At age 60 my problems and pain from my hip dysplasia are finally over, but it has been a long hard road. I will try to explain what I have learned about this condition, how it affected me, and what I finally had to have done about it.
I was born into a large family and we all were very active and participated intensely in all sorts of sports. I rode my bike all over the place, played very physically outside, and took ballet lessons for about 6 years, beginning at age 7. I was always extremely limber and just thought that I was “double-jointed,” which enabled me to do the splits with total ease. My twin sister used to joke that I was more like rubber than flesh and bone!
Well, I went through life pretty much a healthy and vigorous person, exercising quite a bit through my entire adult life. As a married woman with an only son, I could still do the splits with ease at age 42! I could bend, stretch and twist in any and every direction with absolute ease! If there were anyone who shouldn’t have expected to have joint problems, it would have been myself! In fact, I’d have given “joint problems’ as probably the last one on earth that would affect me.
After my divorce when I was around 51, I began to experience a sharp pain in my left groin area, which became more and more acute and frequent as time went on. By the time I was 52, the pain had become really bad. It penetrated every aspect of my daily life and made it difficult for me to do the hard work of real estate sales. It hurt to walk, to sit, to lie down, and to even stand, at times. I had finally gone to my orthopedist and learned that I had this rare (only 1 in every 1,000 babies is born with it) condition and that I’d developed arthritis from it. I was given a prescription of Viol for relief. Well, I took the drug for about two weeks then stopped because not only did I not get any real relief, but I had read enough about these types of drugs to know that they actually can do more damage even while masking the pain of arthritis!
Meanwhile, I had been trying everything in the way of “alternative medicine” as a last-ditch and desperate attempt to avoid surgery. I took Glucosomine/Chondroitin, MSN, Pycnogenol and a myriad of other herbal or “natural” drugs to try to rebuild some of my cartilage in this joint, but all to no avail. Meanwhile, the pain only grew worse and I even had to drop my real estate license and quit my job.
All the while I did a lot of research online to learn about this strange condition which had ruined not one, but both of my hips. One web site describes this condition as “an abnormality of the hip socket in which the ball at the top of the thighbone (femoral head) isn’t stable in the hip socket.” It is 9 times more prevalent in females than in males. And. . .it usually involves just a single hip! It can be caused by breech birth or by a cramped situation in the womb of the fetus. Since I was a twin, it could have been that I was the one affected. My sister has no indications of this condition as I write this article at age 60.
Finally I realized that all my efforts to avoid the inevitable-total hip replacement-was a symptom of denial and fear. I scheduled my replacement for Dec. 19th of that year, mostly to avoid the stress of another Christmastime spent in excruciating pain. My recovery was incredibly fast and problem-free. After 10 days I walked out of the hospital with my friend, using only a cane. My doctor was amazed and ecstatic. Since then I have had to have my other hip replaced, and that would pretty much be the end of the story, but it is not. I have some advice which is essential to anyone who has this alternative
If any one has a total hip replacement from this or any other cause, please be mindful of the following: What ever you do, first on your list is therapy. I mean this sincerely and passionately. Doctors are often arrogant about what they know inside your body and how they have achieved their accomplished goal in your operation. They may only care about their own Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with your recovery. A good doctor will recommend a follow-up therapy program with names all committed to it. A blasé doctor will do nothing but put you in his file as one of his statistical “success stories” on his operation staff reviews. Sorry. Everything is political. Get used to it. Please get a doctor who cares about follow up; it’s up to you to do this on your own.
Have your therapist measure your leg alignment independent of your doctor’s assessment. I walked for months with a noticeable aberration. I now have both legs out of alignment and off-kilter. My Physical Therapist says that my whole pelvis on right side has tilted and that he will have to to re-align that. We will see how this comes out. My advice? Please get a scan of the alignment of your pelvis, if this is possible.
I am so grateful for the relief from surgery; These surgeons are miracle workers.But your life folollowing this is crucial. Doctors don’t have all the answers. Nobody does. I am going to do lots of therapy when all is said and done with my case, but I am truly glad that my pain is gone and I hppe this rticle can help others who are in the same situation.
Doctors have a running war with therapists and you need to get one who is outside that war. Good luck.
Reference:
- 9 times more female than male babies are born with hip dysplasia are females.
