Forums > Health and Nutrition > Running with osteoarthritis in hip - what works?
I am only 50 and after my last 1/2 marathon had what seemed to be hip stiffness, groin - psoas pain. After cutting back on running, doing massage therapy, stretching the psoas, etc with no relief I finally went to the dr. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in one hip (diagnosed based on x-rays). It seems a little hard to believe that this could come on so suddenly. PT to strengthen muscles around the hip & butt have not helped so far.
Dr. suggests viscosupplementation - injection of hyaluronans or similar*. These are currently approved for knees but not for hips. Has anyone tried this with good (or bad) results? How many injections have you had and how long did it last if it did work?
*Synvisc, Supartz, Orthovisc, Hyalgan, Euflexxa
Are you located in the states??? Durolane (viscosupplement) is indicated for the hip arthritis in Canada and Europe. Not approved in the U.S. The company I work for has rights to this product. Running with hip arthritis will be difficult because it won't get better. Keep doing the strength and core work. This does help take pressure off joint but running is pounding. Glucosamine/chondroitan may provide some benefit. Give it 2-3 months to see if it will work for you.
Call up and see if you could get a doc to do a series of 3-5 injections of a viscosupplement. Sometimes it may be a challenge to get in the joint. They may want to use fluoroscopy to guide the needle in. There are no hip indications in U.S. for any of the viscosupplements but these can provide relief especially to a weightbearing joint. They work to relieve pain, preserve your remaining cartilage and most importantly crank up your body's own production of hyaluronic acid (lubricant) in your hip (knee) back to homeostasis. I represent Supartz which is the purest viscosupplement with the most clinical history, but most of them below would be fine. I would just stay away from Synvisc One which has shown minimal efficacy. You need a series of injections. FYI, without insurance covering, this could be costly. Supartz would be the least expensive at $80-95 an injection but of course the docs mark things up and there are office visit fees and injection fees. Maybe the doc could ask the rep for some off label samples. I provide sample to docs on a regular basis.
flatland mountaineer
I was diagnosed with osteo in my hips esp the right one in my early 30's from an x-ray. I was not a runner then but a rodeo athelete and had grown up doing equine based activites from the time I was 3. I eventually quit riding at the age of 37 but took up running 6 years ago after undergoing physical therapy for a non- related atv crash. I am now 51. My right hip is always the canary in the coal mine that alerts me to possible overtraining. Some comments of my experiences below bear in mind I am no doctor and these are merely my experiences and my opinions.
1) X-rays are limited in usefulness in a diagnoses IMHO, they are highly subjective. I had an MRI done 2 years ago that somewhat contradicted x-rays done 20 years ago calling my hips normal (for my age).
2)I am very right side dominant, nearly all my problems happen on the right side. Those problems in addition to the hip included SI problems and Achilles Tendonitis and ab muscle soreness on the right side. The only consistant remedy of all I have tried is physical therapy that seeks to involve my left (lazy) side and bring my pelvis into alignment. Merely strengthing and core exercises for both sides have had limited effectiveness even though I do them in addition to my normal PT. Cortisone shot in the joint only provided relief for a limited time.
3) I am certain I have some arthritic deterioration. it is my belief that most of my hip pain is related to inflamation or bursitis caused by the imbalance between my sides and that posture was "set" by one or more of the serious crashes I have taken in my lifetime in addition to a natural "dominant sidedness".
4) I ackowledge my progress is slow but it is progress none the less. I seek to remain as light as possible, involve my left side through pt, listen to my body, use as little anti-inflmatories as is possible. Remain as consistant as possbile in number of run days and schedule etc as not to overload.
The physical therapy approach I have found the most helpful.
http://posturalrestoration.com/about/
http://posturalrestoration.com/resources/athletics/category/running/
good luck
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Interesting about the "right sidedness," Jim. Everything that goes wrong with me, as well, is on my right side. I've always attributed it to the fact it's my right ankle I tore up a number of years ago, so whatever issues I will always have in that regard will affect everything else on that side. I look forward to reading the articles for which you've provided links.
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Interesting about the "right sidedness," John. Everything that goes wrong with me, as well, is on my right side.
Everything that goes wrong with me or that gets injured is all on my left side - yup, I'm left handed. PF, dislocated finger, shin splints, leg surgery, an abraded knee, rotator cuff, whatever - all on the left. Well, except for appendicitis - guess I couldn't control that one!
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Hmm...I'm mostly ambidextrous, so I guess I may be in trouble.
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...tikka//.........sorry you're having to deal with this.......
I posted over at CR MedTent a while back and got some good feed back, maybe it will help
http://community.active.com/message/753808?tstart=0
.............like all
medical procedures,
ask the doc how many he has done,
how long
it will last before it has to be RE-done,
and
get the names of 10 peole he did
that are local and you can ask what they think.
good luck.
According to my PT it is not necesarily the same; handedness and sidedness. You could actually be left handed and right "sided". Most people have a dominant right side, and stats for hip and knee replacements are overwhelmingly biased to the right side. That first link I provided does a pretty good job explaining it than better than I ever could. It may seem like voodoo at first but it works for me. It is kinda like that old kids song "the ankle bone is connected to the ____bone" , it is all tied together and an integrated appproach really makes sense.
My apologies to the OP, as I have no experience with those injectables, only cortisone as a quick patch me up to get to the next rodeo in my younger days.....
Tchuck, Yes I'm in the states. I will check if my Dr has worked with Durolane (or Supartz). It's good to know they have been approved for hips somewhere. Thanks for the warning about Synvisc One. I thought it had pretty much been proven that Glucosamine/Chondroitan didn't work? I also still need to check on the cost for viscosupplementation. The Dr says that the supplement will not be covered since it is "off label" for hips in US but that the injections (I guess this means the injection fee & office visit) will be. I was informed it would cost "a few hundred" but that it could last 6 mo. or even a full year. Apparently my Dr uses ultrasound to guide it to the right place.
Tomwhite:
I checked out the link you gave. Thanks. Never heard of the prolotherapy so will read into that. Good paper in there on cartilage and how it works.
Also thanks for the advice on Q's to ask the Dr. I have always been healthy (except for minor injuries due to sports) so I'm not up to speed on all this!
r2farm:
Regarding your comments or right or left side: Funny enough it is my right hip giving me the trouble, but in the past it has always been my left calf getting cramped, left IT band giving me issues, left foot metatarsalgia, etc. I thought maybe this was the right side just trying to balance me out, but PT did not seem to think these were related! Hips are not quite level i guess. Thanks for link to PT that works for you.
Interesting......I am also right side dominant (right calf is almost an inch larger then my left), but all my physical problems seem to develope and flare up on my left, weaker side.
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I just know enough of the technique to be dangerous talking to other people. My PT evaluated me and set me up with a series of exercises that benefit me. I have had other PT's that have never heard of these techniques. She did several range of motion tests on me, and some pretty extreme differences showed up that were very obvious even to me. She then took a skeletal mock up and showed me what my skeletal alignment had to be to get such and for me that was the left pelvis rotated about a half inch or so. I get dramatic improvement quickly when I do my pt stuff 2-3 times a day. I would like to go to the clinic in Lincoln as they have some more runner specialized staff while my pt works the full gamut of ages, injuries etc in a small town practice.
I would be interested to hear if any of the injections provided lasting relief to the OP, as anything that could speed my progress has my attention whether by itself or in tandem with what I am doing now.
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