I have had on and off hip pain for the past two years, the doctors havent helped.. what should i do?

Question

I have seen several doctors, physical therapist, takin x rays and had many blood test. The pain is in my lower left side around my hip. When you press on it, you cant feel the pain.. but when im walking i can feel it, same when im bent over. It feels like a dull pain, like someone is hammering into my bone. I asked the doctor if it could be arthritus, but they all said no. I cant stand the pain, it comes randomly... but atleast once a month. Its gets so bad to the point where i cant bend over, and if i do, i need help getting up. Im only 19! not overweight and not overly active. Any advice would be a great help!

Answer 1

The answers above are excellent. I just wanted to add that you may want to see your OB/GYN because if the pain is happening during a certain point in your menstrual cycle there is the possibility of the pain being referred from the reproductive organs.

XRAYS are limited in what they are able to show. If the pain is unexplainable an MRI may be appropriate.

Answer 2

I am a Neuromuscular Therapist.

I see this problem all the time in my practice. Since your pain is random and worse when you're loading the joint by walking the problem is almost certainly muscular in nature.

Doctors do not look at muscles as being a source of joint pain. Many physical therapists approach every pain syndrome with a pre-determined routine of stretching and exercises, and if it doesn't help, too bad. X Rays and blood tests will not reveal any muscle dysfunctions whatsoever. Ditto for MRI.

Here are the most common causes of this type of pain. Overly tight hip muscles, specifically the gluteuls and deep lateral rotators. You have 9 tendons from these muscles attaching directly in and around the hip joint, and when they become overly tight and irritated they're painful. One of these muscles, the piriformis, can even entrap the sciatic nerve as it passes through the hip (buttocks) and cause a lot of hip, back and leg pain. The pain can either be deep and achy right in the coxal (hip) joint or radiate sharply into the back or leg muscles. Trigger points, small areas of irritation within tight muscles, will also cause severe pain in the joint and refer pain to other areas of your body. Since you have difficulty bending over too, I suspect you have a combination of hypertonic (overly tight) muscles in both your back and hips.

Skeletal asymmetries are also a very common cause of hip and back pain. This simply means you may have one leg that's shorter (maybe as little as 1/4 inch) than the other or one innominate (pelvic) bone that's slightly smaller than the other. Both conditions will cause the pelvis to tilt and rotate and be off balance, which means the muscles are straining continually to keep you from leaning to one side. This titing/rotating also increases the compression forces within your hip joint and causes pain when standing or walking.

The people most qualified to determine what is causing your pain is a Neuromuscular Therapist or a Rolfer. These are highly trained therapists that know how to measure for bone-length/size discrepencies and correct muscular imbalances with deep massage and stretching. They will be able to help you correct the problem without surgery, medications, supplements or elaborate exercises. The solution to your problem is probably quite simple, trust me.


Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Just to add on to the last answer as well. I agree you should see a gyn in case it is referred pain. However, I also have some low back pain on the left side- it's there all the time but it gets especially worse during PMS time when the muscles in the area get tighter due to PMS symptoms (I think it has something to do with the release of more prostaglandins which causes the muscles to tighten).

So some muscles might be off kilter and that time of the month can make it worse. I am seeing a physio therapist who is helping me to fix my muscle issues and it is working. Good luck to you.

Answer 4

did they rule out a bone spur? or hip pointer? have yu had injuries from earlier accidents that yu can remember?/ever fall on that side?/ possible a stress fracture that yu aggravate from time to time?think what were yu doing prior to pain onset?/activity from a 24 hr period.be a detective and figure it out yourself? write all your questions and responses down on paper and take to dr's. drs. are human and make mistakes or come to wrong conclusions too?have you ever had colonoscopy or appendcitis?any bowel problems, diverticulitis?is pain localiized or radiating from a central point in hip? bone problem,calcium defieciency? also long hours on feet and bad support/shoes can cause sciatic nerve flareups? hope some of this helps?been suffering with a like problem for 11 yrs.

Answer 5

Joint pain or stiffness of the joint may be caused by overexertion, injuries, arthritis, muscle pain,bursitis and other diseases. Depending on the cause of the joint pain, joints on both sides of the body and small or large joints may be affected. Some types of joint pains can be completely cured but for other types of joint pain (like pain caused by osteoarthritis), treatment will only reduce the pain. More information on joint pain, home remedies and treatment is available at http://tinyurl.com/z5vx5