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
We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.
m69651 Wainright22
Posted
Since there has been a discussion regarding x-rays and MRIs, I thought I might comment, since this is year 8 with symptoms. An x-ray can flatly tell you that your pain is from OA. It can tell, if you have been properly positioned with special tools, before the x-ray, if there is enough space to be eligible for a surgery. Remember, surgery is a business, and there are some surgeons who need to fill their schedule, and others who don't and would rather you tried different therapies first, such as physical therapy, a prescription anti-inflammatory, or a steroid shot in the hip joint. I found interventional radiologists are the best at this.
If a steroid shot works, you will know as soon as the local anesthesia wears off. It will feel like heaven, at least until it stops working. For me it was just 3 months. The second shot did not work and I was told this is typical. The surgeon advised me not to have more than two steroid shots because of the risk of osteonecrosis. However there are pain doctors who will gladly tell you that you can have it 4 times a year.
The benefit I found with an MRI is it tells you how much cartilage is missing, and if you have extra bone on the femoral head, which makes your movement much more restricted, or if you have a labral tear (Lady Gaga) that can be repaired, to stave off further OA, or if your hip is too far gone for that type of arthroscopy procedure, but not yet ready for a replacement.
My x-rays never showed the extra bone, also known as a cam impingement. I went to three excellent surgeons in NYC who all told me to wait until age 65 and modify my life as needed. Every situation is different. Go to the best and explore your options.
Muscle imbalances will happen when one leg has to compensate for the other. One has to learn to rest, to prevent the pain from getting worse, and learn specific gentle stretches and exercises, to help maintain muscle mass. It will benefit you if and when you are able to have surgery.
kelly99515 m69651
Posted
susan67756 m69651
Posted
Research from around the world tells a different story. Take a look at the NICE guidelines - they conclude that there is no test for OA, and that x-rays are NOT helpful in diagnosing or treating OA (other than to rule out other causes).
Many people are fooled into thinking that evidence of wear on x-ray is the cause of their pain, but research shows otherwise. Research clearly shows that most people that have evidence of radiographic OA are symptom free. Research also shows there is NO correlation between symptoms and severity of symptoms.
It used to be thought that 'wear and tear' of joints was the cause of pain. It's now known that what shows up on x-ray is a normal process of 'wear and REPAIR'. Most of the time it is completely benign, and even if in some cases the wear and repair process has CAUSED a symptomatic joint it is not possible to tell from x-ray which cases are symptomatic.
Now, you can jump to the conclusion that if you have joint wear evident on x-ray/mri AND you have symptoms that the joint wear is the CAUSE of said symptoms. However, that is a very dangerous assumption to make that will often NOT hold true.
Muscle imbalances can be caused by a whole host of different things and often they will be present - symptom free - for most of your life before becoming symptomatic. This is why they are SO difficult to unravel. Yes, it is also true that a painful joint can CAUSE an imbalance. The ONLY way to find out if the imbalance is the cause of symptoms or the result is to treat the imbalance and see what remains. (Beats surgically replacing the joint to see what remains - no?)
These imbalances are hugely difficult to correct. Physiotherapists are not adequately trained. A few months of physio is very unlikely to correct the imbalance. It takes dedicated effort over a long period of time. However, well worth the effort as it will ALWAYS help and in many cases (such as mine) full function can be restored. In fact, better than full function as the norm is for a muscle imbalance to be present for most of your life, limiting physical potential. If you succeed in rebalancing the body it can work better in your 50's than it ever did in your 20's (as is the case with me).
Please do take the time to look at the NICE guidelines. It supports all that I am telling you. If I hadn't looked into this myself I'd have had surgery by now and would still be held back by major imbalances. Instead I'm heavily into sports and outperforming most twenty-somethings at age 55. It's worth putting work into this yourself - doctors aren't trained to offer any more than drugs, surgery and vague directions to 'exercise' - often recommending exercise that will make you worse.
This is considered the gold standard for evidence based medicine in the UK. Read it. Don't just have blind faith in the guff that charities and doctors give you. That's the basic info for the masses - that is what to expect if you don't get your finger out and work at this yourself. If you're willing to put in the effort complete cure IS possible in some cases.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg177/evidence/full-guideline-pdf-191761311
susan67756
Posted
EDIT "NO correlation between symptoms and severity of symptoms."
Should read "NO correlation between x-ray/mri findings and severity of symptoms"