Not having any hands left free to save myself, I came down with an almighty, loud and VERY painful *CRACK* flat on my arse that echoed round the valley.
For ages afterwards, I could hardly move and was in excruciating pain, but I was too hurt to be able to drive, or get the bus to see a doctor, so I could only wait for the pain to subside. It never did get better completely and I was left with a clicking and clunking in my right hip joint, which constantly gets stiff and achy, but at least in Tenerife's climate, the pain was only really bothersome on the couple of days a month when there was a significant amount of rain.
However, since I've been stuck the UK, I've been in really severe pain 24/7/365 - like having a permanent "gnawing toothache" - in my hip. It never goes away and often keeps me awake. It's totally distracting and is so bad that it often makes me cry, wince, sweat and feel nauseous. It hurts to put weight on the leg and hip and the pain is made worse by walking even short distances. I can't stand on it, I can't even sit on it comfortably and even lying down, I have to place my leg in very specific positions in order to make it just bearably comfortable.
I've spent all these years teaching myself NOT to limp and to resist any temptation to place more weight on the left hip in compensation, lest I cause more trouble (so, of course, it doesn't *LOOK* like anything is wrong), but the pain also refers right down my leg, thigh, knee and to my ankle and foot. All of those joints and muscles hurt anyway, but the right side suffers worse.
For ages afterwards, I could hardly move and was in excruciating pain, but I was too hurt to be able to drive, or get the bus to see a doctor, so I could only wait for the pain to subside. It never did get better completely and I was left with a clicking and clunking in my right hip joint, which constantly gets stiff and achy, but at least in Tenerife's climate, the pain was only really bothersome on the couple of days a month when there was a significant amount of rain.
However, since I've been stuck the UK, I've been in really severe pain 24/7/365 - like having a permanent "gnawing toothache" - in my hip. It never goes away and often keeps me awake. It's totally distracting and is so bad that it often makes me cry, wince, sweat and feel nauseous. It hurts to put weight on the leg and hip and the pain is made worse by walking even short distances. I can't stand on it, I can't even sit on it comfortably and even lying down, I have to place my leg in very specific positions in order to make it just bearably comfortable.
I've spent all these years teaching myself NOT to limp and to resist any temptation to place more weight on the left hip in compensation, lest I cause more trouble (so, of course, it doesn't *LOOK* like anything is wrong), but the pain also refers right down my leg, thigh, knee and to my ankle and foot. All of those joints and muscles hurt anyway, but the right side suffers worse.
A year ago, I mentioned this to my GP, who merely suggested I bring it up with the Rheumatologist to whom I was referred for my fibromyalgia diagnosis, which I certainly did, but they didn't carry out any specific examinations or tests on it.
Meanwhile, none of the drugs I've tried ever does anything whatsoever to relieve the pain. Warmer "summer" (which in the UK, of course, just means "the even wetter season") weather did nothing whatsoever to help any of my symptoms, so I've been way past the end of my tether with it for months.
This could just be fibromyalgia. These symptoms are typical of the commonly overlapping condition, Myofascial Pain Syndrome (or MPS), but then again, it could indicate something else. If it did, that might mean that some treatment is available. When something hurts this bad, for this long, if nothing else, it would be a good idea to know that I'm not doing myself some permanent damage.
The GP did say that I couldn't have broken my hip - partly because I'm not old enough (I laughed at this backhanded compliment), but also because I wouldn't have been able to put weight on it. Oh really? This is not always the case. Do a cursory search on Google and you'll find numerous cases like this: GP failed to spot broken hip eight times, where the wounded appear still to be walking.
So, finally this week, I decided to get assertive and demand that the GP refer me to have this specifically investigated and I was asked if I'd like it x-rayed. Yes, I would. This was done yesterday and the results should be available in 2 weeks ...
Meanwhile, none of the drugs I've tried ever does anything whatsoever to relieve the pain. Warmer "summer" (which in the UK, of course, just means "the even wetter season") weather did nothing whatsoever to help any of my symptoms, so I've been way past the end of my tether with it for months.
This could just be fibromyalgia. These symptoms are typical of the commonly overlapping condition, Myofascial Pain Syndrome (or MPS), but then again, it could indicate something else. If it did, that might mean that some treatment is available. When something hurts this bad, for this long, if nothing else, it would be a good idea to know that I'm not doing myself some permanent damage.
The GP did say that I couldn't have broken my hip - partly because I'm not old enough (I laughed at this backhanded compliment), but also because I wouldn't have been able to put weight on it. Oh really? This is not always the case. Do a cursory search on Google and you'll find numerous cases like this: GP failed to spot broken hip eight times, where the wounded appear still to be walking.
So, finally this week, I decided to get assertive and demand that the GP refer me to have this specifically investigated and I was asked if I'd like it x-rayed. Yes, I would. This was done yesterday and the results should be available in 2 weeks ...
30 Sep 2009: Good news and bad news
The good news: The results from my x-ray, I was told, were that there was no evidence of damage, breaks, nor any underlying osteoarthritis that might account for the ongoing pain. The bad news: ditto all of the above.
Well, that's what I wrote at the time, because that's what the GP told me.
Fast forward 13 years to 2022, when I asked my new GP for a printout and on that printout, in black and white, it says "Osteoarthritis of hip. Rt, early OA + some degree of impingement". So, what I was told in 2009 was not true.
