Hip Pain

Before I get to my question/dilemma, here is a rundown of my TMS experience.

I’ve been an avid weight lifter/body builder and runner most of my life. In my late 20s, I noticed that I started have limited range of motion in both of my hips which I attributed to poor flexibility and my body structure. I didn’t notice any pain unless I really forced my hips to internally or externally rotate, so I avoided activities that required this. In my mid-30s, I decided to try out the Insanity workout, which is a very high intensity and high impact workout. Over the course of doing Insanity, I started to notice a lot more loss of flexibility in my hips and some pain (burning) even when I was sedentary.

In 2015, my medical provider ordered x-rays of my hips. I was told that my hips looked like a 75 year old’s due to osteoarthritis. I had a lot of bone spurs and very thin cartilage in both hips and was told by an orthopedic surgeon that I was a candidate for total hip replacement (THR). The surgeon suspected congenital hip dysplasia as the reason for the accelerated hip degeneration.

Before going through surgery, I tried a cortisone injection in the most deteriorated hip (left) and a few different prescription anti-inflammatory medications. The cortisone injection had zero effect on my hip pain, but the anti-inflammatories seemed to help.

As I was contemplating a THR, I started having significant issues with lower back spasms/pain. My orthopedic surgeon sent me to a back specialist to rule out the possibility that my back was exacerbating my hip pain. The back specialist said my back looked okay except for some normal age related osteoarthritis and a couple ruptured/bulging disks. The back spasms/pain proved to be far more debilitating than the hip pain and I ended up getting a cortisone injection in my lower back which seemed to help. When I returned to my orthopedic surgeon he decided that the back issues were probably not causing my hip pain and said that the next step was a THR.

Eventually, I decided to get my left hip replaced. After surgery my left hip pain was gone and my range of motion was better than I had ever remembered (and still is). However, during my recovery from hip surgery I kept having issues with my low back and I eliminated all exercises that might aggravate my back.
Earlier this year, I decided to test out my back and did some straight legged deadlifts with very light weight. To those who have never lifted weights, the motion is very similar to bending at the waist to touch your toes. My back immediately went into spasm when I did the lift, and I was laid up for several days. During my recovery from this low back episode I decided to check out Healing Back Pain because I had heard Dr. Sarno’s name mentioned several times on the Howard Stern Show. I had downloaded the book on Audible several months prior, but never got around to listening to it. I started listening to parts of it every day, and slowly my low back pain disappeared. I now do squats and deadlifts with over 300 lbs with no back issues. I am also considering following through with one of the goals I had when I was in my 20s; competing in a bodybuilding competition.

Here is my dilemma: My right hip (the one that I didn’t have surgery on) is starting to have significant pain when I do squats and deadlifts and seems to be getting worse. The pain primarily occurs when I bring my hips forward at the end of the lift. I want to believe that this is simply the symptom imperative and that my pain is TMS, but I am not so sure. It doesn't help that in Healing Back Pain, Dr. Sarno mentions that some osteoarthritic hip joints can be painful. I plan on going to see my orthopedic surgeon again to find out if my hip degeneration has gotten worse over the past 2 years, especially since I am able to and have been doing exercises like squats and deadlifts (thanks to no back pain). I know my story might be a little unique, but has anyone else with significant hip degeneration (as seen on x-ray) been able to overcome the pain by simply treating it as TMS?

 

When it comes to hips, you might try reading some of the post by Tennistom ... or you could try sending him a message...