Question
Hi, I am twenty one years old and had a bi-lateral hip replacement about two years ago, i have recently suffering from sharp pains at the top of my hips and then down to my knees. The pain seems to permiate down to my lower leg. Its very sharp and intense i guess and its getting me down, i had to have the operartion because i had avascular neucrosis from sickle cell

Answer
If you've had your replacement about two years ago, that's a pretty young replacement.  First of all, do you feel as if the pain is coming from the groin area, or the inside of your hip near your crotch area?  If so, it may be that you have a problem with the prostheseis.   If it's on the outside of the hip, that is a less likely scenario.

If the pain starts at one end of your leg and then travels, it may be nerve damage.  Sometimes nerve damage occurs after a particulary hard surgery.  I have had nerve damage in my knee and although it took almost two years to heal, it will never go away, and I get a constant tingling sensation in my knee.

I would do the following:
1. Ask your doctor to take an MRI to see that there is no further damage from AVN in your legs.  AVN tends to travel, and sometimes can hit other joints in the knee and the ankles.

2. If that is not the problem, as if it is possible the prosthesis is loosening.  Have you been following your hip precautions?  Have you fallen recently?  Do you do contact sports?  Do you jog or run?  Any pounding exercise or exercise that puts your body out of alignment can cause pain.

3.If it is neither one of those things, see if you can go to a neurologist.  They can check to see if you have nerve damage and if it will repair itself.  My guess, is that it's nerve related, which can be a good thing.

4. You might was to ask your doctor to see a pain management person too.  Now, let me warn you about pain management people, I DON'T LIKE THEM.  I went to one and told her that I could not take a certain drug because I have had a kidney transplant.  She assured me it was OK to take it, and before I did, I called my kidney doctor who shuffled me out of that office.  Then I went to another one who put me on a morhphine based durg AVINZA, which made me sick as a dog, and I threw up, I could not go to the bathroom, nor eat.  I lost over 15 pounds and was a walking skeleton.  She kept saying the weight and sickness would get better, but it did not.  Finally, I just took myself off the medication, by weaning, and I was a mess. It was like coming off heroin.  I had goosebumps, I was throwing up, I was cold and then hot and my skin crawled.

I will never, ever see a pain managment person again.

So....first find out the cause and then you can attack the problem.

Best of luck to you, from one AVN'er to another