Osteoarthritis Community

I have pain down the front of my left leg when I get up or lay down. My orthopedic surgeon wants to schedule hip replacement surgery. I also have lumbar problems and don't know if the pain is from the back or hip.

I have the same.....I would like to know too if my hip causes my back pain. I'm scared to have hip replacement. I did meet a gal in my water class at the YMCA. a retired gym teacher that had both hips replaced at the same time 8 yrs ago in NY. She said the pains she had were in the knee, ankles, feet,hip and back....all disapeared when she got the hips replaced.So happy she had it done.

I have had hip pain since falling out of bed 12-1/2 years ago. My right leg stayed in bed, tangled in blankets. I felt it tear and pop out, extreme pain. Nothing showed on x-rays. dragged my leg for months, my dr. thought I was faking, and even accused me of seeking pain meds only. After 9 months was diagnosed with hip dsyplasia on both sides, but thought I was stiill faking pain level. Much later, s-rays found my right hip was short and no pelvic socket to protect it. I've always kept active; in child hood, had to walk or bike everywhere.As an adult I kept walking 2-5 miles and exercising. It kept problems away for 42 yrs, .
It took 7 years before arthritus set in. Saw 6 Ortho Drs., over the years, then I finally found one willing to correct my birth defects, giving me hope that others wouldn't. Some refused to do surgery, and 2 wanted to fuse it, meaning life in a wheelchair.
At 54, had my hip replacement done, and it feels like a miracle; I am healing faster than my surgeon even thought possible! 5 weeks after surgery, I'm walking 8-12 blocks (plus around my house, yard) doing all ot, pt exercises and much more.
Please, please, walk, exercise, anything you can before your hip replacement. It'll be the biggest gift you can give yourself.
I'm in less pain now than before surgery! I was up after 4 hrs of my surgery walking in my room, and walking down the hospital halls in less that 12 hrs.
I'm winning against all the odds!!!!!
***For the record,I am female, post menapausal for 8 years, plus have fibromyalgia, bursitus, on and on, which really means cronic pain has tried to keep me down now for a long time.
I thank God for my Rhuma., he treated my cronic pain, gave me quality of like with medication, which allowed me get strong and keep moving.

I had my left hip replaced in late July -- one of the best things I ever did. I discovered I had arthritis when, at the age of 45, I decided to train for a half-marathon. I had only been running for a couple of years, but had my hours cut at work and thought this was a positive thing to work towards...one day while ending a run, I felt a horrible ping, then shooting pain in my left hip...and limped back to my car.

I rested. The pain was still there, and now my back was hurting and my left knee really hurt. Long story short -- took them a long time to figure out what was wrong. Turns out I had severe OA in my left hip and my right hip was damaged as well. No real definitive cause, but longer than normal femur heads did provide a challenge to the surgeon. Guess it just took a long time for the cartilage to wear out b/c I wasn't really athletic as a kid...

Anyways, I was on in major pain for about a year, then on a waiting list for surgery for 7 months. Immediately after I woke up, my left hip no longer hurt -- the incision site did; the muscles in my leg were screaming, but the deep pain was gone. When a date opened up for my right hip, I decided to go ahead and get it done, too, since I did not get to an intolerable level of pain and then wait on a list for 7 months. It has now been a week since my 2nd hip was replaced. I have no arthritis pain.

I do have pain, but it is related to the incision and the bruised muscles. I started walking the day after surgery and continue to add just a little more walking each day. Yesterday I started doing my PT exercises to fun music and was able to do the side raises, knee lifts and kick-backs for 6 minutes. Today I was able to do 10min. Each day gets better and better. With my previous surgery, I was back to driving in 3 weeks and felt totally ready to tackle work again at 6 weeks, so I know this is a pretty fast recovery time. I am having trouble being patient with this side, but know that the healing will happen.

I did exercise 1 hour per day up until the day I stopped taking mobic and the pain in the right hip took over (about 7 days before surgery). I do believe that having better cardiovascular health and better muscle tone before this surgery helped me recover that much faster in the hospital (I was walking the first day after surgery, not the 2nd like the previous time; and walking further with a wider range of motion).

I'm having same confusion of 1) if my back contributes to the hip pain or vice versa? and 2) when will my hip finally collapse and force me into replacing it? I have AVN in my right hip w/bone cyst in illium, also have lumbar disk disease. A couple yrs ago my Dr. tried core decompression and it did not work, now the joint is on the edge of collapse and I am not ready (and scared) to do hip replacement. I have a history of DVT's and on coumidin for life because of clotting disorder: this really adds to my fear of another surgery. I'm in the process of trying to sell my two story so I can get into a one story before having surgery; however, I'n afraid my hip will not make it that far? Is there further indications as to when the hip is about to collapse? I'm open to any thoughts, thank you.

Hi MeEagle,

This is a very old discussion. If you re-post this question on our community it will get opinions.

Lainey:)

Thank you. I didn't realize that the discussion was old. Just reposted to main discussion-I hope I did it right.

1. over 18mos ago I reported to my PCP that my rt. hip had deep pain. xray taken and the Tech that read it stated nothing wrong but just old age (at that time 65) Long and short- I was given MRI with focus on lower back- 2 epidurals and much pain meds which I took sparingly always asking for a fit not more meds.
2. finally I found a Doc that suggested rt hip replacement and was sent to a specialist who agreed. Because of the chronic pain and no relief from the focus on lower back, I had the surgery done. A miracle. Hip pain radiates to back. I am approaching 1 yr and doing super. Find a hip replacement Doc and go for it. You won't regret it.
3. Good Luck
   

I have had both knees replaced. One was done 9 years ago when I was 51 and the other was done 4 years ago. I couldn't imagine having both of them done at the same time. First of all, how would you get up to walk, or sit down on the toilet? It's very difficult to bend the knee after surgery, it takes disciplined exercise to get it bending all the way. I can't imagine even thinking of going up and down stairs with both of them done at once. I'd sure be asking a lot of questions before I'd even consider it.