Referred pain

Rewter

Hi all,

Please, somebody talk to me about referred pain

I have put a few posts up in the past and mentioned my concerns aound my Knees. I have been diagnosed with OA in both my hips many years ago but I am told time and time again that my knee pain is referred from my hips. I am no doctor and am fully aware that this is a sympton of OA in this area of you body. I have never had my knees X-rayed.

However, does referred pain also include referred stiffness, locking up and grinding from this area?

For over a decade, I have suffered from various pains in my lower back and since being diagnosed with OA, this has always been passed off as referred pain. It aches, clunks and crags and gets very stiff. I did get it X-rayed the other week to be told I do have wear and tear of the lower spine.

Though not tested, I also get this pain in my upper spine and also neck area with the same clunking,locking up and stiffness, I also struggle to turn my head. I am starting to think that if this was also looked at, I may well just have problems here too.

Aslo, does anybody suffer from OA in the hands / wrists? I have put my wrists under a lot of pressure due to pushing myself up all the time so feel they are badly sprained. However, I do get a lot of pain, clicking and locking up in my wrist, hand and fingers. I noticed this the other day when I was playing on a video games console and after about 20 minutes, I had to put it down as my right hand was in complete agony, it was all locked up and I could hardley let the controller go to put it down. This was pretty bad pain and my fingers, hand and wrist was completly locked up. This has happened on a fair few occasions recently, including trying to peel some potatoes.

I may just be a little too paranoid but to be fobbed off for over ten years about my back and to be proved I was right, I rightly have concerns about my other issues. :roll:

Rew

barbara12

Hi Rew
I have referred pain in my knees form my hips, but i also have OA in one knee, I originally went to see a consultant with my knee, and had xrays ,and he also had my hips xrayed.
He said I had referred pain in my left knee from the hip, but also had OA in my right knee.
The knee with OA in it makes the clunking noises , and sometimes its locks up.
I also have OA in my left thumb and wrist, I had injections in them a few weeks ago, and I am really pleased with the results.
I do hope this helps a little x

jilly

Hello ,I have had trouble with my hips and knees . I had my hip replaced and then started with pain in my other hip . I went to the doctors and asked for a xray. They xrayed it and found it wasnt that bad . I was lucky i had a good specialist he sent me to have an xray on my knees. I needed a knee replacement and had it done a few weeks later. Since then i have needed my other knee replaced and now need my other hip sorting.
So insist on having an xray believe me you can get refured pain , all the best i hope you can sort it out . jilly x

Rewter

Thankyou to you both.

I can accept referred pain, its a medically proven fact. However, when you know you have other symptons as well, I cannot work out why it can be disregarded without an xray. How can they say I don't have anything else going on in my knees just because I have arthritis of the hip.

I had the same battle with my back but finally got it x-rayed to find out I did have it all along. Infact, it took a bit of getting sorted for my hips after battling it out with Physio's. They gave me an Xray as a final attempt but they put my problems down to me not doing my physio homework. I had been a good boy and done all my exercises, it was just agrevating my hidden problems.

Maybe I am just unlucky. :idea:

barbara12

Hi Rew
If I was you I would go back and ask for xrays to be done, must say I had to beg them for an MRI of my back but I got there in the end.
Good Luck with it all.

Rewter

It feels like I am getting to the point of pleading with them. Its amazing how when you got to get help, you have to beg just to get looked at and taken seriously, even when they do the tests, they come back with problems.

Soretoe2

Hi Rew, although there is a lot of reffered pain to all parts of our bodies from other parts due to the nerves running from one place to another, sometimes the pain is actually something that needs attention.
I had thumb fusion this March. I went through all the ususal stages of healing. When the plaster cast came off I had tremendous pain and stiffness in my wrist. I was told that this would pass in time.
I then put up with it all summer, wearing a wrist brace I supplied myself and went three weeks ago for my final check up for the thumb fusion.
I had a different consultant that day and told him how agonising my wrist has been been since the fusion and that I cannot use my hand at all except when wearing the support. I know it is arthritic but this is much worse than I had experienced before the op.
He was a bit dismissive but after I insisted I was not happy he said he'd arrange for a scan but felt it would be nothing other than the arthritis.
Yesterday afternoon I presented myself to ultrasound. Immediately it started the doc said 'Oh dear' ! Apparently the oseophytes in my wrist are particularly lumpy and sharp. The ligament that goes down the thumb across the wrist and up the arm has a large split it in! Probably caused by rubbing on the oseophytes and nothing at all to do with the fusion I had.
Had I not had the check up and insisted that the consultant looked at it, I would still be no wiser and just putting up with the pain and weakness putting it down to the arthritis. The radiologist told me that a) it must be very painful (YEP) and b) if it hadn't been detected yesterday it would have gone on to snap one of these days causing even more problems and lifeliong hand disability than I have at the moment. She said it's a good job you have a wrist support (a good one too)... So I told her I've supplied it as the consultant didn't. She actually sighed.....
I would say if you have crunching/grinding or similar things happening to a joint insist on a scan. If it comes back clear you can always look apologetic but it may well turn something up that needs attention.
Good wishes to us all... we need it as we sometimes need to be more proactive, after all it's our body that we live with...Joy

hileena111

Hi
Well the hip bloke and the back bloke are disagreeing about me at the minute.
Is it referrred pain from the back to the hips or referred pain from the hips to the back. :roll:
I've had one hip replacement. I have been diagnosed with arthritis in my lower back as well.....up until 10 days ago nothing was done about it and then I got 2 injections ...in L4 and L5....not sure how much good they have done but I'll try anything

Love
Hileena