Hip natives: blind pick

My mother got cortisone shots in her hip for twelve years.

What it ended in (on our page: the shots can weaken the tendon, it can tear, then surgery).

This spring I sat in the same kind of chair, and my doctor reached for the same needle.

My husband asked one question.

I found a rheumatologist's article (our page) about what the shots never touched.

Read it before your next shot.

Diane, 66 (a patient on our page). Two years of pain on the side of her hip, three shots, arthritis on her X-ray, a surgeon's visit Friday about a hip replacement.

A neighbor asks: "Does it hurt on the side of your hip?"

Her doctor presses one finger on the bone. She jumps. Friday is canceled.

Her bills against a jar at $23.40 (5-jar pack); the surgeon's line to her doctor: "You cost me a hip replacement, Jennifer."

In August she drives herself. She hands the reader her doctor's article.

"You don't do anything anymore. You can watch them." Her son's wife.

That night her hip wakes her; she sleeps sitting up.

The family chat laughs at a photo of her asleep on a bench. Her son hearts it.

An older friend shows her a small jar and how she rubs it on before bed: "It's not your age, honey." The friend explains the sore tendon and what is in the jar.

Weeks pass at the page's own pace. On the trip she walks the trail; his wife waits with the bags.

"Where do I get it? For my mom." She sends the doctor's article.

"I was getting cortisone shots. By week three, my hip woke me up again." Sound familiar?

For months I did everything my doctor said: shots, pills, a pillow between my knees.

Then a rheumatologist's article told me something my doctor never explained: the shot eases the pain for weeks, not the tendon under it. It can weaken the tendon.

The pain sits in one spot on the side of the hip. That is why it always comes back.

Now I use something different: a balm on my hip bone at bedtime.

I sleep on my side again. I canceled my next shot.

"I'm 62 and saw three 'specialists' for my hip - and all three gave me different diagnoses."

"Just arthritis." "Your age." "Bursitis." Ten weeks of PT, $2,740, worse. A new hip, $30,685. Shots at $300 each.

They were all just guessing.

A fourth specialist watches her move: "Everyone's treating what they see on your X-ray." 8 out of 10 had no bursitis at all.

A sore tendon an X-ray can't show, that heals slowly after menopause. He shows her Dr. Anderson's short article.

Day 30: she sleeps on her bad side. "Click the link below to read the free article."

- "I'm 62. Three doctors, three different answers."

- "Arthritis, normal wear and tear," said the first. "Physical therapy," said the second. "We can talk about a new hip," said the third.

- Ten weeks of clamshells. Worse. Shots wore off.

- A fourth doctor pressed one finger on the bone. I almost jumped.

- "An X-ray can't show a tendon. 8 in 10 of these have no bursitis."

- He showed me a doctor's short article (link below). Within weeks I slept through the night on that side.

- "Menopause came for my hips like they owed her money! Overnight I couldn't lie on either side."

- My doctor said menopause doesn't cause hip pain. I had never heard of gluteal tendinopathy.

- Her cortisone shot? It wore off, and it can weaken the tendon.

- Heating pad, knee pillow, Icy Hot. Still turning all night.

- Finally, this balm. Menthol first, then warmth. That night I slept through.

- Within weeks I woke up on my bad side.

- My wife Joyce sat on the bottom stair, laundry basket in her lap, crying.

- The fade: shots that wore off, then none. I moved to the guest room so she could turn all night.

- Her X-ray came back fine. "Normal wear and tear."

- One night I read a doctor's article: a sore tendon, a tight band, estrogen gone.

- I pressed the bone on her hip. She jumped. Night one: menthol, warmth, she slept through.

- She carried the basket up herself. I'm back in our bed.

- "I've been a nurse for 33 years. Two years ago my hip started waking me."

- The worst part? Lying still at night.

- Ibuprofen every day. I know what that does to a stomach. Mine burned.

- Heating pad, pillow, gel. Nothing lasted.

- A friend from church told me about a balm.

- I looked it up: the tendon sits just under the skin, so a rub reaches it. Frankincense resin, not oil.

- Menthol, then warmth. I sleep through. "I thought I had to live with it. We don't."

- A ship's doctor asked me ONE question my doctor never asked in two years.

- Our anniversary cruise. Night three, a strange bed. Up at 4am.

- The doctor saw me grip the rail. "Does this bone hurt when I press it?" I jumped.

- "Not your joint. A tendon. When your knee drops, a band presses it 25 times harder. After menopause it heals slowly."

- "Shots wear off." She wrote a name: a frankincense resin balm.

- Home, night by night. Then a hotel bed at my granddaughter's wedding: on my side all night.

- "Menopause came for my hip like it owed her money!"

- It woke me every night, right on the bone.

- My doctor said no link. The stretch I got made it worse.

- Ibuprofen, Voltaren, a pillow. Nothing lasted.

- I pressed the bone and nearly jumped: a sore tendon, slow to heal once estrogen drops.

- FINALLY: a dime-sized rub at bedtime. Menthol, then warmth. Within weeks I woke on my bad side.

- Bonus: out of the car without gripping the door. (Name, 62, state; no "Verified" tag.)

- Nurse, 33 years. Two years ago my own hip started waking me.

- The worst part? Lying down on the side that hurt.

- My doctor offered a cortisone shot. I've watched them wear off. I said no.

- So, ibuprofen nightly. My stomach paid.

- A friend's sister rubs a balm on her hip. I checked it.

- The sore tendon sits under the skin; a rub-on reaches it. Menthol, arnica, frankincense resin.

- Night one: menthol, then warmth. Within weeks I slept through. Three jars, 67% off.

- I took over a retiring doctor's hip patients. Women in their 60s, all told "It's just arthritis."

- Arthritis aches in the groin. Side-of-hip pain is a tendon. X-rays can't show it.

- 877 people scanned: 8 in 10 had no bursitis.

- Shots wear off. A pillow can't heal a tendon.

- Keep breaking it down and it can tear.

- After menopause it heals slowly. 1 in 4 women over 50.

- A patient, 64: I pressed; she jumped. A small jar nightly. Back at pickleball. Link below.

- I host a lake house. A guest sent me a photo and five words.

- Guests kept asking about the small jar by the sink: "Sore hip? Dime-sized, at bedtime."

- Checkout: it was gone. Camera, 5am: her husband wrapping it. He called, crying. Here she slept through.

- "I was him once." My wife's X-ray was fine. A tendon; X-rays can't show it.

- I found the one made from resin, not oil: Nurovita.

- "Keep the jar," I said, and sent the link.

- Weeks later: "She slept on her bad side."

- I found my wife halfway up our stairs, laundry basket in her lap, crying.

- Her shots wore off; she quit. Turning all night, she sent me to the guest room.

- At 1am I read: side-of-hip pain is often a tendon. X-rays can't show it.

- I pressed the bone on her hip. She jumped.

- Our daughter: "Dad, get the resin, not the oil." Nurovita, 90 days.

- Night one: menthol, then warmth. Week 6: the basket, both hands.

- Within eight weeks, I was back in our bed.