pain in my thight

[brokenhippy]

I had my left hip replaced in April. My recovery was pretty good. Everything was going along great, and then I sort of twisted my body and my leg stayed the same. Now I have a pain in my thigh on the right side. It feels like the pain is where the bottom of the prosthesis goes into the thigh bone. I hope it will go away. Has anyone else had this feeling?

 

[3janis]

Just wondering if the thigh pain you were experiencing has quit? I had my surgery in June, have been great up until a few weeks ago, I am having slight thigh and knee pain, it seems more noticeable when going down steps.

 

[etsmommy]

Hello,
I started experiencing thigh and groin pain one year after my total hip. It has been two years post surgery now and the doctors, after an ER visit following a fall, discovered that my femoral component has been fractured "for quite some time". I have been actively discussing this with my GP and in December earnestly began requesting a referral to my orthopaedic surgeon, which was completely ignored. My component is broken half way down the shaft, mid femur, and has been so for long enough for physiological changes to the bone. I had a CT scan last may which didn't show anything, a bone scan last August, still nothing, but the doctor, as my pain increased, did nothing.

I am 46 years old, and yes I am overweight, but the year post surgery I had lost over 50 lbs, which after a lifetime of being very physically fit and ballooning as my arthritis worsened was wonderful for me. I did everything my dr's suggested, joined the gym, swam, refrained from high impact activities. My job involves A LOT of walking. All I can say to anyone with this kind of problem is to not give up and continue to be the squeaky wheel. Less than 1/2 of a percent have this problem according to my research, but micro loosening happens often which is a cause of the pain and one of the potential results seems to be component failure.

I realize that components are not perfect, but I certainly expected to have more than a year of use!
Thanks for reading,
ETsmommy

 

[Josephine]

etsmommy, that is an awful experience for you and reprehensible of the doctor to have fobbed you off like that. But - herein lies the problem I have oft expounded - have much more concern about choosing your surgeon than the prosthesis. Early loosening and/or breakages are much more likely to be due to poor surgical technique than any problem with the implant.

You can find my tips and 5 top questions here "How to choose a surgeon and a prosthesis".

I would also suggest that if anyone gets such pains or problems that you go back to your surgeon rather than your doctor as general practitioners specialise too and may not always be au fait with orthopaedics.

 

[Connie]

I too have experienced pain in my thigh, from my first THR just over a year ago. After working with my OS and PT, the decision was that this really was muscle pain. Apparently the muscles that hadn't been used prior to the surgery were now being stretch and used and this manifested itself as pain in my thigh. The cure has been continuing to do exercises. Leg lifts, bent knee lifts, stretching and walking have all helped. The pains to not come as often now, and only have I have done too much!

Maybe it is something as simple as this for you. The muscle is just mad at being used again and it is letting you know..

 

[etsmommy]

Hello everyone,
I am now 1 1/2 weeks post op on my revision. It was totally amazing seeing the broken component. It didn't just look cracked but more like it had been torn. There was virtually no bone ingrowth at the top half of the femoral component. The lower half was perfect, my bone had grown into it so well and was so strong that the drill bit used couldn't be removed from the prosthetic and came home with me. The recovery was amazingly different than the first time. I was out of the hospital on the morning of day 4, could have gone home on day 3 but I didn't want to ride 80 miles in my husband's truck. Now other than some odd knee pain (probably from walking for a year on a broken prosthetic) and the residual muscle pain, it is just the waiting game with no weight bearing. My surgeon did a fabulous job, in my opinion. My own orthopaedic surgeon was assisting so that she could learn his technique. And the hospital, except for the food which was atrocious, was great. Wonderful nurses, best of care. I definately do not want to go through this again, but if I have to with another joint, it would be worth driving the distance to have this experience again.