Confused!

I was diagnosed with AS and RA 10 years ago.
I read Healing Back Pain a year ago and have been on mind body healing journey since.
I’ve had some success especially with my back however I have pain in the outer upper hip area (only when I walk)
An Xray shows cartlidge wear and I’m getting heat from my consultant, partner and Osteopath to have a hip replacement but I’m not convinced.
For the last 3 weeks I’ve been doing glute strengthening exercises which I’m pretty sure are improving things slowly.
On occasion I can walk pain free.

Over the years pain has moved around my wrists, upper arms and feet but this has settled down now

I feel like I need confirmation to keep me on the mind body healing journey before I succumb to my advisors.

I’m in the UK and would be interested to know if there are any TMS influenced doctors that I could see, it seems we are a bit behind on the mind body thing.
Every professional I’ve seen so far has filled me with doom and have used words like severe, incurable etc.
Thanks.
Al

 

Welcome to the forum, @Al Salmon! (from a fellow Brit)

I asked perplexity.ai about this and this it what it said...

"If you need a hip replacement, it is common for your hip to hurt not only when walking but also when you are at rest or during the night. Persistent or recurring pain in and around the hip joint-sometimes felt in the groin, thigh, or even radiating to the knee-is a key symptom that can occur both during activity and while resting. Many people experience pain that can disturb sleep, make it difficult to get comfortable when sitting, or even wake them up at night.

In summary, hip pain severe enough to require a hip replacement is usually not limited to walking or movement; it can also be present when you are sitting, lying down, or trying to sleep."

But, of course, now I've posted the above to you, your TMSing brain may make it that your hip hurts when you are at rest!... Because a TMSing brain doesn't want you to be on to it! It wants you to be preoccupied and distracted with symptoms and not dealing with your anger/rage and other emotions, to keep you safe from what it perceives is dangerous in your life.

Also, bearing in mind what perplexity.ai advises, how come you don't have pain when you're at rest if the professionals are right and the situation in your case is "severe, incurable etc"? -- That's what I'd be asking myself.

Did they X-ray both hips? Often they just X-ray the one that's troubling you, but if they were to X-ray the other pain-free hip they'd probably find that it has just as much wear and tear as the other one (i.e. with 'normal abnormalities' that happen to us all as we age, and don't actually cause pain).

If you go on the NHS you'll probably be waiting on the waiting list for anything up to two years or so for a hip replacement (my cousin waited two years, two months for her hip op and she was told that the wear and tear was 'severe'!) -- At best I would guess that it would take them a year to offer you an op, so that would give you a lot of time to do the necessary TMS work to get pain free (or at least improved enough for you to be convinced that it's TMS) and, in the meantime, it should shut up those who are worrying and nagging you and on your case! Once the pain has gone, you can just opt out and cancel being on the waiting list, what with being so called 'elective surgery'.

 

@Al Salmon Further to my reply to you above, I also asked perplexity.ai for surgeons in the UK who do hip surgery who are into mind/body reasons for the pain and it came up with...

"There is at least one UK joint replacement surgeon who emphasizes the mind-body connection in his approach to hip replacements: Prof. Nikhil Pradhan in Cheshire. He is recognized for his holistic care, explicitly acknowledging the interplay between physical and psychological factors in joint replacement surgery. Prof. Pradhan integrates mental health support and considers the psychological aspects of pain and recovery, including techniques like mindfulness and meditation, as part of his patient care

While many UK hip surgeons focus on advanced surgical techniques and rehabilitation, Prof. Pradhan stands out for his commitment to addressing both the physical and psychological dimensions of joint pain and recovery. If you are seeking a surgeon who is open to mind/body reasons for pain, he would be a strong candidate to consider."

I then asked if there are any other surgeons with a similar philosophy and it said...

"Based on available information, Prof. Nikhil Pradhan in Cheshire is the most clearly identified UK hip replacement surgeon who explicitly integrates mind-body principles and psychological support into his practice. He emphasizes the mental aspects of pain, recovery, and rehabilitation, using techniques such as mindfulness and meditation alongside surgical care.

A review of other prominent UK hip surgeons and clinics-including Mr. Hugh Apthorp, The London Hip Clinic, The London Hip Unit, and Mr. Rishi Chana-shows a strong focus on advanced surgical techniques, minimally invasive approaches, and personalized care, but there no explicit mention of mind-body or psychosomatic approaches to pain in their publicly available materials. While these clinics and surgeons may provide holistic or multidisciplinary care, including physiotherapy and patient support, they do not advertise a specific focus on mind-body reasons for pain.

In summary, Prof. Pradhan appears to be uniquely recognized for a mind-body approach among UK hip surgeons based on currently available information. If you are seeking a surgeon with this specific philosophy, he remains the most prominent option."

 

Hip replacement surgery sounds a bit drastic for some cartilage wear?
How much pain are you in?
If you needed a new hip, would you be able to walk pain free some of the time right now?
I don't know the answers to those questions I'm just throwing them out there.

My thoughts are that you can always get hip surgery later. It's very common surgery and it does have good success rates.
Unless you are in a great deal of pain, if it was me I would take that off the table right now. The fact that it's in consideration might lead your brain to continue down the pain path. It's probably always on your mind, consciously and/or unconsciously.

One of the weirdly magic things about our brain and pain is that whenever we focus on a certain area, we can start to feel pain there. And when we don't think about the area (consciously or unconsciously) we don't feel a thing.

Here's a recent example from me that might help get across the point.
I had a mole or something on my upper back. It was kind of large and oval in shape but light in color. I (surprisingly for me!) didn't worry at all about it.
One day I took a look at my back in the mirror and saw that there were some brown dots in it. I had husband take a look and he described it for me.
Ok, still not that big of a deal. But it got me starting to think about it a little bit. A few months later, looked again. Now the entire top half was brown. And it was feeling more raised. I optimistically diagnosed myself with a seborrheic keratosis. BUT from that moment I started noticing pain in that area. Over time, even though I thought the thing was probably nothing, my mind started to go down the skin cancer route and that it had spread into my back (?) and that's why there was pain there. So now it was pain, pain, pain. Fear, Fear, Fear. pain pain pain. Endlessly thinking about it, even when I wasn't thinking about it. I kept logically telling myself it was nothing and the pain in my back couldn't possibly be from the mole. Or could it? And then one day, the thing FELL OFF. And there was blood. And I freaked out. Tried to get a derm appointment (whole 'nother story). I saved the stupid little thing that fell off and went straight to the clinic. The dermatologist wasn't supposed to be allowed to see me without a referral and blah, blah, blah but they saw how panicked I was and the dermatologist was on a lunch break so she came in and took a look. She confirmed it was nothing.
Can you guess what happened to the pain in that area that I was experiencing nearly all the time up to that point?
Yes, you guessed it. It went away.
I get occasional twinges in that area from normal muscular/posture issues but now it doesn't even register in my brain.

I tell that stupidly long story because it really highlighted to me, once again, how powerful the thinking and focusing on something amplifies it.

So back to you.....are you able to set aside worrying about whether or not the pain is from the actual worn cartilage or not and instead focus for the time being on your TMS work?
Worn cartilage isn't going to kill you so immediate action and focus on "should I or shouldn't I" really isn't necessary.
If you do your Sarno work, then maybe all the pain will start to drift away.

Good luck!

 

Wow!
Thanks for the in depth replies, this is just what I was looking for.
The hip pain feels like the final boss and I need a little leg up to get over it.
The pain completely consumes me and it’s made my world so small which I’m sure is making things worse, I just need to break the cycle.
I’ve had moments where I completely get it and feel a whoosh of relief but these moments evaporate once my mind takes over again.
Tricky one.
Thank you very much for taking the time to help.
Al

 

My pleasure. The brain is a sneaky little buggah.
Our bodies are also remarkable.
I one time had a conversation (on paper) with my autonomic nervous system. It told me to stop trying to control everything. It said it could keep things running much better if I got out of its way.

Sometimes we have to let our bodies take care of us without thinking about it!

 

Amen to that.
Sounds so simple ☺️

 

Maybe it is?

 

Bullseye