When I was 2yrs old I had septic arthritis in the right hip. It took the Shriners Hospital in Chicago to figured it out. Now I am 24 and have seen the Shriners my whole life. They also took the growth plates out of my left knee when I was 13 to help even the lengths of my legs. Because my hip is sort of deteriorating I have lost about an inch and a half between the legs. The legs are actually the same length, the difference is in the hip itself. This is screwing my back up because I walk with a lift on my right shoe and that throws my pelvis off. My left knee hurts most of the time because it is so abused and my left foot has and inflammed muscle in the heal from the crookedness in my walk. I can't bend over hardly anymore and everything is a chore. My Doctor is suggesting a hip fusion and that sounds terrible to me I alreadly feel limited enough! I'm so frusturated it would be nice to hear from someone with similar issues. Should I have a hip fusion? How do you deal with the constant pain?

-- Brian Timmer (ohthereitis@hotmail.com), April 12, 2004

Answers

Hi Brian, I can only tell you how I dealt with and am dealing with constant pain from my past with 4 back surgeries in 18 months to my more recent bout with chronic pain from bursitis of the hip. If your dr. can treat you with anti inflammatory medicine, then stay on that. For nerve pain a good combo is Neurontin and Elavil. There are muscle relaxants and of course narcotics. Limitation of your activities certainly will help and don't forget to ask your family for help in doing physical activities. If the pain is too overwhelming, I would consider a pain management center, where they can customize what meds work best for you. Good luck.

-- Charlotte Miller (philylady@hotmail.com), April 18, 2004.