Hi Sporting,
I am glad that you found us at the Pain Management Forum of MedHelp but I am sorry to hear about your hip pain.
I am not a physician but it sounds to me as though you may be suffering from bursitis. The bursae in the hip is the largest in the body and when inflamed can be extremely painful. When mine flares up the sharp pain in my hip can bring me to my knees.
A quick injection of a corticosteroid can produce miraculous results. Your PCP can refer you to a specialist that can take care of this for you.
In the meantime ice may help relieve the inflammation along with rest and NSAID's taken as directed on the label. Sometimes I can avoid an injection if I follow that routine. You may have another condition unrelated to bursitis and it is always best to consult with your PCP.
I will look forward to your updates. Good luck and take care, Tuck
This comment, of course, is not specifically addressed to Tuckamore. I would appreciate advice from anyone.
I have several questions regarding the pain in my hip. If it is Bursitis, it has persisted long enough to become very severe. What is severe Bursitis? What happens when it goes untreated and becomes worse? Is there a more severe condition that developes?
This is the previous link that I accidentally omitted wherein my symptoms are accurately described.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Lower-Back-Pain---Hip-External-Rotation&id=615984
This is another helpful article concerning general information about bursitis and its treatment.
http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/arthritis-bursitis
In the last section of this article, the last listing of symptoms of "something more serious than bursitis" is loss of motion. I cannot move my hip flexor in any way without inducing excruciatingly painful, uncontrollable spasms on the outside of my hip (the external hip rotator, I'm supposing). For several reasons, I believe this condition may have persisted beyond bursitis.
One of these reasons is that, for years in fact, I have never been able to complete the range of motion exercise described in the first link. There has always been a simple inability to do so, or, sometimes, mild pain when the afflicted leg is forced.
Also, when compressed or contracted too much, the afflicted hip has been known to spasm in the past. I've never done much about it, though, because of the rarity of this occurence.
Finally, I have been a healthy individual for as long as I can remember. I have never needed to go to the ER like I do now. I have been a dependent on a health insurance plan provided by my legal guardians for nearly twenty years...up until a fortnight ago.
I now have no health insurance, and, seemingly, no means of aquiring health benefits because any job I would have to perform (that I would otherwise have easily obtained) will surely require some form of movement. As of right now, I cannot move without great pain, or rather, without gravely risking pain.
Two days ago, I was running around playing a leisurely sports game with mild, mild discomfort and occasional mild pain in my hip. Now, as my sole method of locomotion, I am reduced to moving at the pace of about, from what I gather, a ninety year old or centurion with the assistance of a makeshift cane. Taking a few advils (which involves going to the kitchen which is about six feet away, pouring water and swallowing the tablets, then returning to my original location) is a fourteen minute process. Defecation, with the bending of the knees and longer travel distance, is indescribably stressful and painful. This is in the midst of attempting to become employed and finish school without negatively affecting my GPA.
This is the reason for my self diagnosis. Does anyone have any advice?
Gee, it sounds like you definately need to see your doctor. If it is getting that bad in such a short time, it could be the bursa sac, or it could be arthritis or something different all together.
Ice packs, rest, and an NSAID are good at home remedies. I also agree that a cortisone shot helps and makes a difference. I have never had an injection into my hip, only knees, elbows, wrists and fingers and once into my shoulder and it does help really well.
I really would suggest seeing your doctor because if it is something, you want to catch it early and if it is not anything other than a pulled muscle, well than you don't want to suffer any longer than you have to. And it does sound like you have tried all the at home remedies that would be a basic. So, I hope you can see a doctor and keep us posted as to what is going on. There might be someone on here that see's your post and may be having some similar issues and you could help them out.
til later..........montanagurl
From what I've read, I'm almost positive I have chronic inflammation of the greater trochanteric bursa (trochanteric bursitis).
I would greatly appreciate any information regarding the prognosis of a severe case of trochanteric bursitis. I do need help immediately, so I'm doing my best to figure things out as I go along.
A list of need information would include:
1. A personal experience concerning the treatment of trochanteric bursitis (corticosteroid shots, surgery, success rates of either of these).
2. Home remedies, alternative medicine remedies.
3. Cost of procedures, with or without health insurance.
As I side note, I am fully aware that this research does not constitute a diagnosis. Many thanks to Tuckamore and anyone else for their help thus far.
Hello Again,
Hip bursitis is trochanteric bursitis. I chose to use the simpler term "hip" bursitis rather than medical term trochanteric bursitis.
I do have personal experience with this condition. I first had the condition diagnosed about 20 years ago as a young adult. I was extremely active I was played softball on three leagues in the evenings and working as a supervising nurse in the day. I over extended my hip. I tried all the "home remedies" to no avail. Home remedies as I discussed earlier are rest, ice, and NSAID's. Initially I saw a orthopedic surgeon that injected my hip that very day with a steroid. In several days I returned to all my normal activities as if I had never had the bursitis. Nothing else has worked to alleviate the pain but the steroid injections.
I have experienced this condition three times. Each time a simple injection has cleared up the symptoms 100%. I do not have any lingering effects. My ROM returned to normal several days following the steroid injections.
Trochanteric bursitis is a common problem that causes pain over the outside of the upper thigh. A bursa is a fluid filled sac that allows smooth motion between two uneven surfaces. For example, in the hip, a bursa rests between the bony prominence over the outside of the hip (the greater trochanter) and the firm tendon that passed over this bone. When the bursal sac becomes inflamed, each time the tendon has to move over the bone, pain results. Because patients with hip bursitis move this tendon with each step, hip bursitis symptoms can be quite painful. I have actually fallen to the floor.
I do not know the cost of this procedure. My Internal Medicine DO is able to perform the injections and I am guessing that it may cost several hundred dollars in her office. The Orthopedic Surgeon is much more pricey. So do some shopping and ask for prices.
All that said your condition requires diagnosis. We are "guessing" here and it takes a clinical assessment to determine if you have Trochanteric Bursitis. Please make an appointment with your PCP. Most clinic's will take payments and understand your student status.
Peace, Tuck
When I go to the doctor - my regular doctor just for the clinic visit is $65.00 with out insurance and $15.00 with my insurance. When I see my Rheumatologist it is $110.00 without insurance and $30.00 with insurance. My Rheumatologist is the one who has given me cortisone injections in the past and he has charged me $85.00 for just one injection and that is without insurance.
I have tried the following at home remedies - both before and after the accident:
1. Hot and Cold packs to the affected area
2. Showers and / or baths, get the water just as hot as I can stand it and let it run on the
affected area.
3. anti-inflamatory like Motrin
4. I have used pain patches like Icy Hot but, I really like these one patches called Tiger Balm, they have alot of natural ingredients in them and they don't smell that bad.
5. Heating pads, I would lay down and put the heating pad over the affected area and just rest, and get my mind off of the pain / issue that I am going through
6. While resting I usually like to read a good book or watch t.v., get on the computer or visit on the phone with friends / family.
7. I also see a mental health therapist that I tell my troubles to - like my pain
Than of course I go to my doctor and I do take narcotic pain medicine but, I have alot more pain than you do. I broke almost every bone in my body when my husband and I wrecked on our motorcycle in October of last year. I have tried all the above stuff on top of taking the narcotic pain meds.
I think that it is a good idea to get suggestions than you can take them to your doctor and hopefully get some help. And as you said before, none of us are doctors and we can only suggest things or tell you what happened to us, but, you really should see a doctor and have them diagnose you.
montanagurl
Thank you all so much. All I need to find out now is how much the visit and the shot (if this is necessary, and it probably is) will cost; I will need to speak with my doctor to find out this information (not to mention discover the actual diagnosis). Would anyone know how much a corticosteroid injection would cost with insurance? I'm sure it varies from company to company, though.
Again, thank you both very much. I appreciate your help and hope for the best for both of you, as well as myself.
with our insurance it is usually an 80/20. and we wound up paying somewhere around $22.50 for my shots.