Unknown Osteoarthritis

[CITY2SOUTH]

Hello Everyone,

I am a 37 yr old who got diagnosed with Osteoarthritis. No one has answers as to why just that it must be hereditery. I was adopted so I'll never know I suppose. But anyway here is my story. About 2 yrs ago I started having pain in my left hip, went to dr. who referred me to ortho. MRI and x-rays confirmed it was osteoarthritis. I had a cortisone shot that helped for about 6 months and I held off for another 6 months before getting second shot. Second shot did not help at all and x-ray showed it was only a matter of time before needing a hip replacement. On hearing that I was totally devastated. I am the type of person that barely gets a cold every 5 yrs never mind needing major surgery. I was told there were no other alternatives. Well I cried and you would have thought it was the end of the world for me. That night when I got home I said screw this, there has to be something else. Gel injections? Super drugs? exercises? something? anything? So opened my laptop and went searching. I came across this site and was amazed at all the information. Thank you Pat for creating such a vase amount of information on your site. I now have an appt. with Dr. Gross in Columbia SC in 2 weeks to discuss hip resurfacing which doesn't appeal to me but sounds a whole lot better then Totla hip replacement. I hope I am a good candidate since I already am pretty much bone on bone. I moved to Myrtle Beach SC 10 yrs ago and worried that if I ever needed major medical needs I would have to go back to NYC. I was amazed to find out on this site that one of the best hip resurfacing doctors was only 2 1/2 hrs away. Sorry for the lengthly post but haven't had anyone to vent to since all this happened. Any information will be greatly appreciated...Lisa

[Pat Walter]

Hi Lisa

Welcome to Hip Talk.

It is amazing how many younger people have hip problems.  I started having real problems at 50 but others started much younger.  I guess it is just in the "jeans"  or genes.  Maybe some of us are too active or just got bad hips when we were put together.

Whatever the reason, the real hope for younger people today is that hip resurfacing is now FDA approved in the US.  The rest of the world has been doing BHRs since 1997 and we have finally caught up.

Dr. Gross is one of the best hip resurfacing surgeons in the world.  You can't do any better.  You are lucky to be so close.

Most of us have gone the same route after having bad hips - massage, pt, chiropractors, steroid shots, gel shots and lots of meds.  Eventually there is no solution but to get a nice new metal hip and preferably a hip resurfacing.

I have a ton of Dr. Gross stories posted since people really like him and he is very experienced  http://www.surfacehippy.info/hipstories.php#Dr._Gross_Hip_Stories_

I would not worry about the fact you are young - I would worry that you life is coming to a stand still and you can't live the life you want.  You can't live on meds forever and eventually they will start to make your hip worse by deteriorating the bone more.  You do have to make sure you don't wait too long or you could miss your window of opportunity.  If you hip gets too bad you could develop really bad cycts and other problems.  You need to let the experineced hip resurfacing surgeon tell you it is time and you are a candidate.

Then you will be on your way to recovering your life again.

Please stay in touch and let us know how we can help.

Pat

[CITY2SOUTH]

Pat,

Thanks so much for the much needed encouragement. I am anxious to meet Dr. Gross next week and have read many of his patients stories on this site already. When I started researching on the net I never thought I would find so much information. Thank you for that! I just thought there had to be something besides a THR. I'll be sure to keep you posted on my procedure and thanks again for sharing all of your knowledge.
Lisa

[bciam]

Lisa,

I think I know exactly how you feel.  I am 35 yrs old, with a story similar to yours, including maybe a little of the misty eyes at first.  My pain started about 6 yrs ago and until the other hip started to bother me about 6 mos ago I though it was a sports injury.  Arthritis never even entered my mind at the time.  I am currently recovering from a surgery on my hip that still had some decent cartiledge it's called a Femoral Acetabular Osteotomy the condition is called Femoral Impingement.  I am not sure if you are having any problems yet with your other hip or if it has been x-rayed, but if you have a lot of osteophyte growth and bone spurs on the socket and femur you might want to check this out as it could save or postpone your need for a resurfacing on the other hip. 

I am scheduled for a resurfacing in June for the bad hip.  I hope your meeting with Dr. Gross goes well and I wish you the best of luck.