In need of advice!

misst

I am 22 yrs old and have been suffering with pain around my hips since the age of 13. I have only recently over the past 12 months (and after multiple visits to GP, physiotherapists visits and an x-ray) found out I have osteoarthritis in my sacroiliac joints. I am in pain when I walk more often than not, sometimes the pain is so bad that I either lose my step or have to stop until the pain lessens. Most of the time I experience pain at least once a day through doing one thing or another. To make things even more difficult I have a 13 month old daughter so it is hard for me to take it easy when i'm in pain.

Is there anything I can do to help ease the discomfort? And would I be classed as disabled?
Will I suffer with this for the rest of my life or will it go away over time ?

I must also add I am slightly overweight but I am trying to lose weight in the hope it will help.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks

stickywicket

Hello miist. It's good to meet you. I' m afraid, as you've discovered, arthritis can strike young as well as old. Mine is mostly RA. I had it before I had my sons and it was very difficult when they were young. Things that might help are exercises to keep the supporting muscles strong, pain relief, maybe a steroid jab, distraction feom the pain and, in the final analysis, surgery. I have two hip replacements and both are great.

X-rays might show the extent of the damage.

'Disabled'isn't an official term. If you regard yourself as disabled then you are disabled. It doesn't actually mean much though.

I think you'll get more answers if you copy this thread to the Living With Arthritis forum as more people look in on there.