Hi, I keep reading on here about the "bone on bone" pain that an awful lot of you had prior to surgery. It must have been totally agonising and it's got me wondering if my pain really is from my hip because the hip xray i had last February showed only "marked joint space narrowing and small osteophyte compatible with moderate degenerative changes".
I walked with a pronounced limp from February to June and my pain levels got so bad I was prescribed Morphine patches as well as other painkillers. Many times I even cried out with the pain. In June I had a hip injection of cortisone in theatre.. It worked! NO PAIN FOR 48 HOURS!
. But when I returned to see the surgeon following the cortisone injection I asked him what the theatre pictures had shown of my hip degeneration and I would have put my life on them showing a vastly degenerative hip because the actual injection into the joint reproduced the exact same intense pain I was living with 24/7. He just shrugged and told me the pictures taken didn't look all that different to my hip Xray last February. I was gobsmacked.
I'm on the list for a THR in October/November but I'm seroisly wondering if all my pain is coming from somewhere else being as my Xrays results are so mild compared with all of you on here. I feel a right fraud. Even my surgeon THINKS it's my hip that's the problem as "the injection worked well"....Has anyone on here had really awful pain prior to THR but only minimal damage shown on an Xray? I'd be so grateful to hear from anyone with Xrays like mine. How on earth can a hip Xray showing minimal wear and tear create such unbearable pain? What if it's not my hip that's the cause of it all? My recent lumbar spine MRI was fine.
Sarah, I live in the U.S. and I don't know if that makes a difference. But I would definitely get a second opinion or even a third. I ended up having 10 because I kept getting different diagnosis. I finally found a doc that showed me what was happening--no cartilage, fluid in the joint and cysts. It was definitely bone on bone, but I wanted to be sure. Best of luck!
Sarah, I have not experienced that, but I have read numerous posts here and elsewhere from people who had awful pain, but the x-rays weren't too bad. Then when the doc went in and did the THR, he was able to see a lot more damage. Sometimes arthritic changes to cartilage just don't show up well on x-ray, especially when bones bump up against each other, like the head of the femur against the acetabulum (the cup). If your spine MRI was normal, that's another indication that is is most likely the hip joint. Also, the fact that the cortisone injection worked for a little while is indicative that there are problems with the hip.
It was the other way around for me! I didn't have severe pain at all, just terrible range of motion and "catching" and weakness. I injured my knee on the other side, so my "bad" hip had to do more work for awhile, and that's when things started to hurt a bit more. I had an x-ray and my doc was shocked that I hadn't been in about my hip before, since my femur was scrunched into the socket with no space at all, and tons of bone spurs. Then, a few weeks later, I had some episodes of the searing bone-on-bone pain, and shortly after that, my THR. So what is true for one person, isn't necessarily true for another.
Since your THR isn't until later in the year, perhaps it would make sense to search for other sources of your pain. But your hip sounds guilty to me!
Hi Sarah like you I felt a fraud before I had my right hip replaced 12 weeks ago, but I am a completely different person now so I know it was the right thing to do. I didn't have bone on bone pain. My mother who has had 4 operations, 2 hips and 2 replacements of which one nearly killed her, told me that she had pain so bad at night she couldn't even bear a sheet on her leg In fact although I took ibuprofen at times, I wasn't even on painkillers all the time. However, i was limping very badly, was very stiff, my groin area hurt all the time, I found it increasingly hard to walk any distance and i was so tired all the time.
Prior to seeing a consultant I thought it was a running injury and was wasting money on physios. I then saw a chiropractor who was also a doctor with experience of orthopedics. He had me privately x rayed and told me while i had wear in an unusual place I would be turned away by the NHS and told to come back in 6 years. When I saw an NHS consultant he just pointed out the wear at the bottom of my hip and said something along the lines of, your hip is damaged do you want a new hip. I could see an area that was 'all fuzzy' and he added that it was in an unusual place being at the bottom. if you looked at an x ray of my hips taken straight on they looked normal. Like you I first tried an injection which worked for 2 weeks and then the pain became much worse and mentally I felt very strange and paranoid for a while. Won't be having one of those again! Not worth it. Like you an MRI of my spine was clear and in your case the injection worked if only briefly which is supposed to be an indicator that it is the hip.
So although I have had the same thoughts as you our cases are dissimilar in some ways. You are obviosuly in far worse pain than i ever was and can only suggest you carry on asking questions, but I have a feeling it is your hip! I'm no doctor though so keep lookingfor answers. Good luck.
Hi ya I recommend have it done before it goes to far as I let mine go on for years and I feel after my replacement I'm still in pain, with my second hip I didn't leave it as long and that one has had a great recovery the sooner the better I say
I had pain like you and thought it was my back after seeing consultant back was ruled out then went to see orthapedic surgeon who said it was my hip he said my left hip was worse than the right but I had no pain in the left hip I had right hip replaced August last year and left hip deteriorated rapidly I had the left hip done on the 26 June this year early days but hopefully it will be as good as my right when it heals good luck and hugs
At the beginning I had bad pain, but the x-rays only showed very mild arthritis. I needed a cane, went to physio and my family md referred me on to have a hip injection. He booked me for an MRI of my back as well. The PT exercises made it much worse. The MRI of my back was fine. I didn't have a lot of confidence in the PT person so I switched. The new PT person looked at the xay and did an assessment and wrote a note to my family doctor requesting a hip MRI, and told me not to do any more exercises. The MRI showed AVN avascular necrosis of the bone. It only shows up on MRI, this happened over a year and by the time they did a follow-up xray, there was no cartilage left. Once the AVN was diagnosed I got in right away to have that hip replaced. While I was recovering, the MD who does the injection called me to book an appointment! Since you have already decided to do the procedure, I don't think an MRI will help.
Also, the hospital where I had my hip done has a rating scale that determines how fast you get in, and it is related to both pain and how much you are able to do the normal activities of daily living. The worse things are, the faster you get in. It is not tied to the the results of the xray. Don't feel like a fraud for having pain. Hope the best for you in the fall.
Xrays do not always show the damage. If you want to be sure, perhaps you could request an MRI. I don't have constant bone-on-bone pain, but I have been getting cortisone injections for years. Now they are no longer working for very long so I am waiting on a date for THR. I have terrible range-of-motion. My pain is mostly when I stand up from a seated position or when I first get up in the morning.
I was the same, not really a limp just some pain and catching but X-ray showed severe damage. As the Specialist said, "thats as bad as it gets'. People wondered why I was getting a replacement at all as i didn't limp or look bad.
I had really bad pain . Had the xrays and was told OA get on with it. I eventually had a theatre hip injection and like you the pain went for 3 weeks. Then it wore off. I went back to Consultant expecting another hip injection .... No...was told as the hip injection had worked it proved I needed a new hip.
When I eventually had hip replacement I was told I was bone on bone.
All I know Sarah I said that I was told some people present with truly awful x rays but are not in terrible pain and some people have x rays that don't look too bad but are in agony. Each case is different . What I do know is that if the steroid injection works it is definitely your hip as this is the tell tale thing .. if the injection works your hip
Thank you Julie, I honestly feel guilty when i say my pain level is always nigh on unbearable some days - it goes up to a 9 quite often and I sometimes have to grip the bedsheets in my teeth to turn over in bed. That's how much pain I am in in the night! - yet my Xray looks "not-too-bad at all" to quote both my surgeon and my GP (though both are nice people
Yes Hazel that is just what my surgeon told me too. Whar threw me/depressed me was his blase expression when I told him there were many many days when I found it difficult to cope with the pain level. I even have to sometimes use a walking aid - rollator - just to get across my lounge to go into the kitchen. I'm just gobsmacked that my Xray shows just "a bit of OA and a bone spur"....
I'm like you as in my Xray showed mild 'wear and tear' yet I was in agony, my surgeon said my pain was probably from weight bearing as I have hip dysplasia, i had a few steroid injections, the first worked really well and I was pain free for 2 months, however the pain came back and it was decided I should have a THR.
I am now almost two weeks post op, my surgeon came to see me the day after and told me that I had a fair amount of cartilage damage in the socket and the cartilage had started to roll up whatever that means, more importantly he said it did not show up on my Xray or the MRI i had done, I felt the same as you because I kept being told everything was 'mild', you aren't a fraud I hope my story helps you see things aren't always as they seem!
Thank you Sarah, I have no hip pain now just muscle and tendon pain fom surgery, I'm feeling better day by day.
The first surgeon I seen told me because my Xray didn't look too bad I'd have to wait ten years for an op (I'm 42), I cried and cried, however fortunately he referred me to a Hip Dysplasia specialist who said I needed an op and I could either have a PAO or THR, I opted for THR as the PAO was only guaranteed 50 percent pain relief, he didn't refer me back to the first surgeon but chose some one else who was brilliant.
I really wanted to write to you because I did not have OA and I kept wondering if the problem really was my hips and I felt very misunderstood for a long time until I got referred, so if I can help you or anybody going through the same thing I am more than happy to share what has happened to me.
I am wishing you the very best of luck, please let us know how you get on.
I think the bone spur catches on stuff as I had one too ... you tend to think people can hardly walk to have. THR and be in agony but here it was mostly a case of how it debilitated your life . I am 56 and it was preventing me going stuff . In saying that the operation was brutal and extreme pain after but at 9 months on finally reaping the benefits . Glad I had ur done as I would have got worse but I never had total agony ... just pain . Surgeons not that interested in
Your pain after I find ... once the metal is in it's bring on the
Hi Sarah, I can tell you that I had no evidence of wear and yet was unable to walk.
I had septic arthritis which was started by a nasty bug. The problem was that A&E never suspected a bacteria to be causing the pain. I was told it was a pulled ligament that would take 6 to 7 weeks to heal and sent home with painkillers. Two months later, going crazy with pain, I called an ambulance and the x-ray was incredible to see. In two months, the head of the femur (ball) had gone completely.
so, yes, no wear and tear initially and loads of pain but due to a bacteria causing septic arthritis.
Somewhere along the treatment path, I was given a nerve block. It didnt leave me pain free but it did give great relief for over a month.
Oh dear, no wonder you wee shocked! I'm glad the nerve block helped you so much. It must have been a terrible time for you. (what IS a nerve block incidently?).
I don't think mine is septic arthritis though as I had an x ray last february,had theatre pictures taken in May but there was apparently no difference in them. But obviously relieved to read that others on here also had terrible pain like me with minimal damage on x ray reports like mine. Thank you for writing mijoed