Chronic pain years after hip replacement

I had a hip replacement almost three years ago and have had no problems. But my surgeon is also a revision surgeon (he told me about 20% of his work is revisions). Revisions are more complex and only some surgeons do them and not all of those do it well. He has just done my right knee (two days ago) and while I have some bruising and pain when I bend my leg, it seems like a very successful surgery (and he was able to save and retain my ACL and PCL)

If the remedies you are pursuing don't work for you, you may be needing a revision.

Good luck.
https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/treatment/revision-total-hip-replacement/
If so, do a lot of research to find revision surgeons near you and then a ton of research on them. You want the best available because revisions are hard.

I had a hip replacement in January 2025 and I have ongoing horrible, throbbing pain around the hip (which requires me to take advil, tylenol, and an opiod) that is not improving, and my quad is very stiff. The doctors ruled out anything with the implant through MRI, CT, and X-ray. I'm doing Physical Therapy and gotten a little stronger, but my pain hasn't improved much either. The only recent progress is the dry needling is starting to loosen up the quad but hasn't improved my hip pain yet. I have to use a walker because without it my hip pain gets even worse. Any suggestions? I'm seeing a physiatrist soon, hoping they can give me some injections or something to help with the pain and stiffness.

@bekifft so sorry for your pain…which surgical approach did you have done?
Posterior, Anterior, Lateral, STAR, Superpath…?

Anterior

@longhorn1 You know, that approach seems to be the newest thing. They claim it’s a much faster recovery and no muscles are traumatized.
However, there are many nerves that run through the area and they can be cut or damaged. A good friend just had this procedure done four months ago and her thigh is completely numb. And not having feeling in her leg is affecting her walking.
I hope your nerves slowly regenerate - or should I say quickly regenerate - and you get back to where you were before all the pain began.
Phil

@heavyphil Posterior. It was a conversion. I broke my hip in July 2024 in a fall but it never healed.

@bekifft Sorry , another poster commented in your place; I should have checked the handle before I answered.
But my answer to him or her still stands in regards to the anterior approach. Excellent results most of the time, but when it fails, it does so in a big way. The posterior approach is the more tried and true approach – however they do cut the gluteus maximus muscle, which is a huge muscle and that can cause your recovery to take a bit longer.
When you fall and break something, and it doesn’t heal properly, that always sets the stage for a much much longer recovery.
Phil

@heavyphil I knew the recovery would take longer because of the previous surgery but I didn't anticipate this disaster. I've lost my job and my quality of life is low due to the constant discomfort and stress.

@bekifft I am not a surgeon - nor a lawyer - but there seem to be avenues you can pursue if you lost your job and your QoL has been destroyed

@heavyphil I had 2 other hip surgeons look at my hip replacement and they couldn't find anything wrong with the implant itself. One had no ideas and the other had a few theories like denervation of the gluteal nerves, general stiffness, etc.