So I'm posting this here (in the proper place) now that I have a full diagnosis of my issues I've been asking about... I'd been having some flexibility issues that were stopping me from doing roundhouse kicks. After some Dr. appts and finally a trip to see Orthopedics yesterday I have come to find out that I have Advanced Osteoarthritis on both sides. It also appears that the ball part of my hip joints aren't perfectly round anymore and are starting to "elongate" I think is the term he used. I also have little osteocytes or bone spurs that have developed on the ball. According to the Dr, it's these Osteocytes that are stopping my actual flexibility as I try to raise my legs to the side (think typical leg lift) these Osteocytes come in contact with the hip joint and stop the movement. The dr. was not keen on suggesting hip replacement due to my age, 44. He also was not interested in cortisone shots as my daily pain really isn't all that bad yet. It kind of comes and goes. So I'm essentially in a pain management situation now and waiting for everything to just get worse. Obviously, I'm not crazy about that idea but still, this is the only option I've been given so far. My MA instructors are ok with my limitation and are willing to work with me on it, but I'm not ok with just accepting this unless I have no choice. I still plan on doing leg lifts and stretches to try and strengthen the muscles in these areas as much as I can but, obviously, I'm being told to not push it once it begins to hurt. So I guess my question here is, does anyone know of anything, supplements, exercises, literally anything that I can try to better myself in this area? I can accept that I'm not going to be kicking anyone in the head but right now, I'd be lucky to kick someone in the knee.
Speaking a one who also has Osteoarthritis of the hips....the knees and a shoulder...I don't have much to tell you other than exercise will hurt but not exercising will hurt more in the long run. I have had cortisone shots in my knees, my shoulder and one hip and the shot in the knees lasted a for years, but I had surgery on one last June and the other will be in March. One for torn meniscus and arthritis the other is going to be for torn meniscus and stress fracture of the tibia. The shot in the shoulder has lasted the longest time, many years now and still ok. However the one in the hip was great for 8 weeks and then the pain returned. Somedays it is fine, some days it isn't, but movement, even movement that is a little painful seems to be the key. Also certain foods will aggravate the inflammation, sugar and salt are both bad for arthritis, found that out the hard way, over did it on salty food one day and followed that up with some candy a co worker brought from India, which was pretty much condensed sugar. Before the day was out I could not walk and ended up taking the next day off from work due to extreme hip pain. Asked my doctor about the sugar and salt connection recently and he said that both could cause inflammation So exercise and diet can make a big difference I got a lot of info from the Arthritis Foundation Benefits of Exercise for Osteoarthritis | Arthritis Foundation
I’m sorry to hear about your arthritis in the hips. The main UK charity is Versus Arthritis and they have a lot of useful info. Diet can make a significant difference. Here’s the Versus Arthritis advice about diet. If you can afford private treatment, then I recommend finding a sports physician to ask about a hyaluronic acid injection. There’s growing evidence to support the use of hyaluronic acid injections. You could also ask a sports physician about a platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection, which is a emerging as a possible treatment. Also, there’s a possibility that Flexiseq gel can help a little with arthritis, and you can buy it cheaply over the counter. Last but not least, don’t give up hope! Considerable work is underway with stem cell therapy, and I’d guess we’ll have stem cell therapy available for arthritis eventually.
Oh man - I'm sorry to hear that I've been living with grade 4 arthritis in my hip for 2-3 years now and am looking forward to upgrading to a metal one later this year Probably every situation is different, but I can share what I've learned from living with it whilst training 5+ times a week in BJJ and TMA (Bujinkan) as a 47 year old In my experience: - Putting your joint into positions where the pain kicks in is counter productive. The more those bone spurs rub against the bones, the faster they grow and the worse your condition becomes - Adjust your game to accommodate your restrictions. Accept your limitations (I never go to the turtle position for example) and focus on perfecting techniques that don't rely on hip flexibility - It's all about inflammation around the joint. Learn to love ibuprofen, ice packs and inflammation reducing creams. Also as others have said diet can help too - Keeping the muscles around the joint stable is important, particularly as the condition progresses. When it flares up I invariably limp which has knock on consequences in terms of muscle atrophy and imbalances of posture etc - Get scans done (my issue was misdiagnosed several times before I insisted on getting scans/xrays done) and find a doctor who understands the needs of younger sportive people (most hip doctors spend most of their time dealing with older, less active people) Hope this helps somewhat and please treat it as advice from a stranger on the internet rather than someone who actually knows what they're talking about
Thank you everyone for your advice (and yes, that's all I take it as... just advice, but still well appreciated!) I will certainly look into the diets, I working on getting a much better diet for myself anyways and well, what better time to adopt something different eh? Best thing that I am trying to do right now is stay active... and NOT be defeated. Admittedly, it's very depressing when I first found out about this but I sure as hell aint gonna give up. The resources around me as far as specialty doctors and physicians are very limited. The area I live in is a dying town so we have pretty much just barely above the basics here but I do have a YMCA that has classes for flexibility and hip / joint strengthening so I'm going to enroll in those to see how that helps me. The real kick in the pants is that the only real place this seems to affect me is in roundhouse kicks and deep horse stances. Deep horse stances, I have found a way to slightly alter my pelvic position to allow me to stand comfortably but I'm having a hell of a time finding an alternate position for the kicks. Snap kicks, rear kicks, no problems. Side kicks I cannot do 100% correct but I have found a position that's kind of in between a proper side kick and a rear kick that allows me to lift my leg parallel with the ground and give a good hard kick. My instructors are fine with that one... that roundhouse though. That's going to be my biggest stumbling block through all of this and it's so widely used. How odd is it that crescent kicks actually feel good? lol. They've got me on an arthritis med right now, which I'm not entirely sure is working all that well. It's in the same family as Aleve so besides that, I can only take Tylenol on top of it if it flares up too bad.
Hi, spawn2031. Sorry to hear about that! Sounds painful and frustrating. Just a quick followup to Monkey_Magic's post above: If you're in the US, note that many health insurance plans will not pay for hyaluronic acid and (especially) PRP injections. I'm not an orthopedist/sports med guy, but it's my understanding that the (American) medical community and, more importantly, insurance companies are awaiting more and better data on the efficacy of these interventions before loosening the purse strings. If this applies to you, be sure to ask the provider about their experience with insurance coverage and out-of-pocket costs. Good luck!
I've heard that supplements play a big role in treating any injury. But they must be taken according to proper medical advice, and upto a certain extent, other excess can cause a big danger.
Hey sorry about your pain. Have you tried or been evaluated by a physical therapist? I had PT for a hip issue (not arthritis related) and it helped a lot. I would say be careful, your body is telling you it needs care now and not to be pushed. Try to thrive in your new normal
