Hip replacement pain

Could it be meralgia Paresthetica? Is your thigh numb as well? This happened to me after right hip replacement. The femoral nerve gets compressed.

@teachtee no I am not having numbness

@windyl

As I said, I did. I was playing golf on day 28 post surgery.

@steveinarizona

Mine is radiculopathy after anterior THA. I had an EMG and have polyneuropathy in the leg and foot with surgery and radiculopathy as I think the surgeon caused L5 nerve damage or it was the boot on the Hana table.

@daisy22

If it is L5 you are looking at a neurosurgeon. I have an appointment with mine in a few hours.

I was told I needed a total hip replacement on first visit with Doctor. That was two years ago. He said I was completely bone on bone with some edema inside my hip socket, per MRI. I am only 48 years old. Last night I had excruciating pain inside my inner thigh. I am not on any meds pertaining to my osteoarthritis inside my hip. I can not take steroids due to my heart rate elevating and heart attack in 2019. Do you all know of anything that can help me with pain other than opioids. I see a few injections people are using.

@choncyj77 20 years ago, I was in that same situation - now at 74 I can say I am VERY glad I had my hips replaced. You need to head back to the orthopedic surgeon for a reevaluation. The fact that there was edema in the hip socket is concerning, and the inner thigh pain is characteristic of a failing hip. Is there a reason you are resisting hip replacement surgery?

You mentioned injections - these are generally a "stopgap" measure to buy time. Once you are completely bone-on-bone, I don't believe there is anything to help.

Let's call in @heyjoe415 to describe his experience with hip replacement.

@choncyj77 , there is a new medication called Journavx that is a non-opioid pain medicine. I believe the drug is supposed to be used for post-surgical pain. You might ask your doctor about that even though you are not post surgery. That would only be a way to possibly mollify the pain if you need a new total hip. If you can find a well experienced orthopedic surgeon whom you trust, it would probably be best to have the hip replacement done.

Thanks Sue and sorry for the late reply. We were on a cruise last week.

I agree with your points re: choncy. Edema in the hip is new to me. Edema usually hits in the ankles and is a sign of a compromised lymph system. It could just be local swelling in response to inflammation. So I don't know what causes the edema. I know firsthand that knees and shoulders swell from inflammation.

Inner thigh pain, in my case it was the groin, is definitely the sign of an arthritic hip. I mistook the groin pain for months as anything but a problem with my hip. The hip joint, I learned, lies directly beneath the groin. When it was diagnosed, the Dr gave me a cortisone shot. That didn't help much. There was no cartilage left in the joint. The replacement solved the problem and the recovery was fast.

I completely agree that once a joint is bone-on-bone, the best solution is a replacement. The only other advice I have - after having both knees replaced, my right hip, and left shoulder - don't wait for the pain to be a daily occurrence as I did.

With my hip, the pain got so bad I could barely lift my foot in the shower to wash my foot. I felt discomfort/pain with every step. And with my knees and shoulder, the pain was an everyday thing, even though I knew the joints had been bone-on-bone for some time.

Maybe it's human nature to wait until the pain becomes so bad it convinces a person to get a replacement. I don't know. But bone-on-bone means a replacement is inevitable IMO. Consult with a surgeon of course.

Finally, great surgeons will almost never recommend replacement surgery as the only course. They will include replacement surgery as an option, the best option most times, but they won't push surgery on a patient. (If a surgeon does insist on surgery, and has availability the next day, run away.)

Hope that helps!

Joe

@teachtee This has happened to me also. Right at 4 months post op on right hip. Thigh is still numb and am having trouble with pain and tenderness on top of thigh and also IT band pain down the side of the thigh, except for the numb area. I've had PT religiously since my surgery and finally decided PT was not going to cure this problem. It will just have to heal at it's own pace as I continue to do stretches and exercises and stay as active as our weather permits. All things point to this taking sometimes as long as a year to work itself out and the numbness may never completely go away.