Has anyone had sharp thigh pain after hip replacement

Posted by Cjropes @Cjropes, Dec 30, 2015

Has anyone had sharp thigh pain after hip replacement

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@wolin

Yes! 18 months out and unbelievable pain! And my leg contracts and locks on me. Makes me almost go through the roof! I cannot move my leg when this happens and cannot walk. I can only walk maybe 10-15 min before my right acts up, all the way down to my foot, I also have heriation L4-L5. S-1 I never expected this after surgery! Ortho is of no help

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I feel your pain too. I really hope your ortho will do some further testing like x-rays, MRI or whatever is needed.

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@tross68

I am so glad I found this discussion. I am 9 months post op and I still have horrible pain in my thigh. It is very random. Sometimes it will hurt for a week to 10 days and sometimes it will act up for a few days. It isn't every step I take it isn't necessarily when I move my leg a certain way or anything it just does it randomly and it is SHARP and hard. If I don't happen to have my cane when it does it I almost fall down. I finally got in to the ortho when it was actually doing it and making me limp hard and he still has no idea. He's going to do blood work and talked about a bone scan after i reach my year mark because apparently until then it can still show up positive for certain things that may not be there at a year. I am so frustrated! I can also swear it feels a little swollen or like there's a small (like 2 or 3" across but raised maybe a half an inch or so" inside there. My husband says "yeah it feels a little swollen". I never did mention that to the doc. The x rays look good they say. Mri wont really tell me much. What would I be looking for? Too early to do a bone scan. So I'm like well great, 60 bucks to come in here and you tell me nothing. Thanks doc. "I'm sorry", he says. We will watch it. I will talk to a colleague of mine and see if he can think of anything I'm not thinking of. So here I am... trying to get on disability for this and neuropathy and fibro mialgia how ever u spell it... Been denied once, now under reconsideration. Can't freaking get around! Not even getting my chores done around the house. Getting a job and keeping it is pretty much out of the question considering I never know what is going to hurt when I wake up...anyway...getting off topic. Yes I do have horrible thigh pain. I'm glad the AVN is gone and that pain isn't there but the thigh thing is really wearing me out! Sometimes it goes to my knee. Once in a while it even goes half way down my calf.

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Hi @tross68 and @lindyloo8 - Just wanted to welcome you both to Connect! As you can already see its a great bunch of people with lots of good information and experience.

@lindyloo8 - please keep us posted after your appointment Moday.

@tross68 I can definitely hear your frustration with having that kind of pain 9 months out of surgery. Did you do PT - or are you still doing it? I recall someone recommending water therapy and myofascial release. Don't know if you've ever tried either but here are a couple of links that might help:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/scar-tissue-after-knee-replacement/?pg=33#comment-261881
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/after-knee-replacement-surgery/?pg=18#comment-121443

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I just had a total hip replacement surgery on 2-26-19. I'm only 35 and I'm suffering inner thigh swelling and pain. I've also been having these "spasms" in my thigh on the operation side (left). Is this normal?

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@teemarie

I just had a total hip replacement surgery on 2-26-19. I'm only 35 and I'm suffering inner thigh swelling and pain. I've also been having these "spasms" in my thigh on the operation side (left). Is this normal?

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Hi @teemarie, welcome to Connect. You'll notice that I moved your message to this existing discussion in the Joint Replacements group. I did this so that you can meet more easily others who have had a hip replacement. Click VIEW & REPLY in the email notification and you can scroll back through past messages. I also encourage to review related discussions in the Joint Replacements group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/joint-replacements/

TeeMarie, your surgery wasn't that long ago. Did the surgeon give you an idea when to expect the swelling and pain to subside?

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@teemarie

I just had a total hip replacement surgery on 2-26-19. I'm only 35 and I'm suffering inner thigh swelling and pain. I've also been having these "spasms" in my thigh on the operation side (left). Is this normal?

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Hi @teemarie - Welcome to Connect! I haven't had hip replacement, but have had two knee replacements. In my experience, swelling and pain during the first week after surgery were pretty normal. It does get better! I'm wondering if your doctor prescribed any kind of anti-inflammatory? I was prescribed Celebrex for my knee but couldn't take it - it upset my stomach. For pain, they gave me oxycodone. What kind of pain meds are you taking? You may need to have the doctor take another look at that. I had to go in for a 2 week checkup. Is it the same with hip replacements? Will you be going back next week? If so, I would definitely speak to your doctor about your concerns.

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can't speak for everyone, but my pain is happening years after surgery. the inflammation angle may be something to pursue with the doc tomorrow though so thanks for that idea.

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@khalt, @katepitt I haven't posted for awhile, so this is an update to my December posts. I had THR of my right hip 10 months ago. Still having upper thigh pain when standing up, bending over and climbing stairs. It tends to lessen with walking after a few minutes, but still persists. Some feels like upper thigh stiffness and deep, dull pain. Some feels like hip 'flexor strain'. Doctors don't have explanations. My ART (Active Release Technique) therapy seemed to have helped, but only temporary relief for a few hours after treatment. I'm at a location where I cannot presently have ART, but will start again in April. I've done some research and think I may have a combination of two separate conditions 1) The upper thigh pain may be due to a stress mis-match between the stem of the prosthesis and the femoral bone, resulting in the stem flexing within the femur and deep, dull pain (see https://www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/views/pdfs/V12_N2_1991/V12_N2_1991_StVille.pdf) 2) The 'flexor strain' (groin pain) may be iliopsoas tendonitis due to tendon impingement on a protruding screw used to secure the prosthesis socket (see https://online.boneandjoint.org.uk/doi/full/10.1302/0301-620x.94b2.27736). From what I read, the first condition may eventually take care of itself; the second would require surgery which I will avoid at all costs. Hope this was helpful.

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@skitchymo Yes, my research found the same regarding the thigh pain. It’s thought to be either the mismatch between the stem and the bone that you mention, micro motion of the stem, or excessive stress transfer. I read in one research paper where the author stated it can last anywhere between a few months to two years. I’m at the 1 1/2 year point. It’s better than it was in the first year, but I’m still in some pain and have that stiff heaviness. I don’t have it climbing stairs, but walking up a steep hill is painful. What I’m not clear about is does any of this thigh pain ever require a revision surgery, which I too want to avoid at all costs.

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@colleenyoung

Welcome to Connect @Cjropes.
How long ago did you have the hip replacement? Have you talked to the surgeon about the thigh pain?

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@colleenyoung I am very grateful to find this forum on post hip replacement thigh pain. For 1 1/2 years I felt kind of on my own in my struggle, even though I knew from reading some of the medical literature that it happened to others. It’s helpful to read about other people’s experiences with this problem. So, thank you Mayo Clinic.

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i have had a hip replacement on each hip (posterior). The first was 2 1/2 years ago and no problems. The second was 4 months ago. Everything was fine until yesterday when I got an extremely painful and acute pain between my groin and my surgical scar (posterior). It came out of nowhere. It slowly subsided and went away. It happened again today. It is again slowly subsiding. Has anyone ever experienced this? Gary

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