Hip pain

Did you do the stretches as often as prescribed? Did you ever take time off to rest and let things heal?

It could be anything: a torn muscle, stiffness, misalignment, the shoes you wear, your running style, etc. Diagnosing over the internet is pretty much impossible. Personally I would go back to the doctor, I'm sure the stretches were just the first attempt at fixing the problem. Insurances usually require that sort of stuff before doing costly tests. You could also see a specialized doctor. Sports Medicine. Chiropractor. Etc.

My hips are one of my weakest and strongest points. Strong from use, but I really stress them with martial arts. So I've done some work around them and here's what I've learned.

- Your hips are complex from a muscle, tendon, etc. perspective. They all have different functions (move leg in, out, up, down, front, back) and they're all layered in there on top of each other. Weird things are affected and not affected. I tore my uppermost adductor and it kills me to run on it, but I can still kick & jump. Makes no logical sense to me at all, but confirmed with some skilled people I really trust. So it can be kind of hard to figure out what you've done.

- A sports message therapist suggested a simple way to relax and re-align your hips. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and simply rock your hips side to side. So simple, but it's effective. And you can keep reading while you stand up for a few.

- Stretch, stretch, stretch. Push your stretches a little further than you thought you could, use bands to help maximize the stretch, etc.

- Strengthening the various hip muscles might help too. Start slow if you're sore.

- Heat can help as can topical creams like Bengay or Capzasin (which doesn't smell). All of these, though, can get a little tricky in the upper groin area and work better on the outer hip.

- If it keeps up, get it checked out again. I was very surprisingly diagnosed with arthritis when I was 21.

Good luck with figuring it out.

Wow! This is scary stuff! I just googled AVN and WHOA!!!! I wonder if the pain comes from a joint or a muscle or a bursa? Just for your own information before you see a doctor, you might at least be able to determine if the pain comes from trigger points. If you google fibromyalgia trigger points, you should be able to find a map of the body where most of the muscular pain comes from. If you recognize these pain patterns, at least you will have a bit more information before you go the doctor.

Walrozz wrote: »

For about 5 months, I've had pain in my hips - like the pulled muscle pain you get from exercise. I thought it was the muscles/tendons tightening up due to a sedentary lifestyle (I'm a student, so spend a lot of time sitting). Went to the doctor back in December and she gave be a bunch of stretches, which didn't help. For the past week, I've been really active; been to the gym a couple of times, swimming a couple of times, and I've done some yoga. It hasn't improved at all really. Anyone got any ideas what it might be or experienced something similar?

1. Does it hurt more when sitting for long periods, and hurt less while standing or laying down?
2. Does it hurt more during hip rotation in either direction? While the hip is flexed at 90 degrees does the same rotation hurt?
3. While laying prone, does the pain decrease if you have a friend pull minor traction on the leg (note: your friend will have to lift your foot off the ground/bed 3" prior to applying traction.)?
4. While applying traction does the pain decrease, increase or stay the same with abduction or adduction?
5. Does it ever feel like your hip is catching during movement?

I was experiencing the same thing a few months ago. It felt like there was a muscle pull in the back of my leg. I went to the doctor a few times, the first time they gave me some muscle relaxers and pain meds. That didn't really help so I went in again and they did some xrays. Turns out I had arthritis in my hip. They told me the best thing I can do it to lose weight. I carry most of my weight in my middle. I am working on it. Honestly I stopped taking the pain meds and the anti inflammatory/muscle relaxers and I'm now only taking Aleve. I have been trying to get back into walking. I notice when I exercise consistently I do feel better. Good luck to you!!

Find another doctor.

Get a second opinion. There are lots of reasons you can experience pain.

My hip pain is the pinching of the sciatic nerve. Stretching helps with the hips in general, but when it gets pinched it makes no difference. Its a sharp pain that doesn't get better with walking or exercise. It gets better when the inflammation goes down and the nerve is released.

It can be triggered by a sedentary lifestyle-like working an office job and sitting all day. I did a consult on how to adjust my office chair (offered by the facilities dept at my workplace) and that was the thing that has made the biggest difference for me. I do find yoga helps keep my hips open but it doesn't provide emergency relief.

It really could be any number of things, and unfortunately it's difficult even for physicians to get to the bottom of something like hip pain. It can take multiple doctor visits, including specialists, sometimes.

My sister and I both had hip pain for a long time. She actually went through testing to rule out rheumatoid arthritis (it was ruled out). Turned out to be a gluten sensitivity. We both stopped eating gluten, and problem was fixed. I'm not suggesting that this is the case for you or anyone else, but that's what it was for us. I used to take ibuprofen every day for hip pain, and even then it kept me up at night, and was affecting my quality of life. I will say that yoga and a foam roller and lots of stretches helped a tiny bit, but I was still miserable. Now it just doesn't hurt.

I also have a family member (in-law) who had AVN. He's had both hips replaced (in his 30's). I hope it's nothing like that for you, and hope you get some answers and relief soon.

Sounds like it might be bursitis. I had that, and perscription anti inflammatory helped.

Walrozz wrote: »

To give an idea of the location of the pain and when it hurts - lay down on your back and keeping your leg straight, lift it off the ground about a foot or so, then turn it in and out at the hip. That's absolutely excruciating for me, especially turning it inwards.
It's definitely worse after sitting for a while. But I did some stretches earlier and sat down for about 20 minutes afterwards - could barely get up after that. So it's at it's worse if I've sat down after exercise.

Get yourself to a physician who knows how to check for femoral acetabular impingement (FAI). You have a classic presentation. Someone who is experienced can do this based off of an x-ray. It usually requires seeing an orthopedic surgeon trained in this. Just a general physician will not have the experience, nor the expertise, to diagnose and help you with this. But you need to see someone who specializes in hips, not just any ortho. You'll also probably need an MRI to check and see if there is any damage to the labrum too.

It's not life threatening. So, don't go crazy with worry. It just hurts. Stretching will not really help. Someone pulling traction on your leg while your laying prone can help relieve the pain at the worst moments, but it's temporary.

Walrozz wrote: »

Thank you! The worst thing about it is getting tearful with frustration because I can't do a lot of the exercises I'd like to, and even the ones I can do I have to do carefully. Glad to hear that it's probably not something serious though!

It's due to your skeletal make up. Either your femoral head neck junction is "fatter', your hip socket is deeper, or you have a combination of both. It's a genetics thing. These will cause the femoral head neck junction to rub up against the labrum (the cartilage bumper of the hip) and cause pain due to the large amount of nerves around the hip. You can also wear at the cartilage causing fraying or a tear. These will also add to the pain. Sadly, sitting is the thing that will generally hasten the injury. Sitting puts the femoral head deeper into the socket. More months of sitting equals more pain. Yay for student life!!

The is a surgery to correct the bone issue and stop the problem and if the cartilage is damage they can fix or debride the area.

The pain you feel with rotation is the bone rubbing up against the area. Should hurt less when you just lay flat with rotation.

Walrozz wrote: »

Would the pain like that be similar to a pulled muscle pain, though? When I push my thumb into the side of my hip, just behind my hip bone, it's really tender like how a pulled muscle feels when you massage it.

This would make me think tendinitis, but that's usually due to overuse and your original post said you're sedentary. That said, FAI and hip tendinitis have very overlapping symptoms. A hip specialist will be able to differentiate the two very easily and if tendinopathy will be able to pursue appropriate therapy.