The Knee Bone is Connected to the Hip Bone...

I routinely have a major pain in my butt. Or, more accurately, my trochanteric bursitis flares more often than I'd like. It's pretty cranky lately and over the last week it's caused me to break out my cane again. The steroid bursa injections really help but I can only have those every three months and I'm not due for another any time soon. During my last visit with Dr. Young Guy, I asked why it seemed that I was having such a difficult time resolving this painful dumb stupid inconvenient THING. He told me that It was complicated.

Of course.

So it turns out I have osteoarthritis in my knee causing my right leg to appear "knock kneed" (also called a valgus knee deformity) like this:

Graphic taken from YouTube video found here. 

My knee issues are stressing the connective tissue that connects my femur to my hip. Which has contributed to the ongoing issue I have with trochanteric bursitis.

Oh, brother.

To make things even more expensive complicated, Dr. YG suggested that the two year old orthotic inserts and my UGLY orthopedic shoes may be worn out which further puts the alignment of my foot, knee and hip out of whack.

It's all connected, as the awesome Animaniacs demonstrate:

Love those little critters. But I digress.

The point of my rambling is that yesterday I was fitted for a new piece of hardware which hopefully will reduce my pain: lateral unloader knee brace. This required me to don the dreaded paper shorts yet again while the specialist took measurements and scanned my leg to make an amazing - but startling - virtual 3D model from which my new brace will be made. I'll be getting a version of this one:

I chose a deep misty blue color. Oooooooooooo. My brand spanking new brace will arrive in two weeks. I'll keep y'all posted.