I am 51 and had a THR in December - not sure if the surgeon noted at the time I had hip dysplasia - it came to light in post op reviews of x rays. Anyhow surgeon has admitted he put the prosthesis in a bit "tight" to stop it dislocating. Result is I cannot walk upstairs without pain, have little rotation in my hip and consequential soft tissue tendenosis which cannot be exercised out due to ... stiffness and pain due to stiffness in the joint.
My surgeon has tried Manipulation under Anasethestic and hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, blood tests. Physios have said they cannot do anymore for me apart from massage and acupuncture needles (fell asleep in that session). Osteopath thinks there is impingement as he can put my hip under traction and get it to be a bit more mobile. But my surgeon who is a leading figure in the ROH Birmingham is proving to be slow to take a closer look at me. I am self employed and have not been able to work or be paid since 18th December and have no end in sight. I also have a leg length difference and the other hip is now referred due to hip impingement pain.
I have been very patient with the wait for out patient appointments, lost paperwork etc. But the MUA tested my hip not under load and with me asleep. The ultrasounds have been static - whereas the pain set on is after moving especially up hill or driving. At my wits end as I have had to stop all my sports - hockey, hill walking, climbing and sailing. Smacked out on maximum pain relief. Is there any advice from experts or anyone in a similar situation on what to do next?
Oh WOW! Sorry I don't have any words of wisdom for you but I certainly wish you well.
Sorry to hear about your hip problems. It is devastating when we see a surgeon pre op that tells us THR
will help the pain and mobility problems. Full of optimism and months post op find it is not a wonderful outcome for us all. It is very difficult to get answers. If you don't get any answers for rectifying the problem , maybe its not possible. You may have to adjust your life around your limitations. It is difficult and takes time. I had to adjust at
34 after a car accident smashed my hip socket. It left me with chronic pain and walking difficulties. Taking me to November last year when I needed THR. I woke to find I had got femoral nerve damage from the op. I have been told it may improve possibly by November. At this point it is no better since the op.Reading on the net it may never improve. This has left me more disabled than prior. I have already adjusted to living with it. I have a leg support which I use if I am caring for youngest granchild. I have to use a crutch indoors. I do hope that there is a solution for you as it is hard to accept what you can't do anymore and to cope with the pain. I also had to double my dose of Tramadol which I still take. I wish you well.
Christine, that sounds a nightmare. I can't help either I am afraid, but have you contacted PALS, or made a complaint? That might at least speed things up to make your surgeon see you again more quickly. Hope it gets resolved, hard to see what they can do apart from redo the hip, but then I am not a medical person, there might be all sorts of procedures I've never heard of.
Forgot to say I am 56. I hope you get the opportunity to return to work as being on ESA makes you feel like a scrounger because of this awful government. Nobody willingly stays on it if they are genuine as you can earn more working!
Debbie
That sounds horrendous - tramadol is evil stuff too. I have been fighting ESA for son and all they keep on doing is losing paperwork and sending us another 40 page booklet to complete. So I am currently stuck home with a depressed 19 year old son. Goodness me its hard to have predicted this 18 months ago.
Have you any options left for further treatment?
Take care and keep in touch.
Chris
Jean
I have been trying up til now to work with the consultant but I found out yesterday that a "redo" is a black spot against his record so he may have a conflict of interest between us. As the other hip is now on the way and I have an NHS referral I am paying £160 to see the hip preservation specialist a month earlier - so there is more time to save my hip and also hopefully to get his view on how to resolve the "fixed hip".
PALS is my next stop...
Don't know what to say, except maybe keep positive no matter what and good luck...
This is everyone's hip replacement nightmare and I am so sorry you are going through this. I am wondering how you feel and if you have expressed these feelings to the surgeon who admits he made an error? What about finding a surgeon who specializes in revision surgery? At least you could get a second opinion.
Juliette - my surgeon is the head of hip replacements ar the royal orthopaedic hosptial and aigns his letters "special
interest in revision surgery" - its knowing ehere to go from
there that is a problem as he is top dog and not arrogant but i think is dismayed and hoping for the best. He has referred me to a colleague for my other hip and for 160£ i can see him
a month earlier than my nhs apppintmebt so i think i am going to ask for his advice. The physios and oateopath knew me before my THR as i went to the advanced gym
class along with teenagers so thy know how fit and leen i was to get well post my thr. Out whole family is struxtured arpund being active and i have never been so low. Consultsnt knows all of this as i hve written but he has not pulled forward my appoinment as in the words of his secretary people waiting surgery are prioity. So i will aee him in 3 more weeks - even the physios have written and asked for a kore urgent assessment of me. But where do you trun when its the number 1 who has got it wrong?
He sounds very arrogant and his mistake makes him uncomfortable. Are you happy to see his colleague(cronie)? You're in a very difficult position I can see that. I do understand about previously being active. I used to walk mountains in Andalusia but after two hip replacements which are relatively successful, I can't do it anymore. Thankfully I can still do my allotments with help. I certainly don't do any unnecessary walking, like shopping because my legs ache and I get mild pain in one leg if I overdo it. Please don't despair as there is life post being sporty and active. However you need to see someone but not a man who refuses to see you despite your distress. I pity any woman married to him. Kind regards.
Juliet - first apologies for the shocking typos in my last post. Typing in poor light on my phone with fat fingers rendered it hard to read.
The other consultant is running an innovative hip preservation clinic which also directly involves physiotherapists. So i think this may help - the physios know him and my massage physio was fixed by him.
I was shocked to find that the consultants and physiotherapists Never meet to discuss difficult cases and my physio has been at the hospital a number of years and has never ever met my consultant. She writes reports to him but never gets a response or follow up questions. Such an old way of doing things - my work is IT project mgt and we constantly need to work across teams to sort out problems - so surely cross disciplinary working is also needed for surgery?
The surgeon has repeatedly said sorry and in writing too - but i think he is over optimistic on time being a healer. He is quiet and thoughtful and would be mortified to read this thread. He just needs to stop doing optimistic small steps and take a step back and re think. Over tight placement is quite unusual as a complication. The hip preservation consultant is a generation younger so may have different ideas to give to my consultant.
The hospital paperwork and processes are antiquated and letters get lost and delayed all of the time. Its got to the point that i grab copies whenever possible of hospital generated paperwork, take it home and scan it and email it to the consultant secretary then call to confirm receipt. Started to do this when 5 documents had not reached him in a month even tho they had been sent by post and email. So i also carry paper copies into my clinic appointments. So apart from having to tackle a mistake which for him is very rare the consultant is working in an embattled arena - i worked in the nhs 25 years ago so can see the problems clearly and how to navigate round some of them.
This hospital was a small trust and is now a tertiary referral centre for half of the country. So far this year it has had 3 Trust days which close all clinics down and they always chose Friday - so the same clinics are cancelled inc. my hip replacement consultants clinics - so he is struggling to make up lost ground and at the point whenthey grew in patient numbers they cut drastically the no of medical secretaries so his has 3 consultants to look after. Its a total mess yet gets 4 star rating. So whilst i think it is time to lodge a formal complaint you can see that i suspect the lunatics are running the asylum and its going to take much depleted emotional energy to do this. I saw granny bullying in the night shift too as an in patient and complained so i know what a complaint will involve.
But you give me hope that i can do other things with my life once through this part and i am resourceful and have reminded myself of wide interests and good friends. So whilst i am somewhat poorer due to my inability to work there is fun stuff to do once i can get into a steady physical state and get my pain relief better sorted.:-)
It sounds horrendous. I think I must be lucky in the hospital where I live and that's not saying much. Unless you have been on an NHS ward at night, you haven't lived.If you can't take care of yourself,I.e.going to toilet, feeding and washing yourself, you are very vulnerable. People get awards and medals for less than the bravery, fortitude and courage needed for the hospital experience. And that's just if it goes right! The sun is out and le tour is passing through shortly. It's very exciting!
hey Juliette
hope the race was fun...
I spent the morning spitting tacks over the letter i received today from the consultant where he ignored the GP request for a dynamic ultrasound and the physio report and request for an urgent review. Instead he is going to ask me to repeat blood tests, tho he expressly doubts any change from before, told me it will take time to improve - tho i had said in my letter that i was deteriorating. Oh and that as he knows i am paying to see the other guy about my other hip perhaps a fresh set of eyes might help with this hip? Blooming cheek to think he can freeload advice i have paid for - I stay patient longer than most and you would not know i am at 99% til you push me a couple of percent further. So with your prescient words ringing in my ears i wrote a stark letter and suggested he had a choice to reply constructively or i would invoke the complaints procedure. I have requested that the physio comes to my outpatient appointment so they could break all the rules and work together in their review of me. Now would not that be a revolution - patient rather than profession centric care!
I am now lying down cos its hard to frown or shout lying down - listening to Dire Straits - aptly named - but chosen as a song book from a simpler time of my life xxx
The race and the surrounding build up has been amazing but if I had blinked, would have missed it. Feel envious that some people are so fit and their legs are muscly and strong. Will you take him at his word and speak to the other surgeon about your hip? What a radical idea to have the physio go along with you! Let us know how you get on.
Sounds like an event wirh lots of lovely views!
You bet i will take him up on what is now his suggestion of asking this other consultant. For now it is his idea to do this he is not really able to dismiss the second review ....i refuse to say if this outcome was premeditated 
If my letter gets anywhere i will happily share it. It is the most directly written letter about performance in a role that i have ever written to anyone in 30 years of work. But the top guys are paid well to admit mistakes and show leadership and both my GP and the physiotherapists have fretted over how to handle nudging the consultant along as if he was some delicate flower or highly strung opera singer. The rest of the world has moved into modern collaborative ways of working with feedback being a useful tool. Its time the NHS caught up.Rant over.
On the bright side the lady who ran into the back of my stationary car today does not appear to have done me lasting injury!
I find that the younger consultants don't have the same image of themselves as Gods in the way that the older ones do. However hospital staff and GPs still treat them that way. In the last 40years I have had many a run in with various consultants.They are just experienced technicians in the same way as an electrician or a plumber. There is no need for supplication.
Christine.. PLZ file a complaint againt UR doc.. Then locate a lawyer who specializes in THR U WILL FIND RESOLUTION . many lawyers are so familiar with THR issues that they can refer u to other doc who can help.. I may need to take advice from my lawyer too. Find a revision specialist out of state . I am not going to live the rest of my life in constant pain. I have waited for 2 years & that's enough. I am ready to find resolution to my issues with THR...
many blessings sent UR way...
((hugs))
hey there - at exactly 0835 i got a call from my consultants secretary acknowleding receipt of my letter. Consultant does private work Mondays. By 10:30 she had called back with an appointment for his next clinic which is Friday and condirmed that he had requested my physio attend with me.
She is happy ti so this - i took a cooy of my letter to her and it turns out she is coming back to attend the clinic.
So there's a quick turnaround and responsive approach - my physio and consultant will meet for the first time in 5 years. Cant guarantee the outcome and a bir scared as been up a siding for ages butat least i have managed to generate a quick response and collaboration across the professions.
Thought it was worth sharing this news - not sure if it was the immaculately reasoned case in my letter or the suggestion that i would prefer a quick and helpful response rather than go down the complaints route. Am v glad to have achieved this goal.
Will keep you posted ;-)
Well done you! I currently know of someone who is in a ward with an open fracture of the ankle. She has been there over a week waiting for an operation to pin it. They keep starving her for the op and then cancel as an emergency has come in. Needless to say, they are not the kind of people to make a fuss. That's unfortunately how you are treated if you need people to like you.