Hi all, I am 54yrs old and developed a sharp continuous pain around the top of my left leg and hip. Saw the doctor and sent for an MRI scan and attended physio. Scan only showed up slight osteoarthritis and was told this could nit be causing the amount off pain I was in. Have had back problems for years and Dr said it was stemming from that but physio said it was from my hip. That was in Sept last year and still no further forward. My pain relief has changed so many times and nothing is working, including Oramorph and MST. Been on waiting list to see specialist since last year. No help from Dr now as they said there is no other pain relief they can prescribe as bn on the highest they can give, and told to try web sites than deal with pain management until I see the specialist. Dont know when that will be as will take even longer now due to Covid-19. Have since given up my job, using a walking stick and cannot stay in my feet for any length off time, this has certainly ruined my life😔. Dont know which way to turn now. Any suggestions anyone?
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NiecyD212
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Hi there. I have a tens machine but no joy with it. It works with my back problems but not with my hip. Not tried accupuncture tho. Just called hospital today to see where I was on list. I am on cancellation list and have been for 46 weeks. Person on top off cancellation list has been for 70weeks. So probably have a long wait yet.
I tend to use it for lower back pain. I have used it on my hip with limited effect.The pain specialist actually told me to have it on 4 hours a day but on a low setting.but that only brought it down a notch. When the pain is really bad I crank it right up s o it is a different kind of pain more of a distraction technique. I now only use it if desperate as I find it seems too work better then.x
That is the same here, lower back it is good on. When my back was really painful I had days where I wore it for hours, but hip no luck with. Can I ask, is your hip pain associated with your lower back pain? As my doctor says mine is but physio says it is not. X
I do have moderate osteo arthritis in it but not bad enough to have an operation. I was identified with the ageing type of arthritis in the spine when I was only in my 40's again something they can do little about. I often wonder whether they are all interrelated. If we are in pain say with the hip we are probably favouring the other leg when we walk which then makes our backs curve in a way they shouldn't which starts the pain off there and of course with the fibro giving us muscle pain. I know when I asked to see a physio as I didn't want any more painkillers on top of the ones I already take he said in one place (where I feel the most pain) he couldn't feel my spine as the muscle had spasmed so had bunched up. It is all a conundrum. I don't think many physios have an in depth understanding of fibro either the young physio I saw was absolutely lovely and referred me for acupuncture and she referred me for hydrotheraphy and I did get a session with a Occupational Therapist but he actually admitted that he had to read up on fibro as he hadn't had a patient with it. At least he was honest. I did have one steroid injection as the Occupational Therapist felt so sorry for me but she said she normally didn't advise it for fibro patients, it was bliss for 3 months barely any pain.x
I was always meaning to go to a chiropractor but have just been very anxious about it, as I did mention this to my doctor to which he advised against it.i have previously had a discectomy on right hand side and now have a L5 bulge. But my back has been fine for about 5mnths now 🤞
For years i said "no " to chiropractors.Then i found one whos been practicing 30 years.Hes been able to help my broken body (im a mess head to toe)more than any other doctor .For me,he xrays u first,then tells ya his thoughts before any hands on.
I hope u find relief with whatever choices u make😁
Thank you for your advise, may consider this as my body pain a mess also lol. Between my back my hip and the osteoarthritis in both my knees. Once in my 50's everything went down hill 😊.
My only other thought is..interview prospective chiropractors.If u dont like what ur hearing,go elsewhere.Your the patient,n its ur body..be ur own advocate.
Now i make my choices on my health n ive had amazing results.
That's great, and so true. Glad you have been having amazing results and great hearing from someone that has. Hope all keeps going that way for you and hopefully I get there too. Thank you for your advise. D
I am sorry you have are suffering so much. I suffer from back and neck problems too and can empathise with your situation as I too have been waiting to see consultant and specialist physio for a long time.
I completed a pain management programme just before covid hit us and am trying different ways to "manage" my pain. I know that this may not suit everyone but it has definitely helped me in a great way.
They helped to equip us with "tools" to help change our approach to dealing with pain. Some of these tools were....mindfulness, relaxation, pacing ourselves with everyday tasks and hobbies we enjoy. I know this may all seem a bit vague but have these been mentioned to you? It may be of benefit to look into these - I know it may be difficult researching on your own but perhaps it might benefit you while you wait to be seen.
Other things that sometimes ease my pain are 1) applying red Tiger balm 2) using a hot water bottle but please be careful not to have it too hot and burn your skin 3) standing in hot shower for a while and aiming water at the painful part.
Sorry if you have already tried these but I know I would have tried anything to help alleviate my pain.
I truly hope things get better for you soon, take care x
Yes the waiting lists are so long it's very frustrating. I do try daily to do meditation and breathing exercises. It helps a little at the time but hip pain just as bad after. But I keep trying as giving up is nit an option.
I have had back Surgery and it did not work as apparently the nerve has come back into the gap I have pain everywhere from this but I wont bother you with it all other than I do know where you are coming from I am waiting to hear weather or not its more surgery or what I have had numerous meds all of which do not seem to work I have one that Just make you Zombified who wants that and the pain relief is not that good my advice is to just keep looking on here I use my TENs machine quite a lot and it does work some what while in use and you can get them fairly reasonable now Good Luck and hope you do get some where stay safe
Oh my gosh-that sounds like me and I am getting no relief from any medication and no help from my GP or specialist/ Marijuama does help but I hate the feeding.. Tens machine does not really help though cuppimg has eased it a bit. I too am using a cane and my balance is dicey especially back and forward.. Like yo, I feel it is taking all the joy from life.
I have bought the CBD oil with the THC and it gives me relief which is great. But I dont want to always use it, it isnt the cheapest ti buy and u only use it when in the house lol.
I don’t know your circumstances but if I were you I would pay to see a specialist it cost me £200 and I was seen within three days,
it was money well spent.
I ended up having a hip replacement, I need one on the other hip now I’ve also been through all the pain meds and have found pregabalin the best but in combination with Duloxatine, and Etopan.
I know how miserable it is constantly being in pain
My son-in-law just mentioned the other day about seeing a private doctor and it being about £200. Think I may look into that as things are nit going improve. Could you tell me, is the £200 just the consultation? And was it more for your op?
Yes the £200 is just for the consultation I paid £10,000 for the op cos I’d waited eighteen months on nhs waiting list and was told it could be another year, I couldn’t suffer the pain any longer
Could I suggest rather than chiropractic treatment you seek out an osteopath. They are Allied Healthcare Providers on a par with physios, and NICE actually recommends manual therapy like osteopathy for lower back pain ,with or without sciatica.
There are an increasing number of osteopaths that can be seen under the NHS so before you look for a private one check with your GP practice or look on your clinical commissioning group website to see if there are local NHS ones. if there isn't then you can check on the website for a registered one.
Hi yes I know where you are coming from. Have had 4 spinal ops (last one a double). Had little choice and although a bit better, still have pain. I use some drugs but try not to overdo it. Oramorph is rather strong and I only used it straight after the ops as it is rather addictive. All the above advice may well help. Tens machine does help some but the minute you stop it’s back. I’d be careful with a chiropractor. The pain you describe could also be bursitis which can be very persistent. I found that myofascial therapy and Alexander Technique (only by a very good one) is beneficial. My surgeon is quite in tune with alternative therapies to complement the surgery. I am due to also have more X-ray guided injections in 8 facet joints and to target the stubborn scar tissue. The key is as they say to keep moving. I find that near impossible but otherwise you seize up entirely. (If it does come from the hip area as your physio says it could also be the SI joint which gave me some bother before and I had an SI injection and denervation which solved that pain completely).
Hiya, iv been told I have lumber spinal stenosis.causing severe leg and ankle pain iv had injections, but because they never worked I can not have an op??? This has only been going on since 2005 (yes that long) been under QE Hospital and only listened to them as my own doctor is useless, been taking naproxen gabapentin come co codamil for yes, because pain was getting horrendous they tried me on morphine then tramadol but were no good.
I started getting a severe pain in my right groin, and I mean severe, I couldn't stand or move how bad pain was. I phoned secretary and told her I needed help as I can not carry on like this.
I luckily got app and was told it's nothing to do with my stenosis I broke down and told him something
Is going on, my sister said could this be my hip, said it wasn't but would do MRI on hips.
About 2 months ago I had telephone consultation saying I need both hip replaced as I'm at level 3. So QE have discharged me for my stenosis and now been sent to Solihull hospital, iv app in October.
Please do not listen to these doctors when they try and fob you off. You tell them even if you go on and on. It's you body your health and you suffering so you make sure you shout out if you have to, I really hope you can sort this out ASAP I know what pain is like in these areas. Oh and I'd just like to say all these tablets iv been taking for years and years, I bit the bullet and just took 2x paracetamol 4 times daily and I can't believe that the pain is not as severe as when I was taking all those pain killers. Let me know how u get on xx
Yes it is not a happy time when you are in so much. I take it the MRI scan had shown ur hip problems?
I just cant understand why my MRI has not, but that was nearly a year ago and now so much worse.
I agree that we have to constantly push for something to be done, but I have with no luck. Great that you have got the help you needed and hope all works out for you. X
I have been on Pregabalin for a few years now, but I take it for my leg, right side as a doctor gave me a morphine injection and damaged my sciatic nerve. But the Pregabalin only seems to help that and nothing else, 600mg a day.
Sorry to hear about the problems with hip pain. I have had hip and back pain for a number of years and they are inter-related.
My recent MRI showed a minor bulge of a disc in the back but not sufficient to warrant surgical intervention. Previous Xray some years ago showed minor osteoporosis. However the bilateral hip pain followed on from surgery and I am convinced that was the start of the problems.
An appointment with rheumatoligist didn't find anything significant, but the doctor said that their knowledge of issues with connective tissue was limited and I have since found that such pain can be related to nerve conductivity.
So first have you any idea why your pain may have been triggered? The only reason I ask is that it may influence the possible way you can manage the pain.
I was fortunate in being able to go on a 'Pain Management Course'. It helped me to understand that long term pain is different to acute pain and its management requires different tools. These can include pain medication, but also posture and distraction techniques. When we have long term pain it sets the pain nerve loop to high, ie. the nerves are set ready to respond to any pain stimulus at a heightened level. One of the things we need to do is to dial it down.
My doctor recently prescribed a low dose of nortyptaline which I take at night and that helps signfacantly with the nerve pain - I have pain in both hips, back and nerve pain and numbness down my thighs.
I find standing for any length of time causes the pain to flare which then takes time to settle back down. I have used TENS but found it of limited use. In the morning I use Deep Freeze gel on my hips and back which seems to ease the pain at the start of the day. During the day I can take co-codamol, and then at night the nortryptaline, but I also find managing my posture, changing activity - sedantary and more active - helps.
Chronic pain can be difficult to manage, but it is possible when you work out what your triggers are and possible cause, e.g. muscular, nerve related, postural, or damage to your body. Recently bought an infra red heat lamp for my back as I find that helps too. Hips and back tend to be interelated and often because we protect ourselves from pain and unconsciously change our posture.
Hope you find a way through this which helps you to manage your day to day life better.
Thank you for your message. Alot of what u have pain wise is so similar to myself. I di think that my pain has got worse due to being stuck in the house for so long with all this covid, so only exercise I was getting was cleaning g house ect, which was done in stages. Standing or walking aggravates it, si now try to do exercise at home and some meditation, relaxation.
I am sorry to hear your story and suffering. I am facing a similar issue since last week and I am pushing for trying to get to the source of the problem.
The only thing I can think of is for you to get to see a specialist (orthopaedic surgeon) and have a repeat mri scan so as to compare. You need to get a proper diagnosis and this will be the way forward. I feel our health system tries to treat our symptoms rather than get to the source of the problem. They do this because there’s a lack of human and economic resources. What they don’t realize is non-diagnosis and conditions such as yours cost them ten times over in the long run!
That is all so true. Waiting to see an orthopaedic surgeon, that's the waiting list I have bn on for 45weeks now . So apart from self help at the moment I just have to wait.
Everything will be OK pain is terrible and it sucks I understand that I’ve had severe back problems many surgeries etc. etc. since I was in my mid-20s and I’m now 55. I could write a book about it but the best thing for you to do is in my opinion worrying makes the pain far worse anxiety from worry makes it way worse and I also have arthritis of the spine and I’ve had five back surgeries .I’ve had MRsa Spending months in hospitals in the eight the back of my vertebrae away that’s just a little bit of it but what I have done to manage it is work on my thinking because I could catastrophic size at times and it only makes the pain worse you know because you worry that’s what I mean by catastrophic sizing about you can’t work you know walk in right before embarrassed you feel less than what you know you can be and all those things add your pain level but if you can do some stretching nice stretching take some hot bath get massage if you can Afford it always sleep with a pillow between your knees whether you Sleep on your side I sleep on your back. All these little things add up to giving you some relief if you could buy a tens unit TENS they sell on Amazon for like 30 bucks does help with the pain. I’m tired myself right now so I’m not coming up with the greatest ideas but these are some things that I’ve use that to help with alleviating some of the pain I hope you get better soon and get to see a doctor soon I’m in a similar circumstances as my doctor retired and I’ve been waiting two years and the pain is unbearable but I’m gonna make it through and I’m sure you will too! Be positive be strong and one day you’ll look back on this is education in life
Everything will be OK pain is terrible and it sucks I understand that I’ve had severe back problems many surgeries etc. etc. since I was in my mid-20s and I’m now 55. I could write a book about it but the best thing for you to do is in my opinion worrying makes the pain far worse anxiety from worry makes it way worse and I also have arthritis of the spine and I’ve had five back surgeries .I’ve had MRsa Spending months in hospitals in the eight the back of my vertebrae away that’s just a little bit of it but what I have done to manage it is work on my thinking because I could catastrophic size at times and it only makes the pain worse you know because you worry that’s what I mean by catastrophic sizing about you can’t work you know walk in right before embarrassed you feel less than what you know you can be and all those things add your pain level but if you can do some stretching nice stretching take some hot bath get massage if you can Afford it always sleep with a pillow between your knees whether you Sleep on your side I sleep on your back. All these little things add up to giving you some relief if you could buy a tens unit TENS they sell on Amazon for like 30 bucks does help with the pain. I’m tired myself right now so I’m not coming up with the greatest ideas but these are some things that I’ve use that to help with alleviating some of the pain I hope you get better soon and get to see a doctor soon I’m in a similar circumstances as my doctor retired and I’ve been waiting two years and the pain is unbearable but I’m gonna make it through and I’m sure you will too! Be positive be strong and one day you’ll look back on this is education in life
Sorry not been on here in a while. Thanks for all your comments and you are doing ok. Just been having a tough time feeling sorry for myself.
Well recently had appt after a year of waiting regarding my hip. To which scan a year ago was not much wrong with hip, but at hospital appt they scanned hip before seeing surgeon and was told I needed a hip replacement. So now on waiting list for this which they said is about 2yrs. But at least now I know. And now also got appt through my back. Just now hope that goes ahead and not cancelled.
So glad you know the cause. For me its the not knowing that's worst. I mean you can do all the meditation in the world, but if your hip's gone, well you can't think it back.
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Hip/Spinal Stenosis pain.
Bursitis?? 
Lower back right hip pain difficulty walking sitting driving lying down sleeping.
