Susan
Marilyn, I have had trochanteric bursitis since 1995 and I had the right hip operated on twice and the pain returned after each surgery. There are people who say they are pain free after the surgery and I know when the pain is so severe you feel like you have to try every alternative. There are not a lot of doctors who have done the surgery since it is a rare operation. The last surgery I had done at the Univ. of Alabama by Dr. Clancey who has experience and has published papers on the subject so I would go with someone of his caliber if you have the surgery. He said in my case the illiotibial band was full of inflammation and there was a lot of scar tissue so they could not do the intended operation. They could only remove what they could. My pain started after helping to lift a heavy desk and the pain started in the other side a few months later. I have had all the treatments you mentioned but now I have been having accupuncture which helps some but it looks like it could take a lot of treatments. I've already had 10 and I don't really know how much it is helping. Of course, a lot of insurance plans don't cover it. I am on a lot of medicine which I do not like but it does help and I don't think I could stand it if I didn't take the pain pills. I take 80mg of oxycotin 3 times a day and zanaflex, a muscle relaxer. I have a lot of muscle spasms which are probably from the surgeries. I also have a lot of tenderness around my sacrilliac area and in the low back. My illiotibial band bothers me a lot, it gets so hard and tight and just is so sore and my hip just feels like a throbbing and stabbing ache which varies in pain level depending on the weather and how much I walk, sit, or stand.My life has been totally changed from all this. I see my pain management dr. every month and go to accupuncture treatments and do the best I can to not get depressed. It is almost coming up on 7 years of living with the daily grind of managing my pain on a daily basis and it can really be mentally frustrating when you can't get the pain under control if the weather changes or my activity level increases. I was 33 when I had the injury and I will be 40 next month and it is hard but the best thing to do is to try and do everything possible before you give in and accept that it is chronic. I had to try the surgery because I was young and wanted to continue working and living the active life I was accustomed to living. The dr's will tell you it may help or you may get worse or stay the same. I think when the pain is so severe you will do anything to get rid of it.I will be happy to share any information on any of the dr's or anything I can help you with.