Question
Hello Mr.Crowley,

Thank you for your time!

This question is for my father, who is 79 years old and lives alone in Goa, India. He is 5 ft 3 inches in height and weighs 120 lbs with a waist size of 35.5 inches, is physically and socially active and eats a healthy vegetarian diet.

In early July, he had moderate pain in his joints of right hip and thigh. The results of his X-ray for both his hips and pelvis is as below:

1) Visualized bones show normal mineralisation
2) No E/O fracture/LYTIC/SCLEROTIC lesion seen
3) Both hip joints and both sacroiliac joints appear normal
4) Soft tissues appear normal

His Orthopedist had prescribed Etoricoxib for 10 days. The pain decreased only slightly. He was then prescribed Diclofenac once per day for 10 days after which the pain was more or less the same. He was then prescribed Diclofenac three times per day for 10 days and the pain finally went away.

He was also recovering from a throat infection at this time and had a flu shot in the first week of August. Right away after the flu shot, the  moderate pain in his right hip/knees joints have returned. He saw his Orthopedist again on Saturday and was given Etoricoxib for 10 days.

As of today, the pain has not changed in any way.

Questions:
1) Do you recommend we get a second opinion now or after 10 days when the Etoricoxib has been completed?

2) With this limited information and a normal X-ray, what could be the reason for his pain?

Thank you!!
Zent

Answer
Hello Zent,

At least from the x-ray results, it would seem to me that
your father's hip pain may be from inappropriately
tight soft-tissue in his hips, upper thighs, and back.
My free website has a DIY hip pain relief page here,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/hip-pain-relief.html

He may not be able to do all the things I show in the videos, but
if he watches them, does what he can, and maybe has a family
member or friend work on some of the tight areas for him,
Here's my techniques page if they want to watch it,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/joint-pain-relief-techniques.htm

If not that, have a professional massage therapist do deep tissue work on everything
from his middle back down to his knees and release any tight tissue they find. That
should help a lot, and hopefully fix the problem all together.

I do hope this proves useful.
All the best,
Gary Crowley