Newly diagnosed with osteoarthritis on my hips

Takamaka

Hello! I am new into this community. I am still a bit shocked that at the age of 48 years old I have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis on both of my hips.

Poppyjane

Welcome @Takamaka to the online community

It is always a shock to receive that diagnosis and it always brings up so many what is questions. The first thing to do is pause and confirm that that you are still the same person and not the label. Life will not be the same as you expected and it may open up whole areas of experiences that you again never expected.

As for the questions, well we are here to provide information and support and between us all have a vast range of knowledge and personal experiences to share with you. I am sending some links for you to look at but if you want to talk to someone our helpline number is at the end of this post.

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

There is a link from there to the stretching videos for exercises for the hips. This are really useful to make part of your daily routine as to maintain your mobility and flexibility is crucial. If you get to the stage of needing hip replacement surgery the better the condition your muscles are in the better your recovery will be.

There are some really helpful "hip diaries" posted by members pre and post operations which you can access by clicking on the magnifying glass above.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Take care

Poppyjane

Takamaka

Thank you!

cjp44

Hi Takamaka, sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. Likewise I was shocked when I was diagnosed with advanced osteoarthritis in my right hip. It's all new to me too and the mixture of emotions you go through.

Takamaka

Good morning, my GP has been minimizing the fact that on my X-ray says ' mild OA changes on both hips'. He actually told me I don't have osteoarthritis but I will get it and that I have bursitis instead. I left the GP surgery confused and upset.

I would like a referral to a specialist and to the physio to maintain my healthy joints as much as I can but I suspect the referrals won't be easy to get.

Apart from stretching, what else do you recommend sport wise? I need to make sure I don't put on too much weight too but at the same time as I get on and off mild pain, I don't want to force my body too much.

Lastly, what type of diet and food do you eat to keep healthy joints?

It's all new and scary for me.

Thank you!!😉

scpickles

Hi everyone, my first post on here! Looking forward to connecting with people in a similar position to me. I'm 35 and up until the last couple of years I was very active, sea swimming and a yoga fanatic, teaching yoga alongside my busy full-time job. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my hips last year which was a big big shock and a lot to come to terms with. Having got through the 'why me!' stage, I'm ready to tackle this head-on and looking for ways to help with protecting my hips from further damage and managing my pain. I've just signed up for the VA online pain management course which I'm really looking forward to starting tomorrow.

I'm also trying to understand what might be underlying that has caused me to develop arthiritis at such an early age, and currently going through testing for autoimmune conditions that are linked to my other symptoms which the consultant I saw on diagnosis thinks might be Sjogrens. Would be great to hear any tips anyone has found, or anyone else going through a similar experience. Sarah x

Ellen

Hi @scpickles a warm welcome to the online community from me Sarah.

I am glad to hear 'they' are continuing investigations into your hips so see whether there is a cause for developing it at such a young age.

Well done signing up for the VA course I am sure it will be really helpful for you in managing your arthritis. Your positive attitude should stand you in good stead now for whatever you have to tackle moving forwards.

We have quite a lot of members here with hip arthritis some of whom are having or have had their's replaced so do take a look around and read some of their diaries. In addition if you pop Sjogren's into the search (top right of the page with the magnifying glass icon) you can see what other people are saying about that specific condition.

Best wishes and I hope to see you posting in the future

Ellen.

scpickles

Thank you very much for your kind words and recommmendations, Ellen!