Hip pain

A great deal of hip and other muscle pain is due to low vitamin D levels, particularly after winter when you start to get out more.

A blood test will identify your vit D level and you can increase your level with free range eggs, grass fed milk, cream, yogurt, butter & cheese, i. e. from animals (or mushrooms if left in the sun) which can make their own with UV. Try your local farmers' market.

Vitamin D is found in oils so if you use fat free things you are probably deficient in vit D.

The supplements are of limited use - better than nothing but not as good, or as tasty, as the natural sources.

See GP and ask for an X-ray. It's likely you will need a hip replacement. Get on the waiting list as soon as you can.

Oh travels, I do feel for you
I’ll definitely keep an eye out for you.

I’ve got DH with me, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t know exactly how helpful he will be!
He is extremely reliant on me (my own fault!)

I am due HR end of July and mine started with pain down the front of my thigh which the GP thought was a Femoral Hernia so i was given a scan which proved otherwise. In depth hip x rays should very bad OA in the right hip, bone on bone but my left hip still has a gap between bone so hoping it stays that way. Get to gp and on that list asap, i have suffered for almost 5 years. So glad, but very nervous about having the op. If i hadn't lost DH last year I wouldn't be worried about coping alone, but i am. The thought of coming home to an empty house and trying to manage is very un nerving.

I have been told that I need a hip replacement but because I am obese I was referred for bariatric surgery. I wear a size 24 clothes and I’m 5ft 2ins so there are people larger than me having surgery. I’ve been on the bariatric list for 2 years, attend zoom sessions and have had telephone consultations with the surgeon, but not seen anyone face to face. The list for bariatric surgery is about 40 weeks now. I’m not even sure that I want it though.
I’m on co-codamol for the pain in both my hips and my mobility is severely impaired now. I now use a walker in the house, I’ve just got a second one with a tray to help me carry things from the kitchen. I’ve had to resort to using a wheelchair when out, only going out to hospital or optician appointments, which makes me very embarrassed. My partner is 13 years younger than me, luckily works from home mostly so has been brilliant at making meals and other housework that I can’t do. I do online shopping, but would like to be able to get out and about like I used to.
I do get hip pain, but the same as Lily it’s the feeling as though my leg is giving way.
I’ve found that sitting on a cold pack does help to alleviate some of the pain as well, although I made the mistake of using the packing that came in a cold delivery and one of the sections burst, which I didn’t notice until I stood up. I then had a very embarrassing wet patch!
I hope everything goes well for Fanny and for all those suffering.
Apologies for adding my two penn’orth. I do hope Lily gets some answers and relief next week.

What I thought was hip pain turned out to be sacroiliac joint dysfunction with piriformis syndrome which can lead to exactly the pain you have described. It causes sciatica.

I have the collapsing thing in my knees- its due to a hypermobility problem coupled with the OA- both run in my family.With the hypermobility my joints are not strong/rigid enough to support the legs which have no cartilage left at all.?

I feel so sorry for those of you in pain and having to wait years for hip/knee replacements, or at a huge cost, having to go privately.
My OH was fortunate to have had his 2nd hip replacement in February just before the pandemic.
It has made a huge difference and he is now able to walk weekly around 7-8 miles with local Ramblers.
Good luck with yours Fanny ?

I've now started with hip pain too (as well as wrists,knees,& fingers) so soon won't literally have a leg to stand on! (Pardon the pun) ?But it's all osteoarthritis related.

I was told in my forties id have to wait till 60's for knee replacements- then it got so bad surgeon agreed to do it 'soon'- and I'd to see dietitian to lose a few pounds- (I'm not grossly overweight!) But then pandemic hit- I've never been recalled and now (late 50's) my other health matters are such a concern that a dble knee op would probably be a risk! - great!?

So sorry to hear of your pain. I had a fall in a badminton game a few years back and suffered a lot of pain in my back and my hip as a result.

I would advise seeing your doctor and getting both an X ray and a Dexa Scan. The latter will determine the strength of your bones, which is a vital factor in us older ladies.

I wish you all the very best.

Having had two hip replacements and how you describe your symptons then see your GP who will arrange an xray
If it is a hip problem and you can afford to go private as waiting lists due to covid are sky high, then do so.

Oh Shirlz, that’s awful

As foe blood tests to check for rh arthritis and any arthritis. I was very very ill with a rh arthritis flare up when l didn't even know l had arthritis. Don't be fobbed off

I started with pain few years ago and had a X-ray last year I’ve Oa in both hips and told won’t operate yet until more serious I’m in pain every day and now told on the list which could be up to 10yrs wait in my area yes you guess it due to covid lol. I’ve also got arthritis Psa and Oa I’m 56

That has been my experience too clbm
I should have been put on the waiting list when I was 48 and been told that I had the hip of a woman in her 80’s.
I’m lying on my bed now as I can barely stand up.

Thank you Lily. My op is a week tomorrow!
You are welcome to join us on the Hip Replacement thread.
It’s been going quite a while, and there is lots of friendly and useful general hip info.

That's how my arthritic hip started when I was 50. It quickly became agony but I had to wait five years for a replacement because I was too young! Don't know about now (it's 20 years ago) but in those days they wouldn't replace hips until you were 55. That hip replacement has lasted 20 years so far, and is still fine. The other hip was replaced seven years ago. Do get diagnosed as soon as you can. I know the waiting lists are horrendous now because of the covid backlog, but get yourself on the list as soon as you are able.

Speaking from personal experience, if you don’t get any improvement from whatever they advise, I’d be quite firm in asking for an MRI scan, or x-Ray, at the very least. I went through years of hell and ended up paying to see a consultant who kindly referred me as an NHS patient (I’d just lost my job). Turns out I had severe osteoarthritis and thankfully got a hip replacement within months. I still need the other one replaced and my knees too. My advice to anyone is, yes, try what they say but don’t put up with it if there’s no improvement. I hope you get help very soon Lily.

FannyCornforth - I know your op is soon. I wish you the best and trust all will go well.

Me too! I have bursitis in both hips and very sharp pains in right groin. Even lifting my leg to put on shoes is a trial. X ray showed very mild OA which shouldn’t cause these problems.
Just had a phone conversation with a GP over the possibility of steroid injections.

I hope you get a diagnosis soon Lily . I have just begun the process and will phone today for the result of a recent x-ray. It was my chiropractor who advised an x-ray as he says he can't do any more for the hip. Like yours, mine gives way suddenly, and sometimes a sharp pain though the main symptom is restricted movement and pain when walking despite daily exercise s, yoga, walking as much as possible. I have to take painkillers before any exercise.

Charleygirl been there done that and have the scars to prove it!
Since using the mattress topper the pains have totally stopped.

Crazy that something so simple has helped.

Oopsadaisy if you have pain radiating down your leg your problem may well be your back. You need an x-ray of your hip and also your lower spine.

I had this problem, waking at night with pains in my hip and down through my leg, but no pain during the day.

I put a mattress topper on my bed and the pain stopped.

Thankfully.

Bridget
Mine was more painful at night, and although I’m not so much bothered by day, I still find at night that I can’t lie in either side, only my back.