Newly diagnosed - hip osteoarthritis

Milo4paws

Hi, I’m 52 and just been diagnosed with moderate osteoarthritis in both hips which has come as a total shock. It all started 6 weeks ago as an ache and now this little surprise. I’ve been prescribed naproxen, omeprazole and cocodamol whilst physio is being organised, but apart from the pain, I’ve been experiencing really mixed emotions at the moment, which is probably the hardest part. Is that normal, any suggestions or advice?

Poppyjane

Hello @Milo4paws welcome to the online community

You have recently been diagnosed with OA in your hips and have found this to be a great shock. You are trying to come to terms with both the physical and the emotional impact of how this affects you now and in the future and are looking for some suggestions or advice.

Well, I am glad you found us because we are here to support you. The first thing to say is that mixed emotions are very normal and as many of us when first diagnosed will tell you it takes a while to adjust, so be patient with yourself, ask your nearest and dearest to give you some space to get your head round it. I will leave our members to share their experiences with you, meanwhile I attach some links which I hope you will find useful.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2021/august/how-to-adapt-when-you-ve-been-diagnosed-with-arthritis/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/osteoarthritis-oa-of-the-hip/

Once you have given yourself some time to absorb the information, I expect there will be more questions that occur to you so don't hesitate to get in touch again .

Take Care

Poppyjane

TLee

Hi! I am also new here, but unfortunately not so new to osteoarthritis (left hip, bone-on-bone). Your post struck a chord as far as the emotional component of dealing with both the diagnosis and the pain. I find myself more often than I'd like feeling really depressed. It is not easy knowing that every day is going to involve pain to some degree, or accepting that this will limit movement and activities. HOWEVER, it is not the end of the world! You are fortunate that you are diagnosed as being still at a moderate level. Definitely take advantage of physical therapy. It was a bit late for me, my range of motion is pretty much non-existent, but you can work now on keeping yours good & strengthening the supporting muscles. Medical science offers many options for relieving pain and improving quality of life. You may find that some work better than others for you, just don't get discouraged. My holy grail is now hip replacement surgery, whenever my doctors agree to it! You don't need to feel that this means you'll just curl up and stop living. Bad days can feel like that, and I fight those feelings a lot, but I keep moving (maybe with a cane on those bad days) and pretty much still do what I want. In fact, I just returned from a gorgeous long weekend of sightseeing with my daughter. Finally, it is great that we have both ended up here. I have already found support and encouragement that is so helpful. Good luck to us both!