hip OA - progression speed

Depressed12

I understand that the rate of progression is individual but can you share yor experince. How quickly has you OA progressed? Is it possible to live years or decades with symptoms going up and down or is the degeneration always straightforward? How long is the average time between diagnosis of hip OA and THR or is it possible that all cases do not need surgical intervention at all?

stickywicket

I will willingly share my experiences, Depressed12, though I doubt mine will be of much help to you as my OA came as a result of years of RA and I never managed to distinguish between one and the other. Nor do I know at what point the OA kicked in.

From reading on here, it does sound as if people's experiences vary quite a lot. I think damage done is damage done though and it doesn't reverse itself but, if you exercise well and take the pain meds available, it will help.

elnafinn

Hi Depressed12

I see that this is your second posting and that others suggested exercise in your first thread. I have to agree with this. Use it or lose it - and it does appear to be true in many cases. I do stretching exercises every day and have done for years and years, plus exercise bike and ride by bicycle locally. I am happier cycling than walking and this was the case before my knee ops too.

I keep positive mainly which I feel does help and laugh a lot too. My hubby has a fantastic sense of humour which is great.

It is impossible for me to say how quickly oa will affect anyone else. How long is a piece of string? Mine has come on slowly over many years. I am 61 years old now. For some unfortunately deterioration is fast.

I have oa in both thumb joints and it has got as bad as it will get over a number of years. Both are most deformed at the base of the thumb. I get pain every so often. I can manage to do most things that one needs a thumb for but strength in the hands is not as good as it was. I used to have injections that helped for a time.I have no need of them anymore as the oarthritis "has burnt out".

I have had two total knee replacements but had knee problems for many years. I have other arthritic aches and pains in one shoulder, neck, spine etc and keep them at bay with anti inflams but do not need pain meds anymore.

I wish I could be more helpful.

Elna x

knuckleduster

Hello Depressed12

For me, my OA came out of the blue in my hip when I was actually suffering from knee pain. My consultant wasn't certain whether the problem was in the hip or the knee, so he put a steroid injection into the hip and lo and behold the knee pain disappeared and so did the hip pain. This obviously confirmed that the problem was in the hip and I had a THR in December 2010. If your consultant suggests a hip replacement, then go for it. In the meantime, keep as fit as you can to maintain muscle strength as this will aid your recovery. Hope these comments help.

Janet

Melrymax

Oh Elna I always wondered if cycling was a good idea

My OA in my hips has got progressively worse but nothing really been done about it apart from pain meds and physio. I had been suffering with discomfort/pain since 2001/2002 but was told it was nothing (possibly due to age- I was only 14/15 then) gradually got worse and then in feb 2011 I finally got sent for an X-ray and diagnosed. And there is still where I sit now. Now that Elna has said cycling has helped her then I may well get on my way with that

stickywicket

If you do take up cycling, mel, take a leaf out of valval's book and start very, very gently. Just ease yourself into it. It much more likely to last, and to do lasting good, that way. Good luck!

Helenbothknees

Everyone's different, and my OA was in my knees, so I don't know how much this'll help. But for what it's worth, this is how it was/is for me....

I was diagnosed with OA in 1998, after several episodes of unexplained knee pain. I refused to believe it; in fact I was in denial for about ten years. I was superfit, ate all the right things, this couldn't happen to me!!! Ovber the next few years I tried every complementary therapy I heard about, losing weight, various diets....you name it, I tried it. And some of them worked!! I went from hardly being able to walk to having about 95% good knees for several years. All I had to give up was long hikes and similar. I kept active - but that was natural for me; I've always been active. I'm not sure now what worked, but something did.

About six years ago things my knees started getting worse again, and after that not much seemed to help. It was fairly slow degeneration, and I managed with painkillers for ages, still not wanting to accept what was happening. Eventually about six months ago, the rate of worsening seemed to increase dramatically, and that was when I started realising I needed - and asking for - knee replacements. I've just had both knees done, as you might gather from other threads. The consultant thought my Xrays looked horrible. I suspect that for ages I improved things beyond how they looked through a combination of attitude, activity, and everything else...though I don't actually know for certain.

So you see, it is possible....sometimes....at least for a while...I think...

lazicat

Mine presented as lower back pain which became worse & worse over 3 years until I could hardly walk, do very little & posture twisted, Ding that time after xrays,mri scan & injection in hip joint I was diagnosed with OA & have now had my THR. It was a long process to actually be diagnosed, but after that the process was so much quicker but so was my deteriation, Im now recovering from my operation , still have a sore pain in my other hip & lower spine at the moment & my posture is still uneven, but operation was only 2 weeks ago, I feel overall my progress is good & so glad I had it done.

woodbon

In my lower spine and hip. I worked as a carer with the elderly, which is a physical job! I started getting nasty pains in the top of my right thigh. I thought it was a pulled muscle or ligament as it only got really bad at the end of a busy shift. At the same time I found that my normal sleeping position (on my side) was too painful and I slept on my back, waking it the night to turn over. Some nights I had to get up and walk about to stop the pain. After a while I decided that I needed to find out what was really wrong as it had gone on too long for a strain. The rest is history!

Depressed12

Thanks for all who answered!

(Sorry for my poor English, this is a foreign language to me.)

As far I understand, in long term, there is no hope - it will become worse anyway. The only hope is that some people have managed to stop or even reverse the disease and they just don't hang in the forum but are doing something else:) My GP says that I shouldn't be worried because I'm young and I can stop it.

I still hope that i m still far from the surgery as i m not in big pain but just experience constant discomfort.

Here's my story. About a year ago I was noticing diminshing flexibility in my hips and back and knee soreness during activity (running) but I didnt pay enough attention to it. In early september, I noticed that after running my right hip was stiff that resolved after rest. I continued my running sessions 4-5 times a week 4-7 miles at a time. Did so one month when I injured myself and got leg and back pain that was manageable 2 months with small amounts of NSAIDs.

Then, as the pain in back and leg didn't resolve I contacted physio and did physiotherapy 2 months with ups and downs. In march something happened - I started to wake up at night because of the pain in my left buttock. Contacted GP who after examination said that my hips weren't normal and ordered the X-ray and CT scan for my back. CT scan revealed mild L5-S1 disc protursion that was probably causing my back and leg pain. But - as a total shock to me - the X-ray report said i had early hip osteoarthritis bilaterally. That diagnosis was made on the basis on slight supero-medial joint narrowing only, no osteophytes were present. (For me, of course, it s difficult to evaluate what "slight" means but comparing my x-ray with those available on the net, the joint space definitly is narrower.

For now, more than 4 months have passed, and luckily the back problem has more or less resolved but hips are becoming more and more troublesome. Sitting is difficult (I'm office worker) as my hips and and legs are becoming really tight and stiff. Stretching hasn't helped much. Most of the time I don't feel pain but the stiffness and wierd burning or tingling sensation in the hips is almost permanent. I don't limp but I feel that the hip flexibilty has become poorer, espesially I've lost internal rotation that in many cases is exactly the the first limited movement.

I would like to discuss with somebody in the similar situation in order to share experiences. Especially I would like to compare my X-ray findings with somebody with early hip osteoarthritis. (You can leave me a personal message with your e-mail I can send them by mail).

Thanks again to everybody!