Question
Dear Sharon, My daughter asked me this today about my pain that I have been experiencing since my total hip replacment 3 months ago.  I was doing fine, so happy to not have the pain that I had been having in my left hip for so long. Then I started having severe low back pain, which I have not been able to resolve with physical therapy, chiropractic therapy, or even with pain medication.  Now the pain has spread over my whole body, mostly in my joints, with swelling in my feet and hands. I am having trouble trying to type this, making many mistakes as I go along.  Can my body be rejecting the hip replacement?  It is titanium, with the femoral head being oxinium. It sounds just too strange to even think of, but is it possible? This is what my daughter told me to think about, and do some research about to see if anyone else has had this same experiences after a hip replacement. Thank you , Chris

Answer
Dear Christine

My first inclination when you mentioned pain was to see if your legs are the same length.  Sometimes if there is a difference in leg length, even as little as 1/2 inch, you can have pain in your joints because your body is not walking normally.  But the concern I had was the swelling and the pain that is radiating through your body.  That is a real concern, and needs to be evaluated by your doctor.  No one can tell you the answer via the internet.

Personally I have never had that happen to me after 3 months post op.  I did have swelling for six monts after a very  hard revision surgery, but that swelling was present from the start, and went down slowly.  In your case, it seems as if your swelling happened after the first few weeks, which is a concern.

The easiest outcome would be if you over exerted yourself in some way (sometimes this happens if patients feel so good, they forget they have restrictions and do things they are not suppoed to do and strain a muscle or ligament).  But because your full body seems to be affected, my suggestion is that you don't wait longer and speak with your surgeon as soon as you can.

There is always chance for infection with hip surgery, and you will need to speak with your doctor to ensure that you have not picked up an infection in the hip.

My best to you and I pray it's an easy fix.

Sharon