Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome and Frozen Peas

I have the results of my MRI scan. The source of the excruciating pain I’m getting in my right side is inflammation in the muscles, tendons and bursae on the outside of my hip. I’m delighted to find that my hip joints are normal. Also my lumbar spine is worn but not too much. I’m very glad about this, as over twenty years ago I was told to give up running because of a chronic back condition. Since then I’ve been very careful to do stretching exercises for my back every morning and to focus on cycling and low level hillwalking. And my back feels better now than it was decades ago. I’m shocked to learn that soft tissues can cause such terrible pain around my hip. But having an accurate diagnosis, which rules out other complications, is a good starting point.

The inflammation is in the complex of soft-tissues that surround the greater trochanter, the bony protuberance you can feel at your side. This is the knobbly top of your femur, where the leg bone turns towards your groin to form the ball of your hip-joint. And this is where the muscles from your leg, buttock, side and abdomen all converge. It also gives an insight into how my problem probably came about. Around two months ago Rex ran full pelt into my right leg, just as I was stepping forward. He caught me under the knee and forced my leg back, so much so that I toppled forward like a sprinter lunging for the line. My side has not felt right since then. I imagine that this accident pushed some of these tissues out of alignment and the inflammation has been building up.

The treatment for greater trochanteric pain syndrome is icing, stretching and gentle exercise. The osteopath tells me that he hopes I will get better in four to six weeks. He’s given me a long list of exercises to do to stretch the soft tissues around my hip. So now my morning exercise routine takes around twenty minutes to do, instead of the normal five. And he suggests that I do these all again later in the day. He also advises that I do a selected few of these before bed. I’m pretty stiff because I’ve not really stretched very much since my surgery four and a half months ago. But I am getting better at the exercises and they are helping to reduce the pain somewhat, although it is slow progress and I can see it will be some time to get everything back into healthy alignment.

Icing is to help reduce the inflammation. I can’t take anti-inflammatory medication (NSAID) as it is very hard on your kidneys; I only have one which I must look after. Instead I bought three bags of Tesco frozen peas. You don’t need fancy gel packs, the frozen peas are the very best for the job. They mould easily to your body and work quickly. You need three bags to be able to rotate them in the freezer. The recommended way is to put the peas on for ten to fifteen minutes, then let your body warm up to normal temperature for an hour or so before repeating the treatment. Just remember not to make them for tea.

Gentle exercise is to help disperse the inflammation. I’ve found that sedentary activities: sitting for over an hour, driving in the car to Belfast and sleeping all increase the pain as the inflammation builds up. I go for short walks down the lane with our mad dog and try not to sit for too long. Sleeping is at best a problem because it's hard to find a position that is comfortable. I'm afraid it has become normal for me to wake in the small hours in pain. However, I’ve taught myself not to reach for the morphine, but instead to get up, stretch and rummage in the freezer for a trusty bag of peas.