Glad that there is some relief. My wife had similar pain in her shoulder to what you have in the hip. Simple cleanout and a little PT and her shoulder was much better. Pain in the hip is harder to deal with and WILL cause pain in the other hip as you favor the one with the booger. I'd get a second opinion and if the cleanout is an option, go for it.
I will be getting a second opinion...eventually. I need to try to get a handle on the pain up above the older stuff...the muscles are my t12-l1 junction are seriously pissed off right now. Docs are all suggesting a go for massage therapy to see if it helps. Have spoken with a few people about it, was told that if I can get a referral from my pain doc Medicare MAY pay for it...seeing my pain doc in a couple of weeks, going to talk with them.
I'm curious as to the level of spinal damage that you are able to control with the stimulator.
I'm dealing with 6 lumbar dessicated discs, one ruptured 20 years ago. My main discomfort comes from lifting, carrying or supporting weight. Standing still washing dishes also aggravates it.
Pain variesf rom sharp twinges to dull, constant aching, both side effected.
I get some relief from a tens unit.
Dr recommends fusion, I'm not resigned to that yet.
Is your pain relief complete to the point you have relatively normal movement and activity?
I get the doing the dishes thing. My wife recently went to see her family, within a day I was back up to my full dose of narcotics. My long term goal is to get off the drugs and have a pain pump put in. Had a plan, in my head, on how I was going to pull it off. But her 4 day trip pushed me back 4-5 months....which will put us right at the start of next years race season...I am a photographer at a couple different tracks...so her trip has pushed my long term goal back a lot more then 4-5 months...
Fusion...I'm not a candidate. My herniated disc is out the front. If I were to be fused it would do nothing for pain relief, may make it worse. PT guy I see has told me that, in his office fusions have about a 80% failure rate...
The stimulator has indeed given me a bit more of a normal life. Carrying/supporting weight does not effect me anymore. Prior to the stimulator my pain varied some, not as drastic as yours. Normally it was just a very dull, aching "hey I am back here" kind of thing.
I have the latest and greatest (?) Medtronics unit. It is full body MRI capable. It pretty much simply scrambles the pain signal so when it gets to your brain the pain receptors don't know what it is. You may want to talk with your doc about a test drive. Worse part of the test drive is no shower. They use an xray machine to guide the lead placement, they use the epidural passage along side your spine. You then get a battery pack/controller. Depending on if you gt relief they may change the settings. After the test drive they simply snip the stitches where the leads exit your skin and pull them out...I did not feel a thing when the test leads were removed.
With that many discs having troubles I would think that a fusion, for you, would be your entire Lumbar section. When I was talking with the surgeon that is very highly rated in Spokane he told me that only in extreme cases would he do a multi level fusion...
Probe around the
Medtronic site, pretty sure they have a physician locator. You may find after a test drive this little gizmo is a lifesaver.
