Meralgia Paresthetica - (The Reason My "Good Hip" Keeps Going Numb!)

For quite a while now my right hip (non operated side) has been getting more painful because of the strain it has been under taking the weight off my operated leg.

I have been unable to lie on my left side for over 3 years the only comfortable ways to lie in bed are either on my back or on my right side. This plus the fact my right side was working harder led to my right bursa over the Greater Trochanter becoming inflamed = Meralgia Paresthetica:

Meralgia paresthetica is a condition characterized by tingling, numbness and burning pain in the outer part of your thigh. The condition is caused by compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, which supplies sensation to your upper leg.

As you can see from the diagram it is most common for the nerve to become compressed & cause problems where it intersects the Inguinal Ligament on the edge of the pelvis. However my physio thinks that because of the inflamed Greater Trochanter Bursa that the nerve where it branches off and runs over this area is being compressed because of the inflammation.

The effected area is the same for me as in the diagram & If I lie on that side for no more than 3-4 minutes the whole area goes completely numb. When I roll onto my back it takes over 5 minutes for the feeling to come back & it's normally quite sore afterwards. 

Fingers cross once my operated/injured side becomes stronger the right side will not have to work so hard & we are hoping the inflammation will settle down & in turn so will this nerve issue. It is not going to happen quickly so I will just have to be patient!  Worse thing for me is I hate anything that goes numb - hate getting pins & needles, I think I would actually prefer if it was just sore!

This past week has been pretty intensive with more advanced physio & Pilates exercises which has stirred things up, hopefully this week things will settle down again.