Hi all… I’ve been reading it’s pretty rare to have PSA in your hips unless you have it pretty severe. I have been doing ok, but having a lot of problems with my hips. Going to X Ray then MRI. Doctor thought it was actually my back, but MRI is clear. Starting MTX if needed. Thanks for any thoughts…
I don’t know about severe, but I’ve had flares in my hip joints. It was a couple years ago, and was ongoing for a few months, the last time. Hasn’t really been a big issue since then.
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Hi… Did you have pain in your hips? I don’t have any pain unless I lift my legs. And I have no range of motion when the doctor tries to rotate my leg. It’s weird. Getting an MRI…
Yes. I had pain in my hips. Whenever I was still for a bit, it was really painful to get moving. Mild change to range of motion, x ray changes visible with joint space narrowing.
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Is it normal for them to do an X-ray first?
It makes some sense to start with x rays. They’re reasonably inexpensive, and can supply starting information, such as narrowed joint spaces. MRI is required when they want to look at soft tissues specifically.
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Thank you… I’m going this week… Will update what happens…
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I would expect to have an x-ray first.
Well, you are now talking to a PsA-er who has it in her hips, and bad. And yes, I have it worse that Rheum #1 thought. I’ve had one hip replaced, and the other could be replaced at any time (it is done, bone-on-bone, totalled, wrecked) but for some reason that nobody can understand, it does not hurt. The surgeon says “doesn’t hurt, don’t mess with it”. However, I’m having some pretty persistent back pain, and I’m beginning to wonder whether that’s a result of one hip being a bit higher than the other.
Let’s hear it for PsA! Hip hip …
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On a positive note, I get pain in my hips, with limitations on range of movement sometimes in bad flares, but since steroids seem to be an immediate fix to both the pain and range of movement, damage is extremely unlikely (we haven’t even bothered with an X-ray). For me, at least, it seems the pain and limited ROM in my hips is more likely related to tendinitis, not joint damage per se, so that might be an option to look at if your MRI is relatively normal.
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I’ve got it in one hip pretty much from the start. In otherwords the xrays showed some damage. I really don’t think it’s incredibly rare to do so. And whilst I might disagree at times, I don’t think overall I have very severe PsA. Severe to me means lacking in a capacity to be controlled. Certainly not as severe as some others. It was very annoyingly painful for a time but it’s behaving a lot better recently.
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Yes, I get pain in my hips every day BUT I still have good range of movement. In hindsight I had a several month spell of very bad hip pain that necessitated using a stick to walk probably 6 years before my PsA diagnosis. I reckon that was early PsA, no other explanation for it.
If I sit still for more than a few minutes I stiffen up and have pain getting moving. If I’ve been in the car, that’s the kicker - either driving or as a passenger - I have this “interesting” lurch which gets me up from the seat to standing. And I can’t stand on one leg or lift one leg to get the other in my trousers etc. Like Jen, I suspect soft tissue inflammation rather than joint damage. Oh yes, and then there is the bursitis … been bad at night just lately. So I’d say symptoms in the hips are pretty common place.
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I don’t seem to have any pain unless they are manipulated by the doctor. I cannot lift my legs like you mentioned and I have no range of motion… So strange. I guess I will find out soon… thanks for the help…
The only recognised hip problem I’ve had has been bursitis. My rheumy expertly prodded one tiny spot in the side of my hip & it hurt like hell - instant dx of bursitis. I was told it may or may not have been due to PsA.
My hips hurt eventually when I’m lying down, I sleep on one side, then the other, then my back … repeat as necessary. I do not take stairs very elegantly to put it mildly and although my knees are damaged, I think it is stiffness in the hips that make stairs awkward, especially going down 'em.
PsA affects the hips. I knew that as soon as I met Seenie on here. And I know it from my own experience. But how and why will vary I think. I would guess that moving around even a little bit awkwardly is bound to put some strain on them even if they are not directly targeted by PsA.
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Hi!
I have constant hip issues like you. No range of motion, weakness, pain. I get lots of tendon issues and lots of stiffness/achiness too in my hips. Like Sybil I’m a side sleeper and it got so bad that I put a memory foam topper on top of our memory foam mattress!
After being almost immobilized two winters ago–I literally couldn’t do more than shuffle when I walked as I’d lost so much range of motion and anything more was agony–I got myself to a very well-educated physical therapist. She’s the best in town and the most expensive and the most holistic. I did have steroid shots in the hip bursae when it was the absolute worst. Just one time in each hip. And while that helped I’ve realized (for me) that heat and the right movement are as effective (albeit slower-acting).
The first rounds of physical therapy were in the (very) heated therapy pool (with underwater treadmill and jets). It was hard work but the heat, appropriately supervised stretches, and patience got me moving again.
Now I am seeing the physical therapist again because I have lofty goals for the summer which involve some quite rigorous hiking. We’re trying to work out some major mechanical problems that have, over a lifetime, caused the tendons in and around and attached to the hips to get tight. These bad mechanical tendencies were likely my body’s way of either protecting sore joints and/or as a response to chronic inflammation (which I get a lot of in my hips). The tendons pull everything out of alignment and they cause me to engage the “wrong” muscle groups to do just about everything, including sitting, walking and lifting (either weights or other parts of my body). Who knew you could sit “wrong”!!?? I’m in constant hip pain and now my knees are in it as well and have started locking up. But, I have a long and gentle treatment plan outlined and I’m positive it will make a difference. And, dammit, I will get up that hill this summer!!
In your shoes, just having this “immobility” happen, I was panicked and feared the worst. But unless you have apparent degeneration in your joints it might be as simple as inflammation and tendon issues locking things up. I hope that you can quickly rule out the medical causes and move to rehabilitative therapeutic movement to get yourself on the move again.
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Thanks… I hope to get answers this week… They are doing an x ray first then mri is needed…
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I reckon this is very important stuff @janeatiu. I’m pretty sure I can, and do, do anything & everything ‘wrong’. That’s one of the reasons, I think, why the mind has a bearing (though so do tons of other factors of course). If I’ve slept particularly well, if I’m excited or happy & so on & so forth … I move better, stand better, sit better … and some aches & pains ease up as a result.
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My hips are usually my biggest problem. I have it bi-laterally. They get so stiff and sore I shuffle when I walk. This was the biggest reason I ended up in a rheumies office. I have been on Enbrel for about 3 months, still waiting for it to do more. When my hips are flaring uop, which is regularly, my legs feel like they are full of water and walking is an effort. My work situtation has just changed and there is very limited handicap parking. I have gone from walking 50 feet to my office, to 500 to 1000 feet to get in the building. Government office, not usre if I need to get my lawyer involved in the handicap parking problem or not.
I don’t think PsA in the hips is rare, since it attacks major joints.
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My hips and knees were the first to start hurting. I can’t walk long distances without stopping. It’s very hard to go down steps. And especially sitting in a car for long distances is very painful. I have been on Plaquenil since 10/17. At my apt with the rheumy in January 2018 it was not doing what it needed to. All my joints are still very touchy. I have now developed a possible rotator cuff tear. My orthopedist said this can be caused from the PsA and Plaquenil. I get the results of the MRI Friday.
My rheumy is going thru the appeal process with my insurance to get Otezla approved. I can’t take MTX, Enbrel, Humira, Stelara or Cosentyx because my immune system is already comprised. I have had pneumonia 6 time since September of 2017. Hopefully they will approve the Otezla.
My pain has been quite worse because of the crazy weather we are having. I live in West Virginia. Yesterday it was sunny and 80 tomorrow it’s raining and 50. But such is our lives with Psa. I also have fibromyalgia. So the pain worsens even more with weather changes.
I love reading everyone’s comments and concerns. It’s even hard for my husband to understand what the pain is like. You look normal on the outside but sometimes something as simple as walking up stairs is such an effort.
You guys are very encouraging to me knowing someone else feels and understands my everyday struggles.
Thank you so much for letting me be a part of the group.
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I found pain in my hips was caused by PsA attacking the sacroiliac tendons.
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I have the same issue with my hips, and walking is excruciating. My issues started in 2008 with feeling like I was slogging through quicksand when walking. Also facet arthritis in my lower back and Crohns disease, so it makes sense that my hips are toast. Seeing a new rheumy soon…have been waiting 4 months to be seen and hope to try Humira. I can’t even fathom walking 500 feet. I can barely walk 10 feet before it feels like both hips are locked with stabbing pain. Hope you’ll get a handicapped space soon! Awful to start the workday like that.
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