Hip Pain II

[lo123]

Yes. I have that in both hips from ballet. I need to look into arthroscopic surgery though. That is the first step.

Unfortunately, this originally happened when I was a teenager. I assume there is too much degeneration for your doctor to consider the less invasive approach?

Well, I've been doing a LOT of research on this... I have hip issues due to something similar to rheumatoid arthritis, and I'm getting tired of getting steroid injections every 6-12 months so that I can ride and walk. =/

Hip arthroscopy is still pretty darn new. Not many docs do it. It seems the main indications for arthroscopy are labral tears and loose bodies. Some doctors are doing some FAI repairs through arthroscopy as well, but I haven't seen a ton of follow up studies on that.

From what I can tell, the general thinking is that if you can get the tear repaired early on, great--but you may still need more surgery down the line. But even after the fact, arthroscopy could help preserve the joint a little longer.

I know I'll eventually need a new hip, that's just the nature of my situation. But I'd prefer that to be in my 50s, not my 20s. My main problem now is that all symptoms point to some sort of loose bodies or labral tear, but nothing shows up on MRI. lucky me.

Edited to add:
Hmmm.... just noticed you said ballet.. I danced ballet for 13 years--until the arthritis dx. Wonder if some of the hip issues started there. Seeing ortho on Wed to get a non-rheumatologist opinion, will mention then. Can't hurt!

[indysteel]

Well, after months of procrastinating, I finally saw a doc today. I wasn't expecting a definitive answer--and I didn't get one--but I did walk out with orders to get an x-ray done of my hip and to start PT. I'm hopefully we'll eventually figure out what's wrong. I have my PT eval on Wednesday.