Hello

Annequine

Hi all, I've been diagnosed by x-ray with severe osteoarthritis in my hip and finding walking a real struggle now. I'm hoping this community will be a good place to find appropriate information, advice and support on how to manage living with osteoarthritis, including keeping moving, reducing adverse effects on my other joints and getting expert help.

I've always been an active person loving outdoors activities such as hillwalking and cycling, and am finding it hard to adjust to restricted mobility and also losing fitness and gaining weight. I need to go back to the GP to request follow-up / specialist referral as steroid injection doesn't seem to have helped

Thanks!

SharminB

Hi @Annequine,

Thank you for your post and welcome to our community! :)

Sorry to hear that walking and generally keeping active is difficult at the moment due to restricted mobility. It can be tough with arthritis and keeping active and moving. But I'm glad that you've reached out in this space and making plans to go to your GP for a follow up and referral. Hopefully that is helpful for you.

If they haven't already, your GP can refer you to a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist. This way you can get catered support for your condition, how to manage it and to gradually build on your mobility. With that additional support, hopefully you can build strength in your muscles and joints and be able to get back into your activities again. In the meantime, Versus Arthritis has some gentle exercises and movements you can try. I've linked them below for you.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/exercises-for-healthy-joints/exercises-for-the-hips/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/therapies/physiotherapy/

You might also want to have a look and comment on our Living with arthritis thread to get more insight from others.

Best wishes,

Sharmin (Mod)

janiebin

I found walking was becoming increasingly difficult before I had my hip replaced. Five miles become reduced to one on the flat and then less, but the one benefit of having an old dog meant that she could not manage the hills either!

I saw the surgeon just a few weeks before lockdown started and was promised an operation date within eight weeks. Eight months later after I had phoned the consultant's secretary a couple of times and asked to be put on the cancellation list I got a date with a weeks notice , had a THR and have not looked back since. So if you get the chance and everything can be organised I would go for a replacement. I had previously had two steroid injections in my hip but neither helped. I know they help others so do give them a try.

Having been an active person will mean that your joints and muscles will continue to benefit from the lesser exercise that you can manage now. Doing the exercises is really helpful pre and post op if you can manage it. The VA videos are really useful you can do as much or as little as you feel like, cos we all know that some days are better than others.

Annequine

Thank you so much, this is giving me hope and inspiring me to follow the VA exercises and keep moving, even if if much less active than I used to be