Excrutiating pain after total ceramic hip replacement

Hi everyone this forum is really helping me but I am appalled that so many of us are suffering when the hip replacement is promoted as an answer to our hip pain. We all seem to be worse than before the op. Its not supposed to be like that is it? I know the surgeons are there to help us and their intentions are not to put us in a worse position. I actually felt embarrassed telling my surgeon that my op has left me with more problems! I don't know about anyone else but I did'nt say yes to the hip replacement straight away as I was traumatised by my accident 22 years ago which took me years to feel happy again despite my walking disability and pain. I told him I was scared but finally decided not to wait until I was a lot older and less fit to cope with it. I am 56 at end of month. Before I signed the consent form he went through a list of things that could go wrong but did not go into any detail. He did mention nerve damage but not what sort of damage and I had no idea until now what it meant. However I suppose I would have still signed as there is only 1 in 100 that it happens to, I suppose someone has to be the one and it seems it is us! Pauline I have read a lot on nerve damage since it has happened to me and you seem to have sciatic nerve damage. Apparently it can repair itself if the nerve is not cut so we both have to be optimistic that time will heal and we get the feeling back and the pain goes away. As i have lived with my disability since 1992 I have had time to come to terms with it and my restictions but now I have more physical restrictions because of my leg giving way. I will not let it get me down and will keep positive, yes we wiil all have our bad days. We have to appreciate the good things in our lives like family. One thing I do know is that people should never take health for granted and realise if we have good health physical or mental then we are able to overcome outside problems a lot easier as really they can be solved. Sorry if I have rambled on, I feel better now!

Don't lose heart Debbie. You have been coping with disability a long while . If you think about it your muscles will be weak and that in itself will put your recovery at a disadvantage. Yes it is very disheartening, but you have spunk, and you are showing great courage. Even those of of us who were relatively fit before the op feel as if we are worse off. How must it be for you. But if you focus, and do a diary, you will find you are making baby steps. Things will improve, but in your case probably more slowly, but they will improve.

Thanks Judi for your encouragement , kind of you when you are recovering yourself. Areyou in USA? Just wondering as one of your words means something else in UK and it made me laugh. I was fit before the op not super fit, health wise no other problems. I was swimming twice a week as that was the easiest exercise for me. Iam hoping to start again in a few weeks to build up the muscles again .I also keep my weight down as I know that is the worst thing to pressure the joints. S o I have always tried to help myself and stop wallowing in self ppity. I think if I had carried on being miserable about pain like I was in the early years I would have lost my husband and friends I'm sure. This is just a set back.

Hi there

I am a 55 yo man and have had 2 thr's (L & R) and 1 revision. I have the exact same symptoms and I think I can point you in the right direction

The first replacement (right hip) occurred @5 years ago and was performed laterally and I've had few issues w it.

The left hip was first done in Jan 13 and needed to be redone (revision) in Jan of 2014.

You may have experienced what I did in that you may have multiple issues simultaneously

I also have arthritis, stenosis and bulging discs in L3, L4 and L5. This is putting pressure on the nerve root eminating from the back. When the L hip was first done it was anterior.

Immediately after surgery I had a burning, tingling, red hot electric shock feeling on the top of the quad from the groin to the knee. It felt like broken glass and razor blade under the skin

Prior to the hip revision done 1 week ago I began seeing a pain management specialist for my back AND the nerve pain which started 12 hours after the first surgery on the left hip.

It sounds like mine. It has been described as radiculapathy of femoral nerve. Like you I had an arrogant surgeon who finally admitted that during the L hip replacement in Jan '13 after diocating the joint my leg was exended beyond the normal range if motion. That hyper extension if you will resulted I the femoral nerve being stretched beyond the tolerable and acceptaable range of motion.

That resulted in an aggravation of the femoral nerve that has continued to this day. I wanted the pain mgmt doc to coordordinate w the orthopedic surgeon to do two separate but neccesary procedures.

For the past year the nerve pan has been dealt with a treatment called Medial Branch Block AKA a Nerve Block. It is a direct injection into the nerve root in my spine. I lay on my stomach and it is a local and also moderate sedation but not anesthesia. It has helped to relieve the pain in my back AND the femoral nerve aggravation. The drawback it typically lasts 3,maybe 4 months. An advsvsnced procedure was discussed called Radial Frequency Abliteraton (RFA) which is similar to the MBB. the difference is in the RFA it is an identical procedure but instead of injecting steroids cortisone anti inflammatories and pain killers a needle is placed directly ON the nerve heated to 200 degrees and the nerve us burnt a d should provide relief for up to one year.

Suffice it to say it was to have been a back to back back procedure first then the hip.

But the hip revision went on anyway.

The nerve is redhot and burning again even as I write. The hip reacement neccesitates a lot of lying in bed which is causing the nerve to flare up

For you I would say you need at least 2 or 3 docs. Chck the surgical procedure used and if your leg was potentially moved in such a way to aggravate the nerve. Then you should see a back specialist and describe your exact symptoms. The orthopedic that did the hip MUST disclose his procedure. Then see a pain mgmnt doc for the ongoing nerve pain. I am furious that I must deal with this nerve pain in addition to the 3d THR

For now I am prescribed neurotin (Gabapentin) to dea w the nerve pain. As long as I must lay it will continue oto cause random episodes of intense pain. I am also on OxyContin Celebrex to deal w the pain. The sad part is I won't be physically capable of going thru surgery on my back until I am we'll enough to tolerate lying face down without causing a hip dislocation. In retrospect I should have ALL the scheduling myself.

You should as well.

My hip follow up is Friday. I also fully intend to see the pain mgmnt doc and if need be schedule w a back specialist.

I hope this helps and you get not only answers but relief. Good Luck!

MJF

Hi MJF,

Thank you very much for your post mate you are by far the most accurate and nearest to my symptoms so far, and also your on the exact same medication as me so the health professionals obviously know more about my symptoms than they are letting down.

I hope you find relief soon and thanks again for all your advice

Chris

hello everyone my names lee and im due to have a full ceramic hip replacement in three weeks im due to go for my pre opp apointment in ten days but im 44 and could really do with some advice cos i havent got a clue what to expect thanks

Please listen to what your body is telling you and don't give up! I had my hip replaced for the 3rd time and the pain was so much worse than ever before. I complained to the doctor repeatedly for the next 5 months and he kept telling me to exercise and that I was older (42) this time. Finally his PA took an x-ray (which they're supposed to do on your first post op office visit) and it was dislocated. He tried to tell me that it wasn't like that the last time I was in but I knew it was. I had to see a specialist and he tried to tell me it had just dislocated recently because people don't just walk around with a dislocated hip. Then he took an MRI and apologized because he could see clearly that it had been dislocated for a long time....long enough for my body to build up new bone where the ball was hitting in an attempt to make a new socket. I had to have major surgery yet again....and two surgeons with no real plan of how to repair me. This has changed my life forever. Hang in there!

Chris, though I don't live in the UK I can understand your pain. I recently had a total hip replacement. My pain level before my surgery was almost non-existentant. woke from surgery with my surgeon standing at the foot of my bed checking my foot. He ran his finger up the bottom of my foot and it felt like someone was taking sharp spikes to the bottom of my foot. It is now asleep and has been since my surgery on the 10 of Jan. He exclaimed that I must have done something to pull a muscle or something. Sorry dude I was asleep, you had the knife not me. I now have foot drop, can feel nothing but needles from my knee down. My foot feels like it has been sitting in ice and about to fall off due to frost bite. I was given a boot to wear constantly to keep my foot in position, some stronger pain meds, which barely mask the pain, and not at all at night. Sleep? that seems to be a thing of the past. I get maybe 2 hours at a time before more meds are needed. The tendons behind my knee feel like they are constricting and very painful when I stand up. I was told the percentage of not regaining the feelings are 40%, 40% that I will get partial, and 20% I will regain total feeling in my foot. I have gone from a 6 to 8 week recover time and ability to go back to work, to 18 months and not much chance I can go back to work doing what I do. I'm 60. hard to start a new career at this point in my life. Reading all of the post, I can see we are all pretty much in the same club.

Hi everyone update on my situation. I had nerve test and told nerve grows back 1mm a day and from this estimstes that depending on how damaged my femoral nerve is to my knee should be some improvement by November 2014. Knee to calf takes a bit longer. As they dont know degree of damage cant guarantee it will part or all recover. Different levels of damage are small pinch, longer pressure on nerve , or severed nerve. Severed unlikely to recover. Small pinch a few weeks after injury , pressure on nerve 1mm a month or no recovery depending on how severe and length of pressure or stretching. So far I have had no improvement since day onestiil have pain cant walk more than about 50 yards with crutches. One good thing I now have a leg brace which stops my leg giving way so I can function more normally about the home like cook without having to use my crutch to lean on. I went swimming for first time yesterday and done 3 lengths used to do 40. My leg feels strange as it does not work when doing breaststroke so virtually one leg swim. Done exercise which much easier in pool. More activity means more pain so pace myself. Surgeon will see me in 3 months. I think my numbness has spread so bit concerned about that. Thoughy I was imagining but definitely going further down below my knee. Has anyone else had this?.

Hi Chris

I had my first thr on the left January 2010 also ceramic on ceramic the pain was awful. My hip squeaked and popped and I had

D a lot on groin pain. They said it was my back. Ha ha I went to 5 diff surgeons to fix it no one would touch me. I had injections X-ray's physical therapy. No relief Well long story short my surgeons partner finally said that I need the cup replaced so I had a second surgery to find out the cup had slipped and created a divit in the titanium had to have the whole thing replaced they broke my femur in this process. Btw way I was 42 and have osteo necrosis it's been 2 and a half years the other hip is not doing so well Ugh I so feel your pain. Good luck to you

Hi everyone,

I am still trying to find the cause of my pain since both hips were replaced in 2011. Surgeon says MRI's are all fine and nothing wrong with the hips. He sent me to the spinal surgeons and after a year of appointments with them they have now said it is not coming from my back and have discharged me saying there is nothing they can do for me. I am now going back to my GP tomorrow to see what happens next. I have an appointment for rheumatology next month as one of the surgeons noticed a rash on my face and they say it may be related to lupus which may account for something! I just want an answer I cannot walk far or stand for long, I am stuck indoors whilst my family are working and enough is enough. This seems to happen more than I ever thought after reading some of these posts. Good luck to you all, if anyone gets any answers please let me know.

I was diagnosed with avascular necrosis of the hips in 2005 from then on I've had 4 surgery's between both hips I've always had pain after the revisions and no one knows why so I know its very frustrating to have pain with no explanation. I thought once the replacements took place I would be pain free and I could have a normal life yeah right. After my first hip replacement started popping and squeaking causing pain I had a revision hoping it would ease the pain but not compleytely. I have finally realized that after 9 years it gets no better there's always pain not as bad as before but there's pain still present. I can't stand for too long or walk to far its so frustrating and sleeping is dreadful. I have to sleep with pillows between my legs for the rest of my life because its painful having my legs close together since my hip replacements. I have now chronic pain because of my hips.

I hope all feels better cause its a hard task to complete.

Hi,

Thanks for your comments. I just want to know what's going on, some kind of diagnosis. All they seem to say is its possible a nerve has been impinged but they don't want to do anything as they say its not bad enough!! It seems like you have been in pain for a very long time, are they going to do anything for you and are you still seeing the consultants? Like you I also sleep with pillows between my legs and am constantly changing position throughout the night hence not a great sleep.

The doctor always says there is nothing wrong xrays mri's all show that it looks good but it doesn't feel good. I truly miss having a normal life and I feel that I will never have that again. I had nerve damage in my left leg after the first replacement but it doesn't bother me as much as the pain does. All the doctors want to do is put you on all types of medications. Every since my hip problems came about all other medical issues have come up. I can't even enjoy my grandsons the pain gets so bad at times.