Diagnosis to surgery pathway

PeteW
PeteW Member Posts: 3
edited 5. Sep 2025, 08:42 in Living with arthritis

Just diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my right hip, which has developed and worsened considerably in the last 5 months.

Could osteoarthritis have been caused/triggered by a fall on to my hip while hiking in Wales 5 months ago? I don't recall any problems before this, but maybe my hip was deteriorating and I just wasn't ware of it.

My GP has said he will make a referral to orthopaedics dor me, but what does this mean and entail? How do I find out the waiting time to see an orthopaedist?

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Comments

  • Tulip1972
    Tulip1972 Member Posts: 4

    Hi Pete,

    I am new on here today. I can't help with your first 2 questions unfortunately. Regarding the waiting times to be seen by orthopaedics - I phoned my local hospital who I'd been referred to for Rheumatology, the secretaries and they told me the wait times for me. Mine is an urgent referral and wait time is 4-6 weeks with only a couple of urgents infront of me. You might benefit from phoning the orthopaedic secretaries at the hospital they have referred you to.

    I hope this helps a little and sorry I can't help with the other questions.

  • MaryL44
    MaryL44 Moderator Posts: 230

    Hello @PeteW  and welcome to the Community. We are a friendly and supportive group and I hope that will be your experience as well.

    Waiting times vary across the country so I can't say how long you will wait to see a specialist. I suggest that when you know the referral has been sent you contact the MSK department of your local health authority and ask them how long their waiting list is. However, while you are waiting I would advise you to do as much research as you can so you will know what questions to ask.

    Our website is a mine of information so do look at it. You can start with this link but then search the website and you will find a lot more information.

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

    Also, our community members have vast experience so keep checking back here for their responses. Many of our members have arthritis in their hips so again just search at the top right of the screen.

    Please keep posting now you are here and let us know how you are getting on.

    Best wishes

    Mary

    Need more help - call our Helpline on 0800 5200 520 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm

  • cocoa
    cocoa Member Posts: 87

    hi @ PeteW

    Until you get an X-ray and speak to an orthopaedic consultant you cannot know fir sure if you’re fall caused the pain or set off arthritis . Mine started with groin pain and progressed over 3 years being referred fir new hip within the last year . I’m now in week 5/6 of renewal . Lots of support on this site so keep checking . Hope you don’t have to wait too long for referral

    Cocoa

  • PeteW
    PeteW Member Posts: 3

    Thanks @cocoa, my GP messaged me when he'd received the radiologist's report with the words "severe joint damage". My decine has been very rapid, from 20 Km hikes in Snowdonia 5 months ago to now where I can only manage a few hundred metres with a stick. It's now worsening daily and I'm extremely restricted in what I can and can't do.

    My NHS trust uses a triage system for orthopaedic issues and I hope to be assessed very soon. A colleague had his hip replacement within 3 months.

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0

    @PeteW

    I hope that you will get your orthopaedic appointment soon. When I had my initial appointment I was told that both hips needed replacing and that the right one a.s.a.p. I did ask the consultant if he had a cancellation list as being retired I was available any time. He made a note on my file and I had my hip done about 3 months later. So it might be worth mentioning that to see if it can be done sooner. Please keep us updated as to how you get on. Take care.

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 30,558

    There was a member @Lilymary @PeteW who if I remember rightly fell and set her hip off very very quickly alarmingly so so maybe you are right about that fall you had.

    Best of luck

    Toni x

  • Lilymary
    Lilymary Member Posts: 1,753

    Hi @PeteW, I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis. As @frogmorton says, (well remembered!) I had a very similar experience. Very fit fell walker (I live in Cumbria but used to do monster foreign trekking holidays as well), tripped over a kerb and landed on my backside in Feb 2020 age 60. I went from having a vague limp but no pain except for a bit of soreness in the hip joint after a very long walk, to absolute agony within days of the fall. GP sent for xray as she thought I may have broken it, and found very severe arthritis and they referred me straight away for hip replacement it was so advanced. They referred me to MSK clinic (lockdown had just started 🙄) but the pain continied ramping up more and more, so the MSK clinic referred me for a second xray in case they'd missed something. They hadn't, it was just the arthritis. There followed 14 months of agony hobbling around on a walking pole, despite copious quantities of Cocodamol and naproxen, while I awaited surgery and had a totally pointless steroid injection into my hip (there was no cartilage worth speaking of left in the joint to inject 🙄🙄). When they told me in December 2020 that it would be another 18 months till surgery, thanks to the Christmas lock down, I caved in and plundered our savings to go private. I had THR in April 2021. The hip pain went but sadly I have been one of those for whom the "complications" they read out to you before you sign the form were actually relevant. I can do hip-friendly low level fells, but my extreme walking days are behind me. However, I have met others of similar age who went back to all their previous pre-hip activities. I just got unlucky.

    However, a couple of the surgeons I saw said this sudden onset isn't common, but it can happen, then speaking to the woman in the next room to me, who had her hip surgery the same day, said she had exactly the same - blissfully oblivious her hip was disintegrating until a fall. My own personal theory is that my fall knocked off the last remaining bit of cartilate which then floated round the joint creating mayhem. I had a brief period in summer 2020 when it was slightly less painful (I'm guessing it found a safe corner to sulk in) before it all kicked off again. By the time I had surgery I could barely get round a supermarket, so it was a no brainer going for surgery as fast a possible whatever the cost. I wouldn't have dreamed of going abroad for my op to save money - given the comp[lications I've had with surgeons at a specialist orthopedic hospital, I suspect it would have been 10 times worse going abroad and much more complicated to resolve.

    Meanwhile, keep exercising (exercise bikes are very good for hips and not too painful), gentle walks, physio etc, as strengthening the muscles around the joint will both help manage pain levels and improve recovery rates. Managing the pain is important for mobility and mental health, so develope a regular regime with pain management drugs, and programme in rest days if you've had a busy active day, as fatigue is also a factor in advanced OA.

    I hope this helps, and that you get your date for surgery soon.

  • PeteW
    PeteW Member Posts: 3

    Thanks @Lilymary your hypothesis matches mine, the deterioration in my hip joint was there, but I wasn't aware of it. I fell while descending Cader Idris in March and the last 1 Km was absolute agony, it took me over an hour and there was a lot of cursing. I think the fall exacerbated and accelerated the damage, described by the radiologist as severe. I tried Naproxen, but it did nothing the ease the pain and discomfort. Same for Co-codamol, which also had horrific side effects. I have OTC (Over The Counter) 400 mg Ibuprofen that I take only when absolute necessary. The rest of the time I can tolerate and manage the pain.

    I've modified my fitness regimen, I used to do 200 squats daily but no more. I have and use an Concept Model E indoor rower, I don't do the 10k rows now but it helps with my cardio and endorphins. I also do Pilates mat exercises along with free weights for my upper body.

    I have an appointment next month with an orthopaedic triage doctor, who will decide the best course of action and the clinical need. I'm going to exercise my rights using the NHS Patient Choice to get the best and fastest treatment. If the wait is too long I'll consider hopping on a plane to Lithuania for the op.

  • Lilymary
    Lilymary Member Posts: 1,753

    to be honest, the cocodamol and naproxen just knocked the edge off the pain, but it just about kept me functioning. The docs said there wasn’t anything stronger I could take, and the pain was so bad exercise was out of the question. I look back on it with horror, tbh, no one should trivialise arthritis. It’s still work in progress and I’ve found workarounds for the problems I still experience, but I’ve managed some 11 mile moderate walks (just - our guide miscalculated the distance!) and am horse riding again, carefully, so life is still good, if different. I hope your appointment goes well, and that you find a good way forward. Keep exercising (swimming is also good), and say hi to Cader Idris from me 🙂

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