diagnosed with hip arthritis

[evor1 6]

im 35.  been having hip pain and poor mobility for probably 2 years now.  it was really holding me back on the ice.  i thought it was due to lack of stretching so i saw some sports therapists and did stretching.  saw only minor improvement so i went to the doctor.  i dont know the extent of it yet or what the plan is as i havent seen the specialist yet.  now i know why older skaters were keeping up with me on the ice.  fucking sucks. ill be pissed if my delay of seeing the doctor really screwed me over and ends up causing me to have to quit hockey or require surgery.  i start physical therapy next week but need to see specialist to determine if anything else needs to be done.

Edited November 27, 2019 by evor1

[caveman27 208]

Well, that's early in years. Sorry to hear that.

I've been lifting weights for years, like since 1989, and last year, I had hip arthoscopy because of hip pain, it would catch sometimes. The doctor just cleaned up some cartilage. He was going to shave down the bone too a bit where he saw it was pinching, or cam shaped, but after he got in with the arthroscope, he didn't bother shaving the bone down because there was so much worn out cartilage that he saw I would be getting a hip replacement soon anyway, so it wouldn't be worth going through the pain of recovering from shaved bone. He's estimating a hip replacement in two years. It feels better after the arthroscopy though.

Oh, and an MRI in the hip is not a regular MRI. They have to inject a dye so stuff shows up. For that, they have to x-ray your hip while inserting in the needle with the dye. But, they first have to inject local anesthesia, first on the outside, and a second one that is deeper. Then, they aim the x-ray camera at your hip and the person sticks the needle with the dye deep into the hip, guiding the tip in while watching the x-ray monitor. This is one of the most painful experiences I have ever had. Then, you go to the MRI room within 30 minutes and get that done.

And if you want to temporarily reduce pain with a cortisone shot in the hip, it's the same thing as the dye injection. The doctor uses the x-ray monitor to guide the tip of the needle inside the hip. I had that done years before. It's not a tiny needle.

[Vet88 673]

On 11/27/2019 at 2:29 PM, evor1 said:

im 35.  been having hip pain and poor mobility for probably 2 years now.  it was really holding me back on the ice.  i thought it was due to lack of stretching so i saw some sports therapists and did stretching.  saw only minor improvement so i went to the doctor.  i dont know the extent of it yet or what the plan is as i havent seen the specialist yet.  now i know why older skaters were keeping up with me on the ice.  fucking sucks. ill be pissed if my delay of seeing the doctor really screwed me over and ends up causing me to have to quit hockey or require surgery.  i start physical therapy next week but need to see specialist to determine if anything else needs to be done.

Where in the hip? Front of groin? Or deep in the center? Or rear? An xray should show if there is an impingement, bone deformity or considerable cartiledge damage (this shows up as grey areas around the hip joint), an ultrasound will show any tendinopathy, other muscular damage or any edge wear on the outside bone structures (which can indicate a bone density issue or some other problem), and as caveman27 said this is the mri process so you can see inside the hip and whats really going on.

I had both my hips revisioned when I was 48, still playing hockey today. My son has FAI's on both his hips (similar to what I had) and this impacts his hockey, gym work etc, next day his hips hurt. He has surgery scheduled for next year and hopefully this will delay any osteoarthritis to a much later date than when it hit me. Hip pain sucks and if it takes you away from the ice that is even suckier, I wish you all the best in getting it fixed.

[evor1 6]

i just saw the specialist today.  i have pincer and cam FAI with mild arthritis in one hip and moderate/severe in the other.  no surgical options other than hip replacement.  they said due to age they want to hold off on hip replacement as long as possible which is fine with me.  the pain was never bad.  just a minor annoyance.  the big issue i had was the lack of mobility which limited my skating ability but it seems nothing can be done about that.  maybe i'll regain some of it with PT but doesn't seem promising to me.  I don't have to quit hockey.  I'm told to just stay active and live normally and probably at some point down the line ill need hip replacement.

[Vet88 673]

1 hour ago, evor1 said:

 no surgical options other than hip replacement.  

That sucks. Do hold off because hopefully there are some material changes coming down the road which means you get a replacement hip for life, have a read about it here https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36855705 and my surgeon tells me nearly every company making implants is trialling this stuff. For me if I had to go thru it again I'd ask for an anterior approach, much less disruptive to the muscles and it doesn't screw up your gait because the surgeon didn't stitch the muscles back together correctly. Whatever you choose in the future, make sure you pick a surgeon who does this every day, experience is key to getting the alignment right so you aren't up for a revision a year or 2 after the surgery.