and swung over straight); I was able to flex enough to clear it by a good couple of inches. Then I sat down and did a straight leg lift of my much younger right leg.

by June or July, I was doing both legs with impunity  , yelling HAH!!! to an unappreciative audience (my daughter the dancer). No one really understands.