Posted , 10 users are following.
Hi Everyone,
For those of you that have hip arthritis did any of you have intermittent sharp pain in the groin? It is not constant, which makes it worse because you just don't know when it's going to happen...
1 like, 34 replies
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JDpowerzz Wainright22
Posted
Hi, sorry your experiencing the pain I also have. Have you had an MRI recently? Sounds like it's definitely your hip but also could be a labral tear. My pain also is annoyingly in my groin, back and anterior thigh (snapping hip) and I need a THR ASAP. I would ice and use heat intermittently and let your doctor know that you have this pain. Your not alone and good luck getting a proper diagnosis.
m69651 Wainright22
Posted
Yes, it started 8 years ago. Went to the best hip surgeons in NYC who essentially told me to wait until age 65 because the THR may only last 10-15 years when you are younger. The second surgery to replace the first THR doesn't always go that well. In fact I met a man, waiting for my MRI and he had his first THR 12 years earlier, and it wore out already! One of the best ranked hospitals for hip surgery in the US. You need to rest and get off the hip periodically through out the day, and do stretches and try to maintain range of motion. Also try to maintain muscle mass. If you are limping, you have been standing on it too long. Try going to a hip arthroscopy surgeon, who may be able to fix some things if you are not too far along, and delay major surgery. My hip was too advanced for this procedure to be of any benefit. Good luck.
susan67756 Wainright22
Posted
Yes. Intermittent pain is very good news!
In my case, my 'classic' case of hip OA was 100% caused by muscle imbalance. When the muscle imbalance was corrected all symptoms were gone completely. The bad news is that the imbalance is hard to correct, but at least it's something you can work on yourself so no financial outlay.
I have helped lots of other people to correct the imbalances associated with hip OA and it's apparent that there are two basic patterns of muscle imbalance associated with EVERY hip OA case that I have come across.
Either way, chances are that the groin pain is largely due to the fact that the psoas and iliacus are 'lazy' on the symptomatic side. This pulls the sacrum to one side and causes hip flexors and adductors to try and compensate for the lazy support muscles. Your body will find all sorts of different ways to compensate and this is why pain tends to shift from groin, lateral thigh, outer hip and glutes. You feel the pain at the point where the soft tissue is currently taking most of the strain.
For symptomatic relief you could try self-massage. Poke around with your fingers (whilst in a seated position) along the crease of your groin - move either side of the crease to pelvis and leg. Can you find any sore spots? If so, press hard or gently massage - it'll hurt but it should release the muscle and free things up. The psoas/iliacus can be hard to get at. Place a lacrosse ball on a small pile of books then lie face down so that your groin area is over the ball - let your weight sink into it. Shift around so that you're applying pressure over the whole groin area - you need to explore and try different angles to find the 'knot'.
Ultimately though, you won't eliminate this until you address the imbalance. Essentially all the major muscles in your body are out of balance - so the muscles on one sider are dominant over the muscles on the other side and this causes your whole pelvis and spine to twist. Your hip is just the 'victim' - the innocent bystander that is getting damaged.
I hope this helps!
(Stretching the hip flexors on the good side can also be a big help - look up couch stretch).
Wainright22 susan67756
Posted
kelly99515 Wainright22
Posted
Honestly, everyone is different. I too have CAM impingement and OA of the hip, and after 6 weeks of physical therapy to address a titled pelvis, my muscles were getting stronger but for me it is by no means a "cure all" and didn't make the pain go away. And as far as some of the other responses saying the hip replacement won't last, the average time is about 20 years. They have come a long way. Personally, I would rather live 20 years pain free and have to go through it again when I'm older, than force myself to wait it out and live in pain for the next 15 years. Just me though. People have a lot of good advice, but I think only a doctor can help you through x-rays and an MRI and a good orthopedic surgeon. Then you will have your answers.
susan67756 Wainright22
Posted
Let me try answering your question this way...
There are (at least) two possibilities:
1. The pain is coming from a diseased or badly damaged joint.
2. The pain is a result of muscle imbalance.
FACT: It is IMPOSSIBLE to tell which. Research has proven that MRI/x-ray is not helpful and there is no diagnositic test.
Possibility one is not curable and your best chance of relief is likely to be toxic drugs or surgery, with no guarantees of success.
Possibility two IS curable, and even if it turns out that the cause of your symptoms IS joint damage/disease treating the muscle imbalance can only help.
Which option makes sense to you? Taking the mainstream/doctor's approach of assuming the worst and trying the damaging/dangerous treatment first? OR doing what research has proven to be the best treatment for OA (no matter what the root cause) and use exercise. EXCEPT rather than blindly guessing at WHAT exercise (which is what doctors and physios do), make the effort to understand the nature of the muscle imbalance and choose your exercise wisely.
Short version: you don't know that the pain is muscular; the only way to find out either way is to treat the muscle imbalance (which I guarantee you have) and see what, if anything, remains.
Go into my profile and you'll find a link to a website. Have a look there and by all means contact me if you have any questions. It's not an easy thing to do, but I and others have proven that it CAN be done if you work at it.
My recommendations to check for trigger points/knots in the muscles can give you some clue as to where the pain is coming from. If massage relieves the pain then that pretty much tells you the pain is coming from the muscles.
Wainright22 susan67756
Posted
susan67756 Wainright22
Posted
Just remember that research shows that x-rays don't help to diagnose OA. At best they can be used to rule out other things. Here in the UK at least, the guidelines (based upon ALL available research from around the world) advise AGAINST using x-rays in diagnosis and treatment of OA.
The main reason for this is that it's known there is no correlation between symptoms and findings on film. Most people that have 'evidence' of OA on xray are symptom free (so why aren't you?). Additionally, some people with no evidence of OA on film have bad symptoms and some with devastating wear to joints have mild or no symptoms.
Research also shows that x-rays/mri make no difference to outcome.
The downside is that often a doctor will spot something on xray and say 'oh look - there's some wear. That's why you have pain. Take some drugs and come back when you need surgery'. Instead of trying to figure out WHY you have the pain and, as in my case, perhaps curing it completely without toxic drugs and surgery.
Just keep these things in mind when you talk to your doctor. If you want links to the research I'm happy to provide. Go to your doctor armed with the facts!
kelly99515 susan67756
Posted
I think the x-rays are a good idea. For me, that was the most helpful tool for the doctors to show me the joint damage. Two opinions from reputable orthopedic doctors showed the exact same thing. This is from the UK Arthritis Research website:
"X-rays – X-rays are the most useful test to confirm osteoarthritis, although you probably won’t need one. They may show changes such as bony spurs or narrowing of the space between your bones. They’ll also show whether any calcium has settled in your joint."
https://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/arthritis-information/conditions/osteoarthritis/diagnosis.aspx
susan67756 kelly99515
Posted
That is misleading to the point of being incorrect.
The NICE guidelines identify two distinct types of osteoarthritis:
1. Radiographic Osteoartyhritis
2. Symptomatic Osteoarthritis
Most people that have radiographic osteoarthritis don't have any symptoms. It is now considered to be a normal and benign condition. Whereas it was once thought that it was disease of wear and tear, it's now considered wear and REPAIR. Most people have radiographic OA somewhere in their body and it never causes any problems. Just the bodies normal repair process.
It's only symptomatic OA that we need to worry about. the NICE guidelines (which look at ALL available research) have found that there is no benefit in getting x-rays to help with the diagnosis of OA. In fact, they claim there is no test for OA - it is a diagnosis of exclusion (can only be diagnosed by ruling out all else). Their detailed look at available research showed the x-rays don't help with diagnosis (other than perhaps to rule out something else) and they don't help with treatment.
The big danger of x-rays is that when a doctor tells you that you have evidence of OA on an x-ray you panic and it's likely to make you worse (nocebo effect). It also gives the doctor a cop-out - he can give you a diagnosis of an incurable disease and he doesn't have to find out what is really causing your symptoms.
If you get an x-ray and it shows degenerative changes (radiographic OA) how do you know whether those degenerative changes are connected to your symptoms? Remember, most people with radiographic OA are symptom free.
Don't take my word for it. Read the NICE guidelines for yourself. Unlike the charity website that provides dumbed down info that simply isn't accurate, the NICE guidelines provide detailed info and links to the actual research studies. The NICE guidelines are the guidance that your doctor should be looking at and basing his decisions upon.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg177/evidence/full-guideline-pdf-191761311
kelly99515 susan67756
Posted
susan67756 kelly99515
Posted
Kelly - absolutely ! Everyone should do as they see fit. I'm simply sharing official guidelines - the evidence based info that doctors are recommended to follow (in the UK at least).
It proved to be a life-saver for me. I know that many others feel liberated when they get hold of this info - it gives them the confidence to fight the condition rather than just accept it. It is as you say a personal choice though - if the info is made accessible to all then we can each choose to ignore it if we wish.Some want the simple info from the doc - others want the full facts.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg177/evidence/full-guideline-pdf-191761311
susan67756
Posted
p.s. I had (have - i'm sure they're still there) bone spurs. Many docs/physios jumped to the conclusion that they were the cause of my symptoms; they were wrong! Once the imbalance (primarily a core imbalance - the hip is just the 'victim'
was corrected all symptoms disappeared.
I was originally diagnosed with 'classic hip OA', but over the years it spread to feet, back, neck, shoulders. Every single symptom turned out to be caused by this imbalance - all joints were being strained as a result of core muscles not working correctly.
Wainright22 susan67756
Posted
marieC Wainright22
Posted
Yes, I occasionally get groin pain. Unfortunately, I am 69, and my surgery has not sent me for any Xrays. I originally thought it was lumbar pain, rather than hip pain, but it never was looked into properly although I first had pain in that area when I was in my 40s or 50s. I was just referred to a pain clinic where I was shown exercises to help with the pain. Now I am older, it is worse, and no joy with any help. Looks like I'm past my sell by date as far as my surgery is concerned.