Hip pain

Welcome to Mayo Connect, @ntp01. Your pain is vexing, I know, and several of our members will have comments that you will find helpful.

For myself, I can identify with your situation, because I had similar pains in my upper hip for several weeks four years ago. As in your case, neither X-ray nor MRI revealed anything helpful to a diagnosis. So I was sentenced to Physical Therapy, which failed to alleviate the pain. Turned out that it was caused by inflammation in one sacroiliac joint (the point where the foundation of the spine settles into the pelvis). The doctor who thought it might be sacroiliac inflammation told me that diagnosis is often missed, because it is conclusive proved only by successfully treating it -- injecting anti-inflammation medicine directly into the joint. If the pain goes away in a few hours, the doctor's guess was correct! The pain never returned.

So I hope you'll have the chance to ask your doctor about sacroiliac inflammation as the source of your pain. What kind of doctor told you about the X-ray results? Did the doctor propose any therapy -- medication or PT -- or further diagnosis?

It was an orthopedic Dr. Said he thought it was osteoarthritis and take aspirin. But the pain doesn't bother me unless I have been more active than usual i.e. Walking

Your symptom is hard for me to comprehend, @ntp01. I wonder whether the orthopedic specialist appreciated how severe your pain is. Did the doctor suggest an MRI exam for a better set of images of your vertebrae? Have you been examined by a primary care physician, perhaps an internal medicine specialist who would look more deeply for a cause? Are you able to pursue a second opinion from another doctor, which I often recommend when more information is needed to identify a problem? To prepare for that, could you write up a series of questions to ask both doctors? For you, the pain results from walking, which could be similar to pains felt by runners. Here's a report on such pains: http://www.active.com/running/articles/9-causes-of-hip-pain-during-and-after-running, I hope this gives you some more ideas for questions to ask your doctors.

Have you had a MRI or CT scan?<br><br>

Three years ago I had a hip replacement done for an aging joint. Things seemed fine for a couple of weeks, then pain started. I met with the surgeon five times over a 2 month period. He assured me that the pain would go away. Now three years later I am still having pain and it is getting worse. I can only walk short distances before stopping to wait for the pain to dissipate.

I recently visited with the surgeon again - had both an xray and a MRI. Doctor says everything is fine. I am supposed to ignore the pain. Meanwhile I have been looking at wheelchairs and getting the house remodeled for ramps. Surgeon no help, no interest.

Bob

I suggest you see another surgeon.  I've had two hip replacements and I've been pain free since I got home from rehab.  It should not still be so painful.  Good luck.<br>