Hip hurts more than your back after spine surgery?

You went through a spinal fusion at University Hospitals Cleveland. The back is improving, but the spot where the surgeon took bone from your hip won't stop aching. It stings when you sit, burns when you stand, and feels worse than the actual fusion site. That second wound was supposed to be the small part.

When a surgeon harvests bone from your iliac crest, they cut through muscle and chisel into the pelvic rim. That trauma leaves a deep bruise inside the bone and a wound that heals slowly. Many patients report the hip graft site hurts more than the spine itself. The limp can linger for months. A study in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine found over 30 percent of patients still had harvest site pain two years later. You are not imagining it.

Fixing chronic hip graft pain starts with time and conservative care. Physical therapy, lidocaine patches, and oral nerve pain medications run a few hundred dollars out of pocket if insurance resists. Injections or revision surgery to remove scar tissue can push costs into the thousands. Every extra visit to a University Hospitals Cleveland specialist takes time from work and family. The real price is the pain that does not go away.

Stop the problem before it starts on your next case. Ask your surgeon about ACTIFUSE, a synthetic bone graft substitute. It eliminates the hip harvest site entirely. No second incision. No iliac crest trauma. No donor site pain to manage during recovery. Elite Surgical covers cases at University Hospitals Cleveland and can bring the published data to your surgeon. Call 216-555-0147 to request an in-service before your pre-op appointment.

Picture a recovery with one wound to care for. You get up from a chair without wincing from your hip. The only scar is on your back. The fusion takes hold, and the pain that distracted you from healing is simply not there.