Hip Surgery and Cortisone on other side?

Bones, joints and muscles
1

I am scheduled for a total hip replacement, needing BOTH sides done, Dr. says waiting 3 months in between. My pain is now unmanageable on both sides so I’m wondering if at the time of the Left Side Replacement, whether they would give me Cortisone on the Right Side to tie me over till the next surgery three months down the road? Anyone have experience with this?

2

They normally will not operate on your hip if you have had a cortisone injection more recently than six months or so previously. Some surgeons may operate a slightly shorter space of time but they are always worried about cortisone injections and hip ops as it can open the doors to the risk of infection, which makes them paranoid.

3

hi
3 years ago I had bilateral hip replacements as both mine were shot. The R side was done first as that one was the most painful then I was rotated and then the L side was completed. One surgery- one recovery- - one spell of time off work. I was fit and as active as i could be at the time so recovery went well.
I cant imagine what it would be like having one hip replaced but still struggling with the other one. Ask the question - why not both? Good luck !!

4

I had a cortisone shot during surgery on my left hip which was wonderful, for 6 weeks! Then it wore off and I can’t get another one for a few months. I too have to have the left hip replaced, but I had complications with the right, so I will have to wait for quite awhile. I say go for it though, because it really helps you to concentrate on the PT exercises for your operated hip without the pain in the other.

5

Good to hear. I think it would aid tremendously in my PT recovery on the one side, until the second surgery can be done.

6

thanks, i will ask about doing both. maybe with enough complaint about pain, he will consider it.

7

I had three steroid shots, three months before right knee replacement, in both knees and one hip. I continued to take my daily 6 mg dose of prednisone. I had no pain problems. Pain med, after surgery, was double strength Tylenol.

8

Looking at the internet Arthritis Research say " Surgeons, on the whole, don’t like you to have a steroid injection into a joint they are likely to operate on in the near (some say up to six months) future. The reason they give is that injections of steroid may introduce bacteria, or lower the ‘resistance’ of the joint to bacteria, so that there is more chance of the new joint becoming infected after the operation. This is a dreaded complication of artificial joint surgery and something that surgeons will avoid at all costs. "

I take daily steroids and my surgeon wanted me off the steroids completely before my hip op. In the end we negotiated I drop to 5mg. I was very lucky after surgery and did not seem to need painkillers either.