The bad: Weird hip problem

[beowabbit]

The bad is that I am in serious pain and can barely walk.

Saturday during the day I noticed a mild twinge in my left hip joint, the kind of thing I notice from time to time which normally goes away on its own in an hour or so. Saturday night I sat down at the computer for a couple of hours. When I got up, I was quite sore and limping. I have no idea what if anything actually happened to cause this; to my knowledge I didn’t do anything unusual. I had a hard time finding a position that worked for me to sleep in, but I found one (on my back, knees together and slightly bent on top of a pillow). When I woke up I felt a lot better and thought “Great! Maybe I’ll be over it.” Then I tried to get out of bed, though.

I was seriously hobbling yesterday, but able to make my way around. I bought myself a cane at the drugstore, on the theory that recently I’ve had two twisted ankles and a bad hip, and plumtreeblossom has had occasional minor knee and ankle trouble, and her mother visited and could really have used a cane while she was here, and it seemed like an investment with excellent returns. And I drove to plumtreeblossom’s instead of taking the T, despite the fact that that means I have to pay $20 for parking at work tomorrow, because I didn’t think I could handle the walk to and from the T station.

It’s a good thing I have that cane; I don’t know what I’d do without it.

I was mostly OK for my date with Mare, limping with the cane and occasionally in pain but functional. When we went to bed (around midnight) I tried to duplicate the position that had worked for me the previous night. I woke up once probably around 1:30 and had to get some Aleve. At 3:00 I woke up moaning and couldn’t stay in bed because I couldn’t find a position that didn’t hurt. Even with the cane, I couldn’t pick up my left leg to take a step and I couldn’t put any weight on it, so I had this funny shuffle where I’d scoot my good foot forward on the floor, balancing with the cane, and then slide my left leg along the floor. Sitting hurts a lot less than lying down, so plumtreeblossom set me up in the living room with my laptop. (I don’t normally carry that with me; it’s fortuitous that I had it with me today.) I’ve been sitting for an hour, and I’m feeling a lot better. With the cane I can take steps; even a few small steps without it. (I tested this just now by going to the kitchen for a cupcake and some water.) An hour ago I was debating whether I needed to go to the emergency room right away, but now (if I don’t get worse) I think I probably won’t even have to tomorrow.

This is weird. Nothing happened to cause this. It definitely feels like a joint thing; it feels like it’s right in the ball-and-socket joint (although I don’t know if that’s the sort of thing I can tell). It’s definitely not muscular. And although even small movements hurt, it seems like it’s very seriously aggravated by long periods of immobility (like my couple hours sitting at the computer or my three hours in bed tonight), and it seems like using the joint (however gently and gingerly) helps.

*Sigh.* I hope this is just a weird thing that goes away and doesn’t come back, and not the first discovery that I’m developing arthritis or something. The last thing I need is another major medical adventure to embark upon.

Anyway, I think I’m going to try sleeping in this chair shortly. I’m feeling a lot more comfortable now.

Sorry for bending your collective ear!

PS — The other bad is that the wireless here seems to be really sporadic. :-)

Comments

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

Questions that come to mind for differential diagnosis (YMMV):

1) does it hurt when you passively move the joint (meaning, if you relax and the joint is moved by someone else)? if yes, it may be a sprain. If no, it may be a strain.

2) do you feel any similar twinges in the other hip? (if yes, may be rheumatoid inflammation-related, if no, may be osteo-related)

3) How are you sure that it isn't muscle related? It sounds like it could be sciatica. You might not know that unless/until you got it checked out.

4) have you been eating a lot of nightshades lately?


Hope it feels better soon...BTW, DO NOT USE HEAT on it. That will just increase any inflammation. ;-}

[beowabbit]

1) does it hurt when you passively move the joint (meaning, if you relax and the joint is moved by someone else)?

It hurts when I move the joint actively or passively, but some particular motions hurt one way and not the other. (Lifting my knee towards my chest, for instance, hurts if I do it actively but not passively. But rotating my leg along the long axis hurts whether I do it or whether, oh, say, for instance, a cat leans up against my foot.)

2) do you feel any similar twinges in the other hip?

Nope. Well, except that I’ve been walking so funny and putting so much more weight on the other hip, so I’m starting to feel twinges now, but they don’t feel remotely similar.

3) How are you sure that it isn't muscle related?

I’m not sure it isn’t muscle related, but the sorts of things that hurt (e.g., very small passive movements), and where the pain subjectively seems to be) doesn't seem muscular.

It sounds like it could be sciatica. You might not know that unless/until you got it checked out.

Yeah, I just looked up sciatica on Wikipedia (not the best source, I’m sure) and there’s a particular spot where pressure hurts particularly badly that coincides with the path of the sciatic nerve. So this seems quite plausible.

4) have you been eating a lot of nightshades lately?

I eat potatoes (but probably less than average for an American) and peppers, but I haven’t had particularly more of them lately than I’ve always had.

BTW, DO NOT USE HEAT on it. That will just increase any inflammation. ;-}

Thank you so much for that advice! Otherwise I might have tried a heating pad tonight.

By the way, I thought your expertise was in speech pathology; how’d you learn so much about this sort of thing? Or is it just that you’re omniscient? I wouldn’t be surprised at that, since it would be just one of your divine characteristics.

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

I also was a licensed/certified massage therapist for several years (not the hippy-crystally kind but the serious anatomy and physiology kind) and have a hobby of studying health issues and how to preserve function, especially through diet. (BTW, no, I'm not practicing as a massage therapist these days. At least, not officially.)

Though I like the idea of being omniscient. Would make things wicked interesting for awhile. But only for awhile.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

If it is sciatica-related, I know some great passive positions to help relieve the pressure (and if it isn't, it won't cause damage), though it's a little hard to explain in text. Will I see you anytime soon? I can show you.

(Stuff that I learned as part of my bodywork training, btw. Yay for massage! And training! :)

Will you be seeing a specialist about it?

[beowabbit]

Will I see you anytime soon? I can show you.

Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to leave the house except for medical care until this is significantly better (unless maybe there is parking just a few yards from where I am going). Not interested in repeating this morning’s adventure, character-building though it may have been. Thanks, though!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I definitely support you going to see a specialist first and soon and not going out until then! *hug*