Chronic pain years after hip replacement

@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.

@bekifft yes, that’s always a problem when the best diagnostic tool you have is an XRay.
As long as the implant is inside the femur, and the socket is located favorably in the pelvis, what can they say except ‘looks good!’
Perhaps other scans (MRI) could point to soft tissue issues which are extremely painful as well. You may have to get out of the orthopedic realm entirely and seek out a neurologist or pain management specialist who may be able to pinpoint where your real pain is coming from - remember, it could be coming from your spine or it could be muscular as a result of all the trauma you’ve been through. Just my opinion as to what I would do in your situation. Best,
Phil

@heavyphil
I saw a hip revision surgeon yesterday as 15 months out without relief from THR. He said my xrays were "good" and my loss of mobility was likely from lumbar issues like Stenosis but that he isn't knowledgeable about spines. He stated no nickel was used with the screws used even though I know stainless steel contains it and that testing for metals was never done. He felt I needed an MRI of my lumbar spine. I left feeling, my age of 71 wasn't worth the trouble. I do not have back pain and had anal cancer which included many scans. So as I continue my decline into a wheelchair, I'm dealing with excruciating pain along with legs that do not work. Does anyone have a suggestion? Help!

@bug3

He might be wrong but he might be right. I have spinal and lumbar stenosis and it was not symptomatic until around the beginning of the year when it suddenly started radiating pain down both legs. It was a few months before I realized that some of my right leg pain was from a non functional knee which happened around the same time.

I have a great neurologist (he has written a primer on how to do minimally invasive spinal surgery for other surgeons). We have a deal: if and when steroid shots stop working, I call him.

So I would followup with a neurosurgeon to see if your pain is from stenosis. In the meantime my TKR went great and I had zero post surgical pain.

@heavyphil
I saw a hip revision surgeon yesterday as 15 months out without relief from THR. He said my xrays were "good" and my loss of mobility was likely from lumbar issues like Stenosis but that he isn't knowledgeable about spines. He stated no nickel was used with the screws used even though I know stainless steel contains it and that testing for metals was never done. He felt I needed an MRI of my lumbar spine. I left feeling, my age of 71 wasn't worth the trouble. I do not have back pain and had anal cancer which included many scans. So as I continue my decline into a wheelchair, I'm dealing with excruciating pain along with legs that do not work. Does anyone have a suggestion? Help!

@bug3 Steve in Arizona is spot on - unless you can definitely rule it out you cannot say that it isn’t the cause.
Sometimes - or most times at our age - we have multiple things occurring simultaneously.
This life can really beat you to a pulp!
Phil

I love my new hips. However, they are 13 years old now. After 10 years of deterioration and many useless doctor visits I finally got to an awesome surgeon who did an awesome job. In fact, he was so good on the first one I gave him a check to do the second one. He said I wasn’t ready, but I knew from the pain I was. And I was. Since then, I noticed that a lot of people aren’t in their best condition when they have hip replacement surgery. The doctors want to wait until they’re older because they don’t want to have to do another hip replacement surgery on them. What that causes is for people to not be in good condition. (strong muscles) when they go in for surgery. And so they don’t do the exercises and recovery that’s needed to get their muscles back in shape. So they end up having pain. I was only in my 50s when I had the hip surgeries. There was a huge difference in the first hip and two years later in the second hip as to the strength and condition of my body. You really do deteriorate after these major joint replacement surgeries. So it has to be your job to revitalize your muscles on a ongoing regular every day routine. Now that I’m in my late 60s I walk twice a day And for nine months I was doing stationary cycling and I still try to stay active walking through the grocery store midday and maintaining my muscle strength in my hips. Aging isn’t for the faint of heart. They’ve also been periods where I’ve had hip pain and I get scared that my hips are heading towards their next replacement. But they’re not I go to the orthopedic surgeon still and he looks. It’s a temporary inflammation or a bursitis or lack of exercising enough. I can’t stress that enough. That those stupid little leg lifts they make you do really are crucial to recovery. The lady above who said something about four months, four months out from surgery is not recovery one year is. It takes time for everything to recover from surgery. I had interior method. But each person has to be diagnosed by their surgeon what is appropriate. I went to four surgeons and yes, there is a lot of revision surgery so I suggest if your orthopedic surgeon isn’t meeting your needs to try another one and get some peace of mind.

@loriesco my legs don't work. After a couple of steps, the pain and burning will not allow legs to move at all. I had gone through rehab and physical therapy but way beyond that now. Thanks though for your thoughts.

@bug3

He might be wrong but he might be right. I have spinal and lumbar stenosis and it was not symptomatic until around the beginning of the year when it suddenly started radiating pain down both legs. It was a few months before I realized that some of my right leg pain was from a non functional knee which happened around the same time.

I have a great neurologist (he has written a primer on how to do minimally invasive spinal surgery for other surgeons). We have a deal: if and when steroid shots stop working, I call him.

So I would followup with a neurosurgeon to see if your pain is from stenosis. In the meantime my TKR went great and I had zero post surgical pain.