Question:
My wife has been diagnosed with a degenerated right hip, x-rays show bone on bone conditions and calcium deposits around her hip socket. She can barely walk, especially after sitting for a bit, and NEVER sleeps more than an hour at a time before waking up screaming in pain. The pain and severe cramping start in her lower back and right buttock extending down through her groin, inside and over her thigh, which cramps severely, and down into her calf, with cramping also. She cannot straighten out her legs, particularly, when lying on her back, without great pain. I believe this describes “sciatica”. Her Orthopedic Surgeon states she must have hip replacement. In your opinion, would the surgery stop the pain? Would Prolotherapy stop the pain?
Answer:
No doctor can guarantee that what they do will stop all of the pain but from what you describe it sounds like your wife has ‘end-stage’ hip arthritis. As such she needs a total hip replacement. Because her hip basically doesn’t move because of the ‘bone on bone’ phenomenon her body has compensated by causing the pelvic movement to occur at her sacroiliac joint and lower back. That is probably why she has pain in her lower back also. It is hoped that having the hip replacement will solve all of her pains. I suspect it will help most of her pains. If she has residual pain in her lower back after the hip replacement then she needs an evaluation for Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy to the lower back and sacroiliac joints would hopefully resolve the rest of her pain.