Can you get better if you have pain from hip arthritis (osteoarthritis)?

Can you get better if you have hip pain from hip arthritis?

Many people wonder if having hip osteoarthritis means there's no hope of improving their range of motion, strength, and quality of life without surgery. Matt answers that question with two studies and observations that give you some hope.

One study examined knee pain from arthritis. The second study examined hip pain from arthritis. Both studies showed that x-ray evidence of arthritis in the knees and hips had no correlation to symptoms!

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Quick research summaries:
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For more relevant hip impingement articles:

Movement Improvement Consulting, Orthopedic Massage and Posture, Alignment, and Coordination Training in Redwood City (San Francisco Bay Area)

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[lindaelarde]

So true ...thank you for sharing this important information. People need to not give up hope or begin to think they are "damaged" in some way. I was having some persistent hip pain and had an ultrasound and xray. I was diagnosed with bone spurs in both hips and osteoarthritis . The left hip, which at the time was giving me the most discomfort during weight bearing activities, walking and standing, was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis, basically bone on bone with enthesis. I was sent for PT and after 12 weeks of various therapies and exercises, was told my only option was a hip replacement. By this time I had been in pain for several months. I was very skeptical and did a lot of research. I found your videos, and many others that provided other information and exercises. I also had deep laser therapy with a laser pad at my acupuncturist to reduce inflammation. I felt that over several treatments the laser therapy had reduced some of the inflammation and I continued the exercises and stretches. I have been basically pain free for months now although I assume I did not miraculously grow new cartilage or spontaneously dissolve bone spurs. I have good range of motion and can even do jumping jacks without pain. So I am living proof that the diagnostic information does not often sync with the lived experience of the human involved. As long as I am pain free (or reasonably pain free....I am 62) and can maintain my lifestyle comfortably, I honestly don't care what the the diagnosis is based on the xray or ultrasound.

[chuckroberts]

Hi Matt, I thought I lost you. I agree with the report, I just wish I had knowledge of muscle attention when I did my hip replacements, a posterior in 2011, and an anterior in September 2015. My first was done by a prominent Orthopedic surgeon in Honolulu. Pain was never a big symptom for the first. It was severe tightness and inflexibility that caused me severe fatigue. I was always very tight especially after a surf session. I tried a lot of things to help, the last being hot Yoga which I fainted in, so I saw the surgeon. He said I wouldn't be flexible without a new hip and cartilage and after showing me the bone to bone image he told me that it had a 30 year guarantee with state of the art material, and I would have tremendous improvement in my quality of life. Now, I'm speaking for myself, because I know many people who swear by their joint replacements. However in my case, those great improvements have not occurred, and I continue daily to work on my muscles (all the hip flexors) in stretching and strength exercises.

The same surgeon had an MRI done on my other hip, right one, and the radiologist said I had developing osteoarthritis and a torn labrum and suggested surgery to examine the cartilage and trim the labrum. Well I wasn't to keen about that, so I got a second opinion from another Honolulu surgeon, and he said there was no need to operate, because my osteoarthritis would cause me to eventually have another hip replacement. Two years after, I did the right hip. According to the surgeons, the replacements were to improve the quality of my life at age 68 and make me do the things I love which is surfing and stand up paddling. Well I paddled out a few weeks ago, caught a few nice waves, and I've been trying to recover ever since. THE IMPROVEMENT OF MY QUALITY OF LIFE PROMISED BY THE SURGEONS HAS NOT OCCURRED WITH ME!

Now I'm working on muscles post two hip replacement surgeries especially those that act as hip flexors all around the quad and surrounding the pelvic area. Now when people who are considering joint surgery ask me, I tell them to make sure you have tried every alternative reasonably possible before deciding joint replacement surgery.

I am not a happy person with the results, but I can't reverse anything, so I deal with what is and continue to try my best. I've had two MRI's in the past 3 months. The doctors that review them write a report to your physician, and they either review the D.V.D. themselves or work from the report. Many times what they diagnose isn't the cause of the pain one is experiencing. If you have a good PCP they can give you other options than surgery. If surgery is suggested, the patient has to decide. I'm avoiding surgeries now and wish I could go back five years and start all over. Another thing, my first PT after the recent hip replacement was horrible. A waste of my time.

I have thought about your hip book I, but with the two surgeries, I don't know if reading and comprehending the content would be of great help. What's your thought?

Aloha, Chuck

[ramrise]

I wonder if they differentiated the specific pain. Was it muscular pain or pain in the joints? Not very many nerves in a joint. Also, what kind of pain and the intensity? Perhaps a follow-up study is warranted by a grad-student. From my experiences my conclusion is that the body has a perfectly functioning feedback mechanism that signals pain when actual damage is exceeding the body's ability to repair that damage. In other words..."stop doing what you're doing because you're hurting me". My point: everyone wears down their joints during normal daily activity. The body repairs that damage during our nighttime sleep cycle. If you reach a point where daily damage exceeds daily repair the body lets you know about it. A good example is hip arthritis. One of the first symptoms (the body's feedback) is bursitis, or swollen iliopectineal bursa. The bursitis will progress through the stages of discomfort, pain, and fluid impediment. (Layman's terms; the bursa is located directly under the vein, artery, nerve and lymph bundle traversing the groin. When the bursa fills with fluid and expands, it cuts off the blood, nerve and lymph flow. This is a very effective way of forcing you to stop doing what you're doing. If you stop walking on that leg for a while the bursitis will diminish. Supposing you don't have a major injury to the joint such as a labrum tear, the body should repair itself in due course. My personal take on this is that modern man-made pain medication directly interferes with the natural repair process. You experience pain in your joints and you pop a few Tylenol. Doctors who have patients who are athletes with joint pain will probably also see elevated blood pressure. Prescribing medications to combat the high blood pressure will only slow the healing process. So to answer the pain/symptoms question...it all depends on the severity of damage. Everyone is different.

[dylanhakaraia]

The last couple of decades I’ve been living with chronic osteoarthritis. Over the last year or so my symptoms have literally reversed and I am months from a full recovery. I feel reborn.

[gp]

inversion therapy (hanging upside down) worked for me -- after two weeks
i have no hip pain at all and im back into running - total cost $120

[Lordoftheflatbush]

Interesting video! I was diagnosed hip arthritis on my left hip and much pain and discomfort. I never believed that THR would solve my problem. I felt my musscles cause the pain. It appears tension in my muscles cause muscle shortening thereby causing hip wear and a bone on bone situation. If this is the cause of all trouble then THR will not be the solution. The hip replacement will also wear very fast if the muscle tension is not fixed. So my focus is now on stretching, accupuncture and changing my life style. This is not a quick fix though and no guarantee it will work out as I hope. But I do think this is the right thing to do and matches what I feel in my body. I hope to avoid THR altogether. Let’s see….

[mikehardie]

I was told years ago that “Motion is Lotion.” Since the pandemic I have been much less active and my hip (deep groin) pain has returned.

[lindaelarde]

Thanks for this great information. I needed surgery because turns out my hip had collapsed, my femur head was shredded and I had bone fragments and necrotic tissue floating around in there. Also when I stepped onto that leg it literally crunched down and I dipped about 3 inches when I walked. It was nasty and now I am doing great with a replacement but before I had surgery I tried everything else for a year until I was basically using a walker and wheelchair. The other hip developed a muscle strain in the adductor and is slow to heal but seems to have less acute pain now. I had xrays and there is absolutely no OA in the image but I have pain that "sounds" like OA. Fortunately, my doctor said exactly what you said and diagnosed a muscle strain from my year of unbalanced walking and advised me to do muscle work very gradually and gently to let the muscle heal and regain strength in different positions over time. I wish I felt awesome already but I'm grateful he did not say "oh yeah....let's replace the other hip." He said images of OA and pain are often uncorrelated and that correlation does not mean causation. My first hip....it was basically gone...no question there but with good advice and your videos the other side is slowly healing. And I can do my Asian squat again but need a bit of support as that adductor heals. I love gardening and my squat is essential so hoping to be good by summer! Thanks for all your great content!

[JavierBonillaC]

9:50 “if it’s me, deal with the muscles and see what happens”. I totally thank you for this advice.

[marka]

So how would you explain the success rate of hip replacements? Meaning patients universally see benefits.

[vertblip]

Makes me wonder if the radiographs are being read correctly. In the past, I had experience of two completely different interpretations of the same X-Ray. I was told reading them is both an art and a science.

[mishablinov]

Hi, I'm new to all this. 2 weeks ago, I was walking up stairs and there was a grind/grab/awkward sensation at the front of my hip. It slowly progressed to burning stiffness upon standing and almost unbearable nerve irritation/pain sensation when sitting. This is when I turned to watching videos on YT while awaiting an xray.
I started doing some of the recommended stretches but it has made things 10 times worse. I now cannot drive my car or sit at all without feeling agonising burning/irritation which only decreases after I lay down for hours. I realise now that I may have overdone the stretching/strengthening exercises in the first week post injury but there was no great fall/accident to indicate crippling injury was on its way. Xray says I have hip degeneration/narrowing and likely OA.
When you google acute hip injury or how to treat bone on bone acute hip injury/flare etc. no one is talking about an acute situation on YT. It appears to be just long-term suffering and potential solutions/treatment plans.
I would imagine I'm not the only one out there who is in this window (just injured in last few weeks etc.) of injury with subsequent imaging indicating arthritic changes, so could you please provide some assistance as to how best to treat an acute injury like mine. Also, when and how to know when it is time to transition into an arthritis/FAI treatment program?
Treatment summary:
Mistake No.1 – Stretching/ROM exercises
Mistake No.2 – Warm epsom salt baths (felt so good initially and I could do full ROM afterwards but then a world of pain and stiffness.
Mistake No.3 - Driving/sitting in spite of increasing pain/irritation (this was a HUGE mistake!)
Massaging – short term relief.
NSAI's and lying around in bed all day - So far this is the only thing that is keeping me sane.

[keenkeenli]

Many thanks for sharing. We are grateful...thanks again

[nadrienmarkowski]

Had a PRP shot in hip with tear, arthritis and a ligament tear. After 2 years of pain on sitting, it finally was gone. Going back for PRP in other hip and another in left hip. Trying to avoid Surgery.

[beanicholson]

Interesting. Can't help with the mismatch between pain levels and radiographs but have after struggling for two years with significant pain (anterior), minor groin pain and now a recommendation for hip op, want to give FAI fix a try first. MRI result said "significant loss of superior joint space and subchondral changes along the femoral head...a large subchondral geode along the right acetabulum....consistent with a market osteoarthritis with subchondral change along both acetabular and the femoral head. A trace of oedema along the gluteal tendon..." but I am convinced after watching many of your videos that the FIX will either put off for some time or hopefully permanently the need to have surgery. Recovery from surgery is 6 weeks plus so am going to give the FIX 6 weeks first. Will let you know because I am sure that many others will be in the same boat.

[excatholic]

Love your channel. Big thank you and keep it coming!

[janetleeharrison]

I'm so happy to hear this! THANK YOU!

[heatherstewart]

I really get what you mentioned at 5:20, the X-Ray on my left hip showed WAY WORSE degeneration and osteoarthritis, than my right hip, but my right hip was the side causing the excruciating pain all the way down my leg to the point I wasn't able to even sleep at night, barely able to walk, and getting up from a sitting position was very painful. Had my 1st cortisone injxn yesterday, OMG, WHAT A DIFFERENCE already!! Now, with the rt side "numbed out", I do feel a small amount of pain in the left side, but still no where near the pain I had on the rt side. Scheduled for a left side cortisone injxn in 2 wks. I also have bad arthritis in my lumbar spine region, so the rt side nerve root affected by that MAY have been a factor?? (guess) (Definitely have sciatica pain) I've always been a very physically active person and sure never imagined that I would be dealing with all of this at only 56 yrs old. 😮‍💨😞 {I'm hearing of very young people, in their 20's dealing with these issues already though!!!! So sad!!! 😢}

[richardkirk]

I’m having a terrible time with hip pain.
X-ray shows OA. Trying stretches, exercise and weight loss. Getting very slight improvement, but then periodic bouts of severe pain. I’m going to stay with it a while and see if I can make some progress.

[londongirl]

Hi, Thanks for all the info since diagnosed with osteoarthritis and borderline osteoporosis agggh I knew it bloomin hurt.