why is the muscle in my leg getting smaller? how do i get the muscle back without haveing alot of pain?

Question

i have hip perthes and my left leg is smaller than my right in all ways. lenght, diameter, and my left butt cheek is alot smaller than my right. if i sit for more than an hour my whole left leg goes to sleep and hurts like hell. i have been on pain killers for 16 years and they dont help anymore. it is starting to move into my lower back and sometimes i have to use my hands to pick my leg up to get out of bed in the a.m. please help.

Answer 1

Have you had an xray done of your hip recently? It could be that you may need to look at a hip replacement or resurfacing at some point in the near future.

Pain killers only mask symptoms and after longterm use, they do lose their effectiveness. Getting fitter is important here, whether or not a hip replacement is needed, as you sound like you are losing muscle bulk, which is due to lack of use of the muscles.

I had perthes as a child and at 44 years of age, am in pain most days now. I have a referral to the specialist for a replacement, as I also need to lift my leg sometimes - mostly getting in and out of the car. I also have fibromyalgia, so have been taking some pretty potent pain meds for a number of years and honestly, they don't work as well nowdays, as they used to. But some help is better than none!

I set up a website with info about perthes at www.perthesnz.bravehost.com and also a support group for adults who had perthes as children at http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/adultperthessurvivors/

Hope that these help you

Donna

Answer 2

Please ask your primary care physician to refer you to a neurologist (they also work with muscle problems) and a physiatrist (no, not the same as a psychiatrist-these are doctors that work in Physical Rehabilitation of injuries-an example of what they do-that can also work to help find the problems causing pain that continues on).

Because of the kind of tests these doctors can do they may be able to help you figure out what is causing the problem with these muscles to see if there might be other options for helping to treat the condition.