Psoas Syndrome?

[Deleted]

I'm in so much groin/back pain today I can hardly stand it.

Went to the urgent care for what I had hoped would be a referral to an ortho.

Ended up with a GREAT RNNP who spent about 45 minutes moving my body around and he thinks I have psoas syndrome. It's a tendon I've never heard of that runs from hip to spine right through the pelvic cavity where I have pain.  

I do think he's on to something because every time I lift my leg forward, drive, or go up stairs I am in excruciating pain.

He took a ton of blood and is also testing me for RA because it runs in my family and could explain a lot of my joint pain and occasional fevers with no known cause. And, they did 10 different x-ray views. 

Anyone have any experience with this tendon of a weird name?

Strangely, kinda makes me hope this is the problem vs. a joint issue! 

Good news is I lost 20 pounds since June without much effort.

[busymom]

Sometimes you just need a medical professional who takes time, and actually LISTENS to you.  Congratulations on finding one of the good ones!  I'm not familiar with this, but hope it's easily treatable.  

[Cookies Galore]

Psoas exercises!
Doing yoga stretches for the front of the body like cobra and up facing dog can help stretch it out and relieve pain. Cat/cow is also a good stretch to east lower back pain and loosen up the psoas.

Google some exercises, they really do help!

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2019 18:04:22 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Psoas exercises!
Doing yoga stretches for the front of the body like cobra and up facing dog can help stretch it out and relieve pain. Cat/cow is also a good stretch to east lower back pain and loosen up the psoas.

Google some exercises, they really do help!

I did find a lot of exercises online, and yoga articles seem to talk a lot about this muscle. If this ends up being the definitive diagnosis, I'm hopeful of finally getting some relief and treatment that will work.

For now, we don't know if mine is tight or otherwise damaged so I am scared to do too much stretching.

I do some, but at this point the goal is mostly to stop the pain and keep me comfortable enough I can function and sleep without further damage.

I'm a big fan of myofascial release and it seems that can also be possible with this muscle but it needs to be done by someone who's qualified.

I can see all of my x-rays online after the 3-day waiting period is over, so that should show if I have some other sort of damage.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I would hold off until you see the results of the xrays.  I would not exercise it.  The reason I say this is that your symptoms could also be bursitis.  Hip pain refers all over the place, depending upon how it fails.  If it is bursitis, the treatment is rest, ice and NSAIDs (which is easy enough to try first).  Many try to exercise/stretch it out, and all this does is exacerbate it.    If you have a set of crutches, unweighting your hip might help it be less angry (and can help diagnose hip failure), and let it rest if it is bursitis.

I will mention that my hips failed in different ways.  One hip, I could not lift my leg like you.  The other, I simply could not bear weight at all.

JMHO

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2019 10:30:34 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

I would hold off until you see the results of the xrays.  I would not exercise it.  The reason I say this is that your symptoms could also be bursitis.  Hip pain refers all over the place, depending upon how it fails.  If it is bursitis, the treatment is rest, ice and NSAIDs (which is easy enough to try first).  Many try to exercise/stretch it out, and all this does is exacerbate it.    If you have a set of crutches, unweighting your hip might help it be less angry (and can help diagnose hip failure), and let it rest if it is bursitis.

I will mention that my hips failed in different ways.  One hip, I could not lift my leg like you.  The other, I simply could not bear weight at all.

JMHO

I've had a rotator cuff/bursitis/tendinitis issue with one of my shoulders since I was in high school. I opted not to have the tear repaired and it's just something I have learned to live with. But, my experience with that does make me shy away from doing random exercises.

The groin pain is similar to my shoulder when its inflamed, in that it sometimes feels very referred and not the exact site of the problem. It's kinda hard to explain. I get this tingling sensation running up my abdominal muscles and some sciatica down my leg when the situation is bad.

I also feel some sort of internal swelling that presses against things. I keep telling the docs it feels like someone shoved a tennis ball in my groin and sewed me back up. I feel something hitting the inside of my hip joint and even sometimes my butt/vag area. It's a really odd feeling.

I can't see my x-ray results online until tomorrow, but my lab work was all over the place and the RA factor results are missing from view. Sort of wondering if that was positive, because I have other labs that indicate an autoimmune problem, such as low BUN.

When I search the weird neut/lymps/RBC results Dr. Google tells me I have CLL. I think I will avoid Google for now. Although, that might also explain my enlarged liver/spleen and all the random fevers...

The groin/back/hip started when I was doing a lot of hiking. It used to just stab at me and let me know it was time to stop hiking. The time it took from 0-10 on the pain scale would take a fair amount of time so I could stop and prevent much of it. Now, all I have to do is turn over wrong in bed and it's 10 for days. It's really annoying.

Did your hips bother you with weight-bearing? I don't seem to hurt from just walking unless I do too much. Standing isn't painful and if I arch my back the pain temporarily goes away. I do think something in the area of the psoas might be at least part of the problem.

[sesfw]

/rockhounder ........ sure hope you find some answers soon and something can be done to help

Pain is very exhausting .......

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

My hips bothered me a lot with weight bearing.  It started out fairly mild, resolved with NSAIDs and rest.  Exercise helped, until it didn’t.  The biggest hint was pain weight bearing, I could walk into a grocery store ok, and come out hobbling.  The short drive home was not sufficient to unload groceries, so would bring in those items that needed to be in the fridge, then empty my car an hour later.  I changed my grocery store tote smallest store.  I drove through any place I could.  I avoided any unnecessary walking.  As my world shrank, I realized I needed to have surgery.  The process wasn’t immediate.

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2019 10:32:23 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

My hips bothered me a lot with weight bearing.  It started out fairly mild, resolved with NSAIDs and rest.  Exercise helped, until it didn’t.  The biggest hint was pain weight bearing, I could walk into a grocery store ok, and come out hobbling.  The short drive home was not sufficient to unload groceries, so would bring in those items that needed to be in the fridge, then empty my car an hour later.  I changed my grocery store tote smallest store.  I drove through any place I could.  I avoided any unnecessary walking.  As my world shrank, I realized I needed to have surgery.  The process wasn’t immediate.

Losing my quality of life is a big reason I finally went back to the doctor. I'm tired of planning my life around pain. And, I have more pain than not pain these days.

I can see my x-ray reports now.

I have:

mild osteoarthritis of both hips with intact femoral heads
moderate facet arthropathy of my lumbar spine
moderate degenerative disc disease of my lumbar spine
and some lumbar spine retrolisthesis thrown in for good measure.

Not sure what is a serious issue and what is related to the fact that I am 50 and have been fat most of my life. 

I can't see the results of the RA test until tomorrow.

[sesfw]

I know about the aches and pains of being fat most of my life.

I finally lost about 50  lbs when DH#2 had his heart attack and both of us went low sodium.  He also lost 50 #.  Both of us feel a lot better.  Then when I had to do chemo I lost another 20# but have put that back on in the last 5+ years.  Both of us are in 'normal' weight range for our age.

Hope what ever is done will bring good results for you 

Hugs

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2019 19:13:38 GMT -5 sesfw said:

I know about the aches and pains of being fat most of my life.

I finally lost about 50  lbs when DH#2 had his heart attack and both of us went low sodium.  He also lost 50 #.  Both of us feel a lot better.  Then when I had to do chemo I lost another 20# but have put that back on in the last 5+ years.  Both of us are in 'normal' weight range for our age.

Hope what ever is done will bring good results for you 

Hugs

Happy to see my test for RA was negative. 

I lost 150 pounds when I was doing a lot of hiking and rockhounding. I gained about 45-50 back over the last 2 years, but have now managed to re-lose about 25 of it.

Right now I weigh about 45 pounds more than I did when I graduated from high school 30+ years ago. That's always been my weight loss goal. I'd really like to get there before listing my house this spring.

Since I can't sweat off the weight as easily this time due to pain, I modified my diet to mostly vegetables and high-protein, low-fat foods. I make an effort to buy things that haven't been processed and are in a natural state. It works well as long as I avoid junk food. 

Oddly enough, I've been doing some basic stretching of my psoas muscle and awoke again this morning nearly pain free! I did a lot of work in my shop yesterday and expected to feel horrible. I think this doc is on to something. Finally! 

[countrygirl2]

I have osteoarthritis in my lower spine and the one bad ankle.  It's causing me so much pain.  I think its going elsewhere, got up this morning again where the back of my neck about shoulder level is hurting.  The foot is giving me fits this week, got a temporary handicapped card again.  I'm going to see about shopping online for Kroger and Sams and just picking up my order about once a week or every two weeks.  Walking through those stores bothers me and I'm thinking will keep me from just picking up extra stuff, we shall see.


I was wondering if you have tried a chiropractor.  Right now I'm having more issues and ones he can't help with.  I also soaked in Epsom salts which helps too.

[Deleted]

Sept 8, 2019 9:15:50 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

I have osteoarthritis in my lower spine and the one bad ankle.  It's causing me so much pain.  I think its going elsewhere, got up this morning again where the back of my neck about shoulder level is hurting.  The foot is giving me fits this week, got a temporary handicapped card again.  I'm going to see about shopping online for Kroger and Sams and just picking up my order about once a week or every two weeks.  Walking through those stores bothers me and I'm thinking will keep me from just picking up extra stuff, we shall see.


I was wondering if you have tried a chiropractor.  Right now I'm having more issues and ones he can't help with.  I also soaked in Epsom salts which helps too.

I use so much Epsom salt, and it's expensive, that I have been wondering if I can buy it in bulk. I was going to ask the local feed store if it has any other use and is sold in 50# bags.

I do have some lower back pain and a lot of stiffness after a day of hiking. But, the back pain it's fairly mild most of the time.

I started working laying down on my back on the couch with my laptop on my stomach. It works well for my back/groin pain but bothers my shoulders if I work too long.

As my grandmother used to always say - it's hell getting old. 

[countrygirl2]

I ordered a 19 pound bag.  Also need to check and see if there are bigger ones.  The stuff used to be dirt cheap, not anymore.  I read the body takes in the magnesium from it that's what helps.

[Deleted]

It appears this is the actual cause of my groin pain!

I have been stretching when I start feeling sore and it completely takes the pain away!

I loaded 10 gallons of water and a pile of 40# bags of water softener salt into my grocery cart and car yesterday and didn't end up on the ice pack for the first time in well over a year.

[gs11rmb]

That's wonderful @rockhounder!  I hope you've found a permanent solution.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Sept 11, 2019 10:39:06 GMT -5 gs11rmb said:

That's wonderful @rockhounder !  I hope you've found a permanent solution.

This.  I'm so glad to hear this. 

[sesfw]

[finnime]

Great news.

[Works4me]

Good to hear!