Needing hip replacement..pain in leg and back ??

Dear Pennypops

It's a huge shock to most of us especially if and it usually does come out of the blue! Try to keep as fit as possible between now and then eat quality good, give up smoking if a smoker and cut down on the alcohol and face the surgery in a positive frame of mind.

Make sure that surgeon is very experienced and has a good reputation with this surgery and does the procedure by the method you are happy with.

Cheers Richard

When I saw the orthopaedic surgeon he said you will be in a wheelchair within six months if you don’t get a new hip. I was flabbergasted. I was just in enormous pain so could not tell you what I was unable to do, more what I could still do! 

Yes - I went to the doctor in June because my right leg had become much thinner than my left. After xrays I was told my right hip was bone on bone & totally locked up. I didn't have a lot of pain, but absolutely no flexibility. I also started tripping and falling often because I wasn't fully picking up my right foot because of my hip. I had surgery Jan. 3 so I am 12 weeks out. I was not a good candidate for anterior, so I had the posterior surgery. The surgeon had to cut through my gluteus medius so I'm still having trouble with that muscle, causing my to limp. My physical therapist also noticed I was pretty lopsided - there is about 3/4" leg length discrepancy. I'm going to therapy twice a week and faithfully doing my exercises at home on a daily basis .  I don't have pain any more & have regained my balance, but I have a severe limp. I'm wearing a lift in my left shoe, and it helps a little.

I waited for a new hip for two years .. all those symptoms  and more .. I thought I needed a knee too .... two weeks from surgery for the hip ...and my knee and hip pain gone ... 

Every day I am amazed what I can do compared to a month ago ..., I am only two weeks from surgery .. 

we could be twins....... lol....... I will be praying for you!!! 

watch funny things...... listen to calming music....... hot tub........ hot soaks....... little things that gave and give me some comfort........ all will be better soon.

Hi yes I had exactly same problems as you are experiencing, took me a while to decide to have it done but went ahead and had a LTHR yesterday

Operation went Well, it will be difficult over the next few days and weeks but hopefully will be all worthwhile. I was also bone on bone.

Been there, done that.  I had a fracture which could have been caused by any number of bicycle or ladder falls.  The way the docs explained it to me was that a small hairline fracture could have existed for a long time before it finally said screw it and broke more.  I had a procedure to alleviate pain from lumbar stenosis  that took care of my back pain but left me with a traveling pain in my thigh, buttocks, thigh, other areas.  It seemed like every day it was different.  Then, out of the blue in late November the pain started to worsen with no falls at that time.  Within two weeks I went from walking with a cane to two canes, to a crutch, then two.  I was in our local ER two times in the last week.  Once for a recurring UTI that is also common for Hip fractures.  My neurosurgeon thought it was spinal and admitted me immediately.  I was hospitalized three weeks, two of which were for tests.  I guess you can discern from that statement that I don’t live in the US any more where patients are often dumped too early.  

The good thing with the hip hip replacement is that the pre op pain disappears after surgery

I dealt with that pain and limitation of movement for years.  (I was born with a problem hip) Finally got to where it was bone on bone and surgery could no longer be postponed.  Had the surgery in December 2017.  The pain is gone, not only from my hip but also the lower back.  I am still stiff and limited in some movement because the operated leg was truly shorter than the normal one.  It will take time which I accept but the recovery seems to go in spurts.  Right now I'm on one of those plateaus where it seems like I'm not getting better.  In a few days I know I will start seeing improvement again.

Stay as active as you can.  Start improving your diet and exercise schedule now.  Get as prepared for the down time after surgery as you can.  In my case the down time, despite being almost 4 months out and still not where I was last November, has been well worth the price.