hello. i had a right THR 8 months ago. At first all was well, then around 10 weeks after surgery the pain kicked in. To cut a long story short, i have seen 7 DOCTORS, had 2 mri’s, aCT SCAN, 2 electro nerve tests, xrays, blood tests , ultrasound and 10 physio sessions with needles and electro massage.
The pain is awful, my GP has now put me on FENTANYL patches!
the pain is around the new hip area ( not the incision site)… in the groin and across the thigh . I cannot raise my thigh. I Cant sleep on either side, and i can only walk very slowly with the aid of sticks or a walker. I am 61, and normally fit and healthy.
Doctors have tested for and ruled out.. infection, incorrect placement, loosening. psoas impingment, nerve damage, muscle damage, bone damage.
They dont know what to do or say now and are just passing me from dr to dr.
i truly cant take this pain much longer.
any ideas? any suggestions would be so appreciated.
CHRISSIE
i would have one of your dr’s perform an aspiration of the hip, sounds like the same symptoms i had & i have two infections in my hip! i’ve gone thru the 2 stage procedure & the infections are back now-in my pelvis, which means more surgeries & another new hip & now pelvis reconstruction surgery. I’ve been told that there’s a huge possibility that i could lose my leg!
i have similar pain and have been diagnosed with spinal stenosis
nothing to do with my
new hip but narrowing of my
spinal
column caused by osteo arthritis
am awaiting teferrral to
spine consultant
have any of the tests included aspirating the new joint ? This would be the surest way to test for infection. Also you could get the hip joint injected to numb the area as it might be coming from the lumbar spine?
I do feel for you as the same thing happened to me. In the end I paid for a revision hip replacement.
Occaisionally the hip can be loose and it doesnt show on images.
i’m so very sorry for your pain and suffering. Has there been any suggestion that it could be Iliopsoas? I have similar issues, though my discomfort/pain is a 1 and yours is a 10. After speaking with my surgeon about it, it is clear that a medical resolution isn’t the answer, since there is not a pill you can take that will fix it. In fact, my surgeon said the only solution he could offer was to “cut it.“
If you do some online research, you’ll find a plethora of information about the condition and on YouTube you’ll even find some stretches that will help release the psoas. You could also search for a massage therapist who specializes in psoas release.
"Psoas syndrome and iliopsoas tendinitis are less common musculoskeletal conditions therefore, they often go misdiagnosed. Clinically it presents symptoms like low back pain, pain in groin and pelvis, radiating pain towards knee; which halts the primary function of psoas muscle that is hip flexion (hence difficult walking) and to sustain fully erect posture. "
thank you for taking the trouble to reply !
did the revision solve the problem for you?
oh my gosh, how awful for you. i will definately ask for the aspiration! didnt regular blood tests show the infection?
i wish you the very best,
thank you for replying, i wish you all the very best,
I am sorry you are in such pain. I am on Pregabalin medium dose 18 months after THR and I was ok last year but overdid it and it has not paid off. All I can suggest is that you keep on seeing the medical staff you cannot go around in all the pain. Fentanyl is very strong though
thanks for your reply ! i did a lot of reserch and also thought it was iliopsoas impingement . 2 docs said.. very rare, not likely! ( not helpful) a rehab doc thought so too but after the sessions of electro-therapy the physio said he believes i would have been helped by it if it was the iliopsoas!! back to square one !
thank you for replying, i wish you the very best!
Chrissie, I read through your post too quickly the first time; I see that psoas (impingement) has been suggested and discarded as the issue. From my reading, and in talking with my therapist, and what I know from my own condition post THR, psoas could still be the issue. I have no “impingement” per se. If you’re an advocate for your own health, I wouldn’t give up your own investigating/reading on this.
no ma’am reg blood tests only showed elevated wbc, it took an aspiration to show one infection & some more extreme blood tests only showed some infection, we didn’t find out about the 2nd infection until 9 days after removal of hip implant & placement of antibiotic spacer. 1st infection is a staph & 2nd is a superbug that’s never been found in a hip before, only in shoulders of males ages 15-24!! so of course I’d be the one who has it! infectious disease team & surgeons are 100% positive both infections had been introduced into my hip replacement during original thr.
nope, just elevated white blood count, nothing else, even the extensive blood test only showed elevated wbc. most of the time it takes an aspiration to show since it’s not in the blood stream yet. the 2nd infection only showed up 9 days after surgery in what my surgeon had taken as healthy tissue he thought, he wanted to dbl ck that there wasn’t any other issues & it took 9 days for it to show its ugly face, its a slow grower. thank you, i wish you good luck in finding out the issue & getting it resolved!
Hello Chrissie,
Your description sounds very familiar, I am also going thru the same thing. I had a THR in July of 2015 and as of March 2018 I have been on disability. I have seen over 20 doctors, chiropractors and even acupuncturist. I have had many of the same tests that your describing, and now my primary wants me to try an neurostimulator to help with the pain. I’m grateful that my employer has disability insurance because I’d be in serious trouble financially. I am 50 and feel I was a very active person and loved to work but that is all gone now because of this with no hope in sight, I’m not sure when my trial for the neurostimulator is but when I can I will get back with you to see if it may be an option.
Wayne Mullen Jr.
thank you for replying , i wish you every sucsess with the neurostimulator and relief from this awful nightmare
i had a neurostimulator for my back several yrs ago & it worked great for 8 minths-i lost quite a bit of weight & it was down hill from there. good luck, i hope you find some relief
It has been a nightmare Chrissie and no one seems to know what is going on, I will keep you in mind and let you know how it goes, I just want to be somewhat normal again and if I can get some of the pain to go away then I’d be a happier person. Best of luck to you too.
Yes it did. I saw many consultants who kept telling me there was nothing wrong but eventually one looked at my XRAY and suspected Lucency around the acetabulum. it turned out it was loose and most probably had never integrated with my bone. I ad revision of just the acetabulum. It takes a long time to recover from a revision and you must make sure the surgeon you choose has got lots if experience as it is more difficult than a primary hip. All that said, clearly you cannot possibly continue as you are. Something is mist definitely not right. Hope you get this sorted as soon as possible , its such a miserable experience when hip replacements fail!
i dont know where you live but if you are in the Uk Alister Hart is the best, they call him the hip detector, he would tell you why your hip is hurting so much.