Hip pain

[lavi]

TLDR: I know I'm far from alone in hip land. What have others experienced with shots and/or replacement? Do shots offer solid comfort? How long do the shots last? 6 months? I guess getting shots twice a year ain't that bad. I realize that all of this varies by individual so I'm just looking to hear what others' experiences have been.

Welp. I thought I'd go forever without feeling the effects of aging. Seems like my hip has other ideas.

I think I screwed it up in my 20's with a snowboard injury. Since then, the hip has always been a fan of sending occasional jolts of pain. For whatever reason, likely aging, my hip is now almost constantly having dull pain.

I went to my doc (sports doc) a few weeks back. A few x-rays revealed slight hip dysplasia and the beginnings of arthritis.

Choices are:

• deal with it
• shots
• hip replacement

While 51 feels early to have a hip replacement, who cares. Point is that my hips hurts. I wouldn't really mind except that it's now starting to creep into my cycling. I cannot ride too much drop or it starts flaring. If I try to get really low, that bugs it. Sadly this may force the sale of a bike or two (JKS).

I'd be of the mind just to get the surgery as I would prefer not to horse around with different injections... and then them waring off. However, I've come to find out that hip replacements aren't forever. I was told 15-20 years. While that's a long time, it also means that I'd likely need another when I'm about 70. I hear that the 2nd time around isn't always as gangbusters for hip replacements. Lame! So, I may be forced to try and deal with different shots for the next handful of years until the pain gets to be too much.

[lavi]

I'm continuing on my path of cleaning up my diet of sugar and dairy and whatever else may bring inflammation. I also stopping drinking alcohol.

Aside from dropping some late night M&Ms, I'm not sure what else I can do dietarily (says the guy sucking on an after lunch mint lifesaver).

[Spaghetti Legs]

When surgery goes well and works, it is a beautiful and amazing thing. In the rare cases it doesn’t, things can be very, very bad, so a decision to get operated on should not be made lightly. I would try non surgical options for a while, like a year or two, first before going that route.

[PJN]

I had fai surgery and a micro fracture to replace my cartilage in my right hip at 26. I’m 37 now and it’s mostly good still. Not great but functional.

I don’t skateboard all or ride much drop but I still snowboard hard and ride mtbs.

Aside from not slamming on concrete on the regular the best thing I’ve done for my hips is not riding road bikes all the time and doing lots of compound movements in the gym atleast 2x/week.

Have you seen a specialist and gotten an mri? I wouldn’t jump to thinking you need a replacement without getting mri images and a consult with a hip specialist. You don’t need a replacement to fix displaysia or arthritis.

Jimcav and boots have also had fai surgery. I think if you search that stuff will pull up that might be helpful.

[Frankwurst]

I've both mine replaced and I'd do it again in a skinny minute. I was tired of not sleeping and being in constant pain. After the first one was done I didn't even mess around when it was time to do the second. I tried it all trying to live with the first one and finally gave up. Round two I tried nothing and had it done. No regrets. The pain after the surgery is minimal and the recovery is fairly fast. A hell of a lot better than rotator cuff surgery. Good luck.

[buddybikes]

>>>>slight hip dysplasia and the beginnings of arthritis


If that remains the same after MRI, I highly doubt insurance will consider you a candidate for surgery.

[coffeecherrypie]

As someone who's had three hip surgeries (not replacements--labral repairs), I sympathize, hip pain really sucks. I'm no hip expert but I agree that the thought of a replacement only to need one again when you're 70 doesn't sound super great. On the flip side, constant pain is a bummer. Some specific thoughts:

1. Definitely get a second opinion before going for any major surgery like that.

2. How much PT have you tried? Was PT discussed as an option? Some specific PT things I've found helpful are (a) rolling around on a lacrosse ball, (b) using a big thick rubber band thing to pull my leg directly away from me, and (c) various stretches. All can be done at home once learned.

3. For me, I've found my hips are very sensitive to how I sit / how much I sit. Even if it seems like it's athletic activity that making the hip flare up, if you sit a lot you might find that making some changes here (chairs, cushioning, posture) if you have a desk job is helpful. I actually have an absurd looking split saddle stool that I spend a lot of time on.

[Ken Robb]

When we are advised "enjoy them while they're young" we should think about our hips and knees. OTOH I have had several pals get total hip replacements and they all had very rapid recoveries and wished they had done it sooner.

[2LeftCleats]

Good results 4 yr after my hip replacement. Fully active. Getting shots for knees prior to surgery is common; haven't heard that it's done so much for hips but I'd expect similar results. They buy some time, but tend to lose effectiveness. 51 isn't that young for a replacement, but the younger you are and the harder you play, the more likely you are to need a redo later in life. By all means, exhaust PT, weight loss, and strengthening efforts before you do a replacement, but if the pain impairs sleeping and/or significantly impacts your lifestyle, I'd not hesitate to add some more titanium to your stable.

[callmeishmael]

This is really one for you and your physician, but I regret not getting surgery for my shoulder much earlier than I did. The first ortho I saw was very much in view of early surgery for me as a young and active person: his logic was I’d recover faster, and the operation would be easier and more likely to succeed as the damage was less. I hesitated, got a second opinion, which was much more along the lines of ‘wait it out’. 2 years of pain, a more complex operation, and a fairly mediocre result was the outcome.

Personally, if (if) it seems very likely that you will need the surgery at some point, I’d get it sooner rather than later.

[deluz]

What kind of shots are you referring to?
Steroid injections can only be used a limited number of times.
It may or may not help.
Everybody I know that have had hip replacements are doing well and much better than before.

[rnhood]

I don't think any reputable ortho doctor will recommend hip surgery with only slight hip dysplasia and early mild arthritis. More than likely there is something else at play.

[IJWS]

Man that hip pain sucks. It's not painful enough to get addicted to pain relievers, it's not easy enough to ignore that it won't lowkey ruin every day. I'm in a similar boat but at 42 (I don't think I was as good at riding motorcycles as Lavi haha!). Your comment about hip replacements at 70 not being great is making me second-guess my 'wait-it-out' strategy--which isn't going well anyway. I've considered the shots but from what I hear it's basically just THE shot or maybe a couple of shots at most as they drop off in effectiveness pretty quickly. I lost weight, it didn't get much better and I have definitely secreted away a lifesaver or two while limping around the office! The one thing I wonder about is sports massages. I haven't tried but I am very curious. If your entire body is taking on and distributing stress, maybe alleviating that regularly is a good thing to try. I'm basically trying to talk myself into that and wondering what the rest of the paceliners have gone through.

[John H.]

I have had the same FAI surgery that PJN alludes to. Has been almost 12 years and still pretty good.
Before you decide on any type of surgery I would find the best orthopedic surgeon in your area that specializes in hip surgeries and/or hip replacements. If you are a candidate for FAI surgery, I would dig even deeper and find a "go to" guy for that surgery. It is not the type of surgery that you want a "swiss army knife" type ortho to perform.
Beyond that, a hip specialist might be able to put you on a track where you can avoid surgery.
I never suggest diving right into surgery unless absolutely necessary.
I will say that when my hip was bad and I started to research FAI, many of the articles made me feel like I was "reading about myself".

[ERK55]

Originally Posted by rnhood

I don't think any reputable ortho doctor will recommend hip surgery with only slight hip dysplasia and early mild arthritis. More than likely there is something else at play.

100% agree with this.