Hip Replacement and Hip Pain

[OnMyWay]

I have been dealing with left hip pain since 2018.  I have been to 2 ortho surgeons in (Olongapo and Angeles) back then and of course they recommend hip replacement.

I was wondering if any members have had hip replacement here in the Philippines, and if so, who did it and were you satisfied?  And for those who had it done elsewhere??

I have the option of getting it done in the U.S. with Medicare, but that presents another list of challenges.  We are planning to move to the U.S. 

Yesterday, I had the worst hip pain ever, while sitting in my Trailblazer.  I never used to have pain while driving, but for some reason recently I have been getting severe pain while sitting there.  If that continues, I have a problem that needs to be taken care of sooner than later.  Other than pain immediately after an injury, the pain yesterday was the worst in my life and I would not be able to drive long distances with it.  I should mention that Friday and Saturday I made many trips carrying things up and downs stairs.

For those of you living with hip pain, how do work on it?  I take Arcoxia every morning by I don't think it helps that much.  Thinking about quiting.  I have good days and bad days.  The bad days are more frequent recently.  I have lost a ton of weight but I don't exercise the hip enough.  Mornings are bad so I prefer to walk in the evenings, but other things interfere with that.  We have a new physical therapist coming to town (brother of my derma) and I think I am going to give him a go.  I have slipped and fallen twice in a manner where my bad hip leg folded underneath me, stretching the hip area severely, and my hip felt better after that!

Appreciate all advice and experiences!

 

[Mike J]

My wife and I bought a massage table and started getting a home Thai massage once a week starting about a year ago.  The masseuse flexes and stretches every joint in the body, even fingers and toes.   I used to have occasional pain in the neck, finger, hip, and other joints.  I figured it was a combination of age and arthritis.  Now I very seldom have pain in any of my joints and I am sure my flexibility has improved.  Maybe worth a try?   

[Old55]

Don, sorry to hear you are suffering like that. A Chiropractor in many cases could help with your hip and lower back issues. I would highly recommend trying a Chiropractor along with the physical therapist until you get the hip replacement done.  

We have a good friend who is an Orthopedic Surgeon over there will ask his opinion and PM you.

 

Edited May 28, 2023 by Old55

[OnMyWay]

3 minutes ago, Mike J said:

My wife and I bought a massage table and started getting a home Thai massage once a week starting about a year ago.  The masseuse flexes and stretches every joint in the body, even fingers and toes.   I used to have occasional pain in the neck, finger, hip, and other joints.  I figured it was a combination of age and arthritis.  Now I very seldom have pain in any of my joints and I am sure my flexibility has improved.  Maybe worth a try?   

Some of my pain is probably brought on by lack of determination, sometimes called laziness!   We have a Ceragem Massage Bed.  https://ceragemus.com/.

My wife loves it and tries to use it everyday.  I love it but rarely use it.  It mainly works on on the spine but surely has benefits for the hips.  It will use it today.

So if I were to look for a masseuse, other than "Thai", is there anything else to ask for?  I have never had a legit massage.  I prefer female but what if I have a "reaction"?  If male, what if I have a reaction.?

 

[OnMyWay]

20 minutes ago, Old55 said:

Don, sorry to hear you are suffering like that. A Chiropractor in many cases could help with your hip and lower back issues. I would highly recommend trying a Chiropractor along with the physical therapist until you get the hip replacement done.  

We have a good friend who is an Orthopedic Surgeon over there will ask his opinion and PM you.

 

We only have a chiro here once a week, an American chiro based in Angeles.  There is another American chiro in Angeles too.  I tried the guy here for 3 weeks.  Mainly for sciatic pain I was having, but also for the hip.  Didn't have much results for either.  For the hip, he mainly pulls or jerks the leg, to try and free up the joint.  I'm sure there are other techniques but the main focus was sciatica at those sessions.

Losing weight and keto has really helped with back pain / sciatica.  I used to have back pain much more frequently. 

[Mike J]

39 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

So if I were to look for a masseuse, other than "Thai", is there anything else to ask for?  I have never had a legit massage.  I prefer female but what if I have a "reaction"?  If male, what if I have a reaction.?

Our masseuse is female and I think she is either 63 or 64 years old.  She has been giving massage for over 20 years.  Despite her age she has amazingly strong hands and I swear she could push her thumb through a steel drum.  So what I would be looking for is experience and then verify with a massage.  Our masseuse was fairly easy with me starting out.  I think she wanted to verify range of motion, muscle tone, pain points, etc.  Over a period of months she gradually increased the stretching of joints to increase flexibility.  As she works the joints she maintains a hand on the joint (shoulder, knee, hip, etc.) and I think she is feeling for any roughness, popping, and so forth.  I have degenerative disk disease in my lower back, L4 and L5, a total of five surgeries.  When I first lay on the table I almost have lower back pain but it is tolerable.  By the time she is done I am completely pain free.  

As far as a physical reaction.  That has not happened with me but I think if it happened my masseuse would not be offended and would just ignore it.  If it does happen it will probably be while the masseuse is working on the glutes.  As she has gotten more comfortable with me and my "non reaction" the masseuse has been able to increase the "area" of the glutes that she works on.  I actually worry more about passing gas, fortunately that has not happened either.  

Edited May 28, 2023 by Mike J
correct bad grammer

[Freebie]

Maybe a visit to Philippines Orthopedic Institute? A great many of Manilas elderly and not so elderly go there. Ive been a few times for a frozen shoulder and knee issues. I know they do shoulder replacement and so perhaps they can advise on hips. Doctors all have areas of specialty as you will see from their web site.

 

https://www.philorthoinst.com/

[Viking]

17 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

 have never had a legit massage.  I prefer female but what if I have a "reaction"?  If male, what if I have a reaction.?

Easy, if you get a "reaction" from a female, you are straight. If you get a "reaction" from a male, you are gay 😜

Just kidding with you, hahaha.

I love getting a massage and do it often. If you get a legit massage the therapist know how to handle the situation and you have nothing to worry about.

Some "therapists" offer extra services, they will do their best to make you "react". That way it's easier for them to sell their services.

Needless to say, if you want a good massage, choose a legit place and tell them about your problems before they start.

 

 

[Mike J]

2 hours ago, Viking said:

I love getting a massage and do it often. If you get a legit massage the therapist know how to handle the situation and you have nothing to worry about.

 

Well said, you phrased it much better than I did.  

[BrettGC]

My hip issues are the result of too many high impacts playing rugby for navy/defence back in the day - I was a scrum-half for those that know the game so always on the ball and got smacked around a lot.  It's called post-traumatic arthritis and to begin with was just a little limiting in the range of movement and causes pain if I go too far outside that range.  As the years passed osteoarthritis has developed which can cause prolonged pain and swelling - a deep extremely strong ache when stationary to sharp jabs on movement - those that have osteoarthritis in any joint know the feeling.  It's not all the time but when it happens I tend to favour that side which causes issues with my back (incident in AFG caused the back injury) which in turn causes me to put too much weight too often on the opposite side leg causing the dodgy knee on that side (again rugby - reconstructed laparoscopically in my early 30's, both knees) to ache and cause pain.  

I can't say much about the cost of treatement as being service related and documented as so, it's all paid for under the Department of Veteran Affairs (Aussie version of the US VA).  

The  pain is minimal most of the time and deep tissue massage helps or if it gets too bad Celebrex 200mg for a couple of days does the trick.  Yeah I know, anti-inflammatories aren't ideal but it is what it is and I only use them in cases of near immobility. 

The frustrating thing is the umbilical hernia that appeared about 18 months ago.  Because of that I'm not allowed to put any pressure on my core at all.  This means no lifting, situps, even chin ups etc for fear of turning the hernia into an emergency situation.  When my core is strong, it supports my back and hip better so there's rarely any pain at all.  the hernia is a post-service injury so not covered by DVA.  When the hernia issue is resolved, I'll be good until the joints finally need replacing.  How did it happen?  Lifting too much stuff getting ready to move to PI.  Great timing eh?  

I had a debridement on the hip about 10 years ago which was good for about 5 years and it was at this point that I was informed the hip should eventually be replaced due to the onset of the osteoarthritis.  That and the knee replacements at around the same time will go a long way to solving the back issue.  I'm not having back surgery; the appropriate surgery may or may not resolve that issue and I'm not willing to take the risk.  

As I said in the other thread, it's a minor mobility issue most of the time so no real effect on my quality of life but when it does blow out it's hobbling around indoors for a couple of days.  

Edited May 28, 2023 by BrettGC