LAVH 3+ months post hysterectomy: Excruciating right hip pain for the last 6+ weeks

I had my LAVH on June 11th and had smooth sailing during my entire recovery. Once I was cleared to resume all activities at my 6 week check up on July 21st I started doing light exercising - push ups, leg lifts, and squats, slowly adding more each day. After two weeks I suddenly got a pain in my right hip that turned excruciating after just a couple days and I couldn't lift my leg off the floor anymore and struggled to walk. I've seen 4 different Drs, including an orthopedic surgeon yesterday and I've gotten 'it's a sprain' to 'the dr that did your hysterectomy messed something up, go back to him'. My chiro agrees with me - if it was a strain/sprain I should have started seeing improvement after 3-4 weeks. I've been given hydrocodone, prednisone, 800 mg ibupropen and tramadol and NOTHING works to take the pain away. The pain is dulled, but never taken away and as soon as I start moving it's back just as bad, even with the pain meds. It doesn't matter if I sit, stand, lay down, or walk, it hurts all the time to some degree and at times I get shooting pain down my thigh to my knee. I need to get an answer - it's all I can do to walk across the room, doing anything like cleaning or cooking wipes me out. Yesterday walking through Wal-Mart my leg kept giving out and I'd literally have to drag it until it would come back. I plan on calling my ob's nurse on Monday to see what he says.

Is it possible that my hip is 'messed up' because of the surgery? When I told my chiro yesterday what the orthopedic surgeon said about going back to my ob the first thing that came to his head was the possibility of scar tissue gone rampant and it's attached to a nerve. I have to throw my hip out of place to get it to move, which throws my lower back out and then it causes my left leg to get tired/sore from having to compensate.....

~Michele

I've had chronic pain which includes my hip and my pelvic floor since my hyster. It started 4 weeks post op and gets quite severe. The pain is in my hips, pelvic region, down below and shoots down the inside of both thighs to the knee. My GYN was lovely, did ultrasounds and CTs and when they were normal he discharged me - my issues aren't GYN related.

Definitely see your GYN but he may refer you elsewhere - neurologist, physiotherapy, etc. I wonder if the position you were in during surgery played a part in this. We are in an unnatural position for the duration of surgery and for some women this could be hours. This can throw off our hip, back, etc. It could be scar tissue, it could be nerve damage. I suggest keeping a pain diary, doing research online until you find something that describes your symptoms. You will need to keep on your doctors and be an advocate for yourself. I am very sorry, I know this is difficult and is having a huge impact on your quality of life. I hope you find your answers soon. Please post and let us know how you are.

Thanks sugarandspice. I talked to my ob/gyn's nurse and she said that he'll happily call the orthopedic surgeon for me because there was nothing done during my surgery that would affect my hip this far out, if I had been going to have problems it would have been almost if not immediate. I was a textbook surgery and was in the surgical position for not more than an hour.

I finally got an MRI yesterday (Thursday) and as the tech is backing me out of the machine her first words were 'what kind of exercises were you doing?!' I told her: push ups, leg lifts, and squats. She was quite shocked and said that my hip is VERY angry and it shows in the MRI images. She wouldn't go into any more detail than that though. She did ask me how long I've been dealing with it and I told her along with how I was either blown off or passed around. I told her what the OS said about my OB messing something up and she said that that's highly unlikely.

I was going the chiro before my surgery and started going back to him as soon as I could after my surgery (six days after my surgery I was in having him adjust me). And now with this hip pain he's been having me come in every week to stay on top of it.

I found out just before my MRI that my dad has been diagnosed with bone cancer that has spread to his muscle. He's had hip pain for the last four months and the Dr kept telling him it was a torn muscle/tendon. He just recently had a scan and that's when they found it's cancer.

I find out next Friday what the MRI actually showed. The pain is better but still there and it gets worse the more I walk. Not looking forward to errands today. Last week by the time I got done in Wal-Mart I was literally dragging my leg.....

~Michele

I am sorry to hear about your dad. You have a lot on your plate right now. I'm glad you have a good chiropractor and hope the issue is identified and addressed very soon!

Unfortunately my dad hasn't talked to me in over 4 years. I found out through my mom when my sister told her (she also doesn't talk to me). The last time I saw my dad and sister was at my uncle's (dad's brother) funeral almost 2 years ago. My sister said 'hi' to me and my dad acted shocked that I was there. He's seen his granddaughter all of 3 times her entire life. It's their choice though so I gave up trying.

~Michele

Well, I went back to the orthopedic surgeon on Friday afternoon to get the results of my MRI. I have transient osteoperosis and the ball of my right hip is hairline fractured. There is NOTHING that they can do about it and it could take up to a year to resolve completely. There is no known cause for it to happen (most often 30-60 year old men and women in their 3rd trimester get it), it could completely resolve itself, and it may come back at any time (could affect the same hip, the other hip, or my knee, ankle, or foot). One 'theory' for it happening is hormone imbalance/changes. There is also large amounts of swelling (edema) in my bone marrow. Until it heals I guess I invest in Aleve stock because I'm going to be taking plenty! The pain is 'better' than it was but last night I walked up and down the stairs a few times and by the time I was done my right femur literally felt like it was bending backwards. I have an old fracture on that bone (happened 25 years ago) as well.

~Michele

Wow. Thank you for the update. This likely wasn't the explanation you were hoping for but it is good news that you have an explanation. It's good to know what you're dealing with and have a realistic idea of when it may resolve. I hope you find relief and the fracture heals very quickly!

Thanks sugarandspice. Now I'm trying to decide who I should call to see about getting some more hydrocodones (or something similar). I need to take one at night in order to get to sleep (staying asleep is another matter) and I'm about out. I absolutely hate taking stuff like that but it's the only thing that gets the pain to 'go away' so my brain can stop thinking about it. It's bad enough that the pain is always there during the day. Hubby has jokingly offered to break my hip so that they HAVE to replace it. He's tired of seeing me in pain every day.

~Michele

Do you have a family doctor or PCP to prescribe your pain meds?

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Originally Posted by sugarandspice Do you have a family doctor or PCP to prescribe your pain meds?

I do but I'm not very happy with her right now. She's the one who pretty much blew me off and tried to tell me everything was in my head or that 'she agreed with the ER doctor and I simply had a hip strain'. She reluctantly sent me to orthopedics (and according to her title she IS an orthopedic doctor). My husband's 12 year old daughter is having trouble with severe stomach pain and vomiting and she's trying to blow her off too, doesn't want to send her for any tests/scans 'because kids don't have problems with their stomachs'. Perhaps I'll call my OB's nurse in the morning and see what he says. I wish he was more than just an OB, he doesn't mess around.

~Michele