lauren1978

Hi, my name is Lauren and I was diagnosed with hip dysplasia a week ago (unfortunately 5 days after my 29th birthday). It has been really tough to wrap my head around a sudden pain (never had trouble before now) that started 4 weeks ago leading to this diagnosis. But this is the reality. I would really love to get some positive (I need to hear success stories right now because I am in a dark place) from people my age who have hip dysplasia. The pain at this point is managable, I actually have periods with no pain at all and surgery could be 1-5 years off - this is what my doctor told me, I'm of course getting second opinions.

This is what I really need information / input on:

1. Alternative pain relief methods - how to cope before surgery is inevitable
2. People my age who have gone through surgery and how it has affected their ability to do the activities they used to do before the pain started - how active can you be? What does a prosthetic joint feel like? The thought of a foreign device being in my body really wigs me out right now. I know that will change as the pain increases because we take whatever course we need to for relief.
3. People who have had to have a second surgery after the first hip has worn out - I know I will have to deal with this more than once in my life becuase I am only 29
4. What it is like to have to artificial hips because while it is my right leg right now the left I could start to give me trouble at any point.
5. What other resources are there out there for those of us with hip dysplaysia - the typical ****** search brings up little on humans and mostly on canines.

I thank you all in advance for reading / responding to this call for help. I celebrate each and everyone of you that is going through this and is keeping their head up. Until a week ago my only real knowledge of hip dysplasia was my 3 year old black lab who will also have to go through THR in the next few years, Maggie and I have had more in common than I ever would have expected.