SCFE and its effects years later...

[Bethany88]

I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has had surgery for SCFE as a child and is now suffering from early onset arthritis and constant hip pain. I am 29 years old and has two surgeries to repair SCFE when I was 10 and 13. I was slightly overweight (not obese) as a child, which I have been told was a contributing factor. I was told to resume normal physical activity shortly after the second surgery, which I had done and continue to do. At 28, after vigorous weight training workouts, I began experiencing sharp groin and dull outer hip pain, and after finally going to see a doctor have been given a pretty crappy prognosis. The doctors seem to think that I have begun feeling the effects of arthritis and are talking eventual hip replacement as soon as 10 years from now. Is there anyone to whom this has happened? If so, how have you gone about physically making the best of it? What courses of action have you taken (cortisone, arthroscopic surgery, etc?) I just want some guidance from someone who has been through it, not a doctor telling me what "could" happen. Thanks.

[synkthesun]

EVERYONE WITH AFTER PAIN FROM SCFE LISTEN UP...i went to a doctor after having sharp pain and hips locking up 15 years after my surgery at age 12. it turned out that i had HUGE bone spurs on my femoral neck due to the scfe, and i required two arthroscopies to correct this. he shaved down my bone, increased my range of motion, and gave me a lot longer to live with somewhat normal hips. ask about a hip arthroscopy and get xrays! the bone spurs on the femoral head were only present in specific xrays, so make sure to research it. a hip arthroscopy did me a world of good and restored me to a better me! i went to Dr.Stansbury in Allentown PA, he specializes in hip arthroscopys.

[Yeazell212]

I'm currently 15 years old and I had my right hip pinned. I was told over three times that my hip was just fine.... I went a year with my hip like this. Then my mother contacted Loyola University and scheduled an appointment. When I went in they told me that I had a severe case of SCFE, my hip was so badly detached that my hip could have broken if I took two more steps. They told me that I had two choices...#1 they could pin it a little lower than where my hip was supposed to be or...#2 they could take the leg...obviously I wanted to fight for my leg so I choose to get the surgery done. They put me in the hospital that very night. I am now feeling a pain in my lower bottom area and I just wondering if that is arthritis or should I be worried. And I forgot to mention that I was 11 when I got this done.

[buildit58]

Hello; I am hoping someone can help. I am 58 yrs old. I had 3 pins put in my left hip at age 12, 4 in right at age 15. These pins were called Knowles pins, that were intended to be left in. I lived a pretty much normal life, other than range of movement. I worked very hard for 40 yrs., but now have a lot of pain in my rt. hip. The Docs. are telling me I need both replaced, but they have never dealt with these pins. I can't find a Doc. that has. I live in north central WV. Does anyone know of a good Doc. with in 100 miles? My suggestion for you young people going through this, is stay active, and eat a good natural diet

[HealthCoach21]

I had my hip pinned when I was 14.  My ortho told me at that time that I may experience the same pain years from now and if so, I would just need to go in and have the pins removed, since they will have already served their purpose.  Has anyone had their pins removed??

[carritas6]

i had mine removed 2 years after the operation- i was told it was better that wayas i was only 11 when it first happened. i needed both done one a year after the first.

[carritas6]

i had mine removed 2 years after the operation- i was told it was better that way

[carritas6]

i had mine removed 2 years after the operation- i was told it was better that way

[tabascouk]

I had mine partially removed 15 years after the sugary on both hips 3 pins in each hip. Have had no hip pain since and that is 24 years ago.

[thatguyagaintoday]

I constantly complained of right knee pain at 13 after a fall. My pediatrician heard the symptoms, asked me to walk across the room then told my mother to take me to the hospital for an hip X-ray and that she suspected it was SCFE. Minor slip, pinned with 1 screw. Surgeon told us at the time a hip replacement was probable in my future at some point but didn't specify when that would be most likely. I am now 24 and live with a constant dull ache from my right hip down to just above the knee. More painful than that though is when my hip randomly locks up or "clicks" and feel a sharp stabbing pain. It is an extremely tormenting pain because it can strike anytime anywhere and you never know when it's coming. SCFE has left me with a slight limp and my right foot now turns outward slightly while walking. That has led to problems in both my knee joints (already have had surgery in one knee to remove broken cartilage once) as well as back pain and pain in my non affected hip. Like everyone else here I have early onset of arthritis in SCFE hip. My ortho told me about 3 years ago that we will probably replace in my early 30's. Recently however he wants to wait as long as possible to replace it aka however long I can take the pain as it progressively gets worse. He said too many people end up having to undergo multiple hip replacements. So the plan is to wait the longest possible so I have less of a chance on having multiple replacements or by some miracle they develop better replacements. I took a cycle of steroids about 2 years ago for the pain, which helped some but only lasts for so many months. Other than that time, my resources for pain control are NSAIDs or Tylenol which have no impact on my pain. Doesn't want to prescribe anymore steroids because they lose their effectiveness each time. Instead saving them for down the road which I guess makes sense. Doesn't want to prescribe narcotics too early because of a host of potential problems, e.g. Tolerance build up, drug dependency, the need to cycle medication as tolerance builds and effectiveness drops, etc. Which again I understand the reasonings. I could try to find another doctor but honestly this would be the plan of most ortho doctors. Besides that he performed my knee surgery and we have built a doctor/patient relationship over years. If you go to a new doctor without that relationship with your complaint being in pain most are either not going to believe you or think your a drug addict . How he or other doctors expect me or any other paitent in  chronic pain to just tolerate it when it's interfering with their life negatively is terrible. Your in pain?... Stop doing certain activities/hobbies (usually all the ones you enjoy), Avoid strenuous activitys and try not to remain on your feet for long periods of time (minus well quit nursing school with its 12hr clinical shifts, followed by a lifetime of 12hr work shifts when I graduate and pick another career). You end up with no quality of life. The best one I ever heard was by my doctors intern when she told me It would help a lot and I'd feel significantly better if I lost some weight. Lol I was like… ya think? I came back some 8 months later 40 pounds lighter (was a big boy at the time) and told them that it was strange I'm still in pain after losing weight.
I truly feel bad for anyone suffering from long term effects after SCFE. I was fortunate enough that was only a minor slip. There are a lot of other people who suffer more. The long term effects of SCFE and it's correction have not been researched enough in my opinion. Until I stumbled across this I had no clue there were any others out there experiencing the same thing. I wish everyone here the best and good luck.

p.s. sorry about the lengthy rant, I might have let the rage build up

[jakesmom4298]

My son who is now 16 was first diagnosed when a SCFE on his right hip first and almost 2 years later his left hip slipped as well. He’s now had a total of 5 hip surgeries the first 2 were due to his original slips and 2 were re-dues and in December of 2013 his surgery was for a torn labrum on his right hip. Within the last month he’s mentioned a couple of times that his left hip is beginning to hurt when he pivots or turns his body. My question to anyone; is he at a higher risk of a labrum tear in his hip due to his SCFE condition?