Hip pain and stiffness when walking

[AJLang]

Does anyone know what I should do about this as it has been getting worse for the last year and made today's walk really difficult. My right hip is getting extremely stiff, with some pain, after only about 10 minutes of walking. This means that on a Susie walk I walk for 20 minutes (10 minutes of which are extremely uncomfortable), sit down for a minute which gives me relief from the stiffness and pain for about another ten minutes of walking and then after 20 minutes I have to sit down again to get relief. It is making the Susie walks very difficult and putting me off walking at places where I don't know if I can sit down - obviously not good for my exercise levels. I usually have two neurofen an hour behind the walk - sometimes the pain and stiffness affects the whole of my lower back.

 

[Monica]

Sorry to hear you have this pain.
I'd go to the GP to have it checked out, if it's been going on for longer than a week. You can't keep taking painkillers for too long (I think).
Hugs

 

[AJLang]

Thanks Monica. I must admit that I hate how often I take neurofen - especially as my GP doesn't think that I should take them at all. Having said that I'm not a great fan of my GP she wasn't particularly helpful with what ended up being severe gastroparesis hence why I haven't seen her about this pain. I've booked a private appointment with a physio this evening to see if he can help........I can't really afford it but can't carry on walking as if I'm twice my age!

 

[Phil65]

Thanks Monica. I must admit that I hate how often I take neurofen - especially as my GP doesn't think that I should take them at all. Having said that I'm not a great fan of my GP she wasn't particularly helpful with what ended up being severe gastroparesis hence why I haven't seen her about this pain. I've booked a private appointment with a physio this evening to see if he can help........I can't really afford it but can't carry on walking as if I'm twice my age!

Sounds awful Amanda, I think you should see your GP, Neurofen isn't good over a long period. I too had a fair bit of joint pain, mainly in my hips but after having my simvastatin swapped to atorvastatin it has definitely improved!

 

[Monica]

Oh dear- is there no way you could see a different GP?

 

[AJLang]

Can't see a different GP - tried that last time when I went with exhaustion and she told me that I just needed to lose weight and exercise more. I did see another GP about the exhaustion who did tests but she then said that I had to go back to my original GP. This was when my inflammation levels were high and they concluded that this was normal for me. My GP only referred me to the consultant about my frozen shoulder after the A&E orthopaedi consultant recommended it - and that ended with surgery on my frozen shoulder.
I guess my concern is that if I tell that I've got bad hip pain then she will just tell me to lose weight - which I know would help it - but won't tell me what is wrong with the hip - and it is only one hip that has the problem, not both of them (which I thoughit it would be if it is just weight related). The problem is that the more it hurts as I walk the more mentally and physically challenging the walking is becoming which is starting to make me not want to do the walks (and rely on the OH) and I know that I must keep exercising. Can't go swimming because there isn't a pool that I can get to easily as I don't drive.

 

[Catwoman76]

Does anyone know what I should do about this as it has been getting worse for the last year and made today's walk really difficult. My right hip is getting extremely stiff, with some pain, after only about 10 minutes of walking. This means that on a Susie walk I walk for 20 minutes (10 minutes of which are extremely uncomfortable), sit down for a minute which gives me relief from the stiffness and pain for about another ten minutes of walking and then after 20 minutes I have to sit down again to get relief. It is making the Susie walks very difficult and putting me off walking at places where I don't know if I can sit down - obviously not good for my exercise levels. I usually have two neurofen an hour behind the walk - sometimes the pain and stiffness affects the whole of my lower back.

Hi AJ sorry to hear of your pain I see you are paying for a physio, surely your dr could investigate your pain. Taking painkillers for a long time is not really a good thing. Have you though of Cod liver Oil or something like that, to help ease those joints? I love walking, but having pain with it is not nice at all Take care I hope you get some relief soon Sheena x

 

[ukjohn]

Does anyone know what I should do about this as it has been getting worse for the last year and made today's walk really difficult. My right hip is getting extremely stiff, with some pain, after only about 10 minutes of walking. This means that on a Susie walk I walk for 20 minutes (10 minutes of which are extremely uncomfortable), sit down for a minute which gives me relief from the stiffness and pain for about another ten minutes of walking and then after 20 minutes I have to sit down again to get relief. It is making the Susie walks very difficult and putting me off walking at places where I don't know if I can sit down - obviously not good for my exercise levels. I usually have two neurofen an hour behind the walk - sometimes the pain and stiffness affects the whole of my lower back.

I have had the same thing that you describe for the last 3 years, I have it in both hips and like you I have to sit down after about 10 minutes walking, I think the back pain comes from trying to favour the legs which puts extra pressure on the back. I mention it everytime I visit the doctor, but being 73 years old I get the same answer all the time,"you have to expect these things at your age" and they put it down to wear and tear.

John

 

[trophywench]

Well Anno Domini gets blamed for a lot of things of course - and some stuff really is down to that - but Amanda isn't old - by any stretch of the imagination, John!

 

[ukjohn]

I don't see where I have suggested that Amanda was old Trophy, do you?. I just tried to put forward what has happened to me with the same problem

 

[trophywench]

Clearly suffering from lack of facial expression and nuance of tone in the written word! I thought you might be - sorry John !

 

[AJLang]

Thanks everyone for your comments basically the physio came out with a long list of things wrong with my hip/back/neck/frozen shoulder. I have no internal rotation of the right hip together with capsular and possibly cartilage problems! And the list goes on.........I feel like I'm 83 rather than 43! The physio did various things to me, some of which were painful and included traction for the hip. I have a load of exercises. Have booked to see physio again and also booked in with a massage therapist. The top of my back is currently having spasms of pain I guess from what the physio did

 

[Monica]

Oh
So there's nothing you can do apart from physio and suffering??

 

[AJLang]

Hi Monica

It doesn't sound like there is anything else I can do. Feeling rather fed up about it but c'est la vie

 

[Copepod]

Tough situation, Amanda.

Getting to see an orthopaedic surgeon for an appointment, particularly for a "wear and tear" type issue (rather than an issue caused by an accident or single incident) is a lengthy process. PCTs are often keen to filter out people who don't need surgery and promote physiotherapy and / or appropriate analgesia, and only if those approaches fail, allow patient to see surgeon. However, any physio or surgeon will raise the issue of being overweight with anyone who is, as that puts more stress on joints. That should lead to suggestions of exercises that can be managed eg swimming, hydrotherapy etc.

Only other course of action, apart from GP / PCT / Physio with/out surgery route, that might be worth considering, would be seeing an osteopath privately - if there is one locally, preferably recommended by a friend who has been treated by them.

Many years ago, I had a spell of low back pain, and GP wanted me to see a surgeon, and waiting list for physiotherapy was months long, so I made an appointment with an osteopath, who was also a qualified physiotherapist, who I had met at a talk to medical students about complementary therapies. I was very impressed with the effect of his treatment (exercises and electomagnetic massaging - can't remember details / name, as it was about 1993!) on my back, and problem completely resolved. As I wasn't entitled to free prescriptions then, I seem to remember that 2 or 3 treatments cost about the same as 3 or 4 prescriptions for analgesics or buying my own analgesics. Anyway, it was the right decision for me then - and I would probably do the same again for a similar issue these days.

 

[AJLang]

Hi Copepod

Thanks very much for your reply. After recent eye surgeries and Manipulation under Anaesthetic for a frozen shoulder I want to try to avoid further surgery, at least for as long as I can. I'm hoping that what the physio and the massage theraprist do, along with physio exercises at home, will help so that I can walk more easily and then lose more weight...........but a bit of a vicious circle with the difficulty walking affecting the losing weight. I love swimming but can't get to a swimming pool easily so that isn't really an option. IIf these don't work I will look into the osteopath option, I will also see if anyone at work can recommend an osteopath.

 

[margie]

Are there any strengthening exercise that would help. I know some people swear by pilates as really helping. The only other thing I can suggest is to see if there is a pain relief clinic nearby that can help you with coping strategies. I know they do exist on the NHS but not sure how common they are.