knee, hip, toes-all right side, any thoughts?

I am waiting for a consult with an orthopaedic consultant but thought would ask here if anyone has idea..

My longest standing issue has been my subluxating arthritic right knee . over last 2 years my right hip and 4 smaller toes on my right foot have decided to join the party and are also painful- not as bad as knee but painful. toes can be remarkably attention grabbing when hurt.

I don't tend to get get back ache.

any ideas? is it a case that I am walking funny? had a lot of physio in the past and they seemed to think I moved reasonably evenly. I do limp badly when its at worst.

overdid it yesterday so can barely move today which is kind of focusing my mind about why the hell my hip and toes have to join in.

my knee arthritis is bad, had 3 surgeries on it already . I'm also hypermobile which does not help as apparently my ligaments don't hold joints together well which contributes to arthritis -and means they don't want to let me have a knee replacement as my surgeon has seen poor results on the hypermobile.

if anyone has any ideas what is going on would be grateful. I can get how hip and knee can cause pain in each other but the painful toes on same side is really not funny.

Comments

  • Lilymary
    Lilymary Member Posts: 1,745
    edited 14. Jun 2021, 20:55

    The problems in my left hip started about 20 years ago when I injured my left foot (chasing the cat who had just caught a jackdaw, no less, the little s*d). This was severe soft tissue damage that took a long time to “heal”, but never did really. Even when it did, after thorough but inconclusive investigations by a very determined rheumatologist, this affected my gait in almost imperceptible ways, but sufficient ly that a few years later my left knee started playing up, which physio didn’t really fix, but strapping my knee cap off the leg bones seemed to help on long mountain days. This all results in micro-adjustments in posture to alleviate the ailing joints of pressure. I then started getting sciatica-type pains down the outside of my leg, and occasional gripes in my hip, again after long mountain days. So it shouldn’t rally come as a surprise that my left hip finally took the brunt of all these adjustments that gradually worked their way up my leg, to the point of hip replacement. My right leg is not too bad, no history of injuries, so I’d like to think that my left leg would have been in similar condition had it not been for the hunting instincts of my cat and my desire to save his latest victim (who I think, as it happens, got away scot free).

    So, at the end of all that, it’s quite possible that the problems with your hip and toes have been exacerbated, if not caused, by you shifting your posture to reduce the pain in your ailing knee. I’m sorry to hear your surgical options are limited, but I hope they can come up with something to help you, and that the rest of your leg will settle down

    ps, I found orthotics in my shoes made a big difference in readjusting my posture and for many years this kept the damage at bay and got me back out in the mountains again, as recommended by my rheumatologist who was also an extreme marathon runner .. in deserts. Amazing woman.