Sharp pain in hip/pelvic area?

UnstrungHarp

Cathlete
Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone else here has experienced this...it's a little hard to describe, so I'm having a difficult time getting answers searching online or even talking to multiple doctors. For many months now, maybe even a year, I have had a drastic reduction in flexibility in my hips. Stretches that used to be doable are now impossible. The best example would be the one where you sit on the floor with your legs bent, the soles of your feet touching, knees pointing out to the side. I can get my feet together, but my knees are still basically straight in the air, and I just can't get them down. Sitting "indian style" is out of the question.

Around the same time I noticed the sudden disappearance of flexibility, a sharp pain started occuring in my left hip area during certain movements. The location of the pain is not my outer hip or lower back, it's more toward the front of my leg in the area where the leg and pelvic bone meet. It's not really the inner thigh, it starts in the center of the front of my leg, to about three or four inches out toward my hip. The movements that seem to cause the sudden, sharp pain are twisting motions, such as twisting to get out of the car. I notice it most of the time when exercising. Plie squats are very difficult - I can do them very carefully, but naturally I can't point my toes all the way out to the side due to the flexibility issue. Anyway, it seems to happen any time my body twists to the right while my left leg doesn't. Sometimes all it takes is a very slight movement like this and the pain is very severe! It stops shortly after I get out of that position, and it seems like massaging the area helps or doing a hip flexor/quad stretch.

I should add that I have had psoriasis for several years, and the potential for psoriatic or rheumatoid arthritis is certainly there. I've discussed this with my dermatologist as well as an orthopaedic surgeon, and they haven't come up with any diagnosis or a solution. I've been on a psoriasis medication for a year and a half now that has cleared me up almost 100% but the possibility of it causing weird side effects (like joint pain) is not out of the question.

The orthopaedic surgeon did an x-ray which showed nothing, and he prescribed a high dose of naproxen, which I took daily for a month with no improvement (anti-inflammatory). I do have to mention that I noticed the problem most when I was doing Pilates workouts, then it eased off some when I changed my routine, and now that I'm a month into the Insanity rotation, it's worse again.

Since there are so many experts on anatomy, fitness, injuries, etc. around here, I'm wondering if this description sounds familiar to anyone...at this point, I'd be satisfied to find out if it's a joint problem or a muscle problem. Thanks in advance for any comments!!
 
i would suggest getting an MRI so you can see whats going on with the soft tissue in the area since the x-ray didn't show anything. my brother just went through something similar and the mri reveals a little cyst in the area which was pinching the muscles/tendons in the area causing the pain. The doc gave him a shot of coritzone in the area which got rid of the pain but the doc said most likely as the cycst grows he's going to have to remove it to get rid of the problem permenantly. good luck and please keep us posted.
 
I would get painful twinges in what seem to be the same area as you describe but I would get them when I was walking. They would momentarily stop me in my tracks. They really hurt! I haven't gotten one in a while now. I think somehow it was caused by running even though it would never happen DURING a run-only when I was walking. I would get them often when I was running a lot. When my running decreased, they came on less often. I haven't run AT ALL in about a month now and I can't even REMEMBER the last time I got one!
 
This sounds like tight hip flexors to me. You should definitely get it evaluated. Are you able to stretch the area? Do you do a lot of sitting in a chair during the day (this aggravates tight hip flexors)?

IF the problem turns out to be tight hip flexors, stretching them will be agonizing, but if you can stretch daily (e.g. runner's lunge stretches) and work up to be able to hold the stretch for 2-3 minutes per side, there will be dramatic improvements. (Takes a bit of time though - the psoas is a stubborn muscle and it takes a lot to get it to release.)

Stebby
 
Thanks for all of the responses! I could ask about getting an MRI - I have to see my dermatologist every month and he is always concerned about any other health problems I might be having. He would probably give me a referral. Wonder what causes a cyst in the first place, anyway?

About the hip flexor tightness - I do stretches for the hip flexor as a part of the warm up and cool down in all of my workouts, six days a week. And they feel wonderful! I do have to get into the stretch very carefully but once I'm there, I can hold the position quite a while (the hip flexor stretch that's in all the Insanity workouts is what I'm referring to). But yes, I do have to sit at the computer for most of the day, but I make sure to get up and walk around frequently.
 
I have the same issue - hip flexor and psoas tightness. In the wrong chair, just getting up and walking, after sitting for a while is quite painful. I have to keep the stretching going on to counter that. I've found that the most effective exercise. I also do not do any high impact cardio, as my lower extremities don't respond too favorably. A really good yoga position for this, gently, is Pigeon. It hurts at first, but if you just stay there and let your body relax into it, there is a sudden moment where everything just "gives," and releases and it feels amazing!!!
 
Any improvement to your hip issue or solution(s) you've found?? Did an MRI show anything? I am experiencing this exact same issue & searching for help, which has led me to this web post. I've been to several sessions with a PT & tried acupuncture but not yet to a chiropractor or to get an MRI.

Exactly as you describe, happened to me a few months ago. I just side-stepped & felt shooting pain my hip so severe that it knocked me to the floor. Ever since that moment, I also can no longer, as you describe "...sit on the floor with your legs bent, the soles of your feet touching, knees pointing out to the side. I can get my feet together, but my knees are still basically straight in the air, and I just can't get them down. Sitting "indian style" is out of the question."

I went from a lifetime (I'm 42) of being able to sit that way to Not, overnight... & I can't side step in/out of a car without wincing in pain.

For the past few months, it was just my left hip & now it's also my right hip. I've always been very fit, flexible & have been doing static yoga for 4 years. However, I have always had tight hip flexors & I do often sit for long hours working at my computer (though I try to move around every 30 min).

Would love to hear if your condition has improved & any advice? Thanks!
 
I agree that you should get an MRI. My brother-in-law had hip pain and was in physical therapy for year with no relief. When he finally got an MRI done he had a fairly large tumor that was affecting all the nerves in that area. Don't freak - it was a benign and fairly common tumor - just in a bad place. He had it removed and is doing fine. An xray will only show problems with the bone. Keep us informed of what you find out!
 
I had totally forgotten about posting this years ago! :)

The good news is that I have very little, if any, hip pain anymore. I can't point to any one thing that might have made it get better because it's been so long since I've had a noticeable problem, and I don't remember when it started getting better. From reading my old post, it sounds like I never came back here to add the update that I did get an MRI (which didn't show anything wrong) as well as a shot in my hip (for bursitis). I was never sure if bursitis was really the cause, but I do remember that the shot did seem to make it feel better at the time. I never went back to get another shot or any further treatment.

I wish I could be of more help, but I can't think of anything else that I did that might have resulted in the improvement. I stopped taking the psoriasis medication I was on at the time (Soriatane) because I changed jobs and lost health insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions. Who knows, maybe the medication had something to do with it? I never stopped working out frequently and still do the same level/type of workouts as always (including high impact). I still don't have a great deal of hip flexibility, but it's much better than it was back when I made this post in 2009...I just have to be careful with squats or stretches at certain angles.

Oh - another thing that's different now (although this change happened after my hip was already better) is that I stand up almost all day long. I've worked from home for years, sitting on the couch with my laptop for long hours, and I finally realized that in my own house I have the option of changing my workstation and becoming less sedentary (ha ha). I moved my laptop to the kitchen, putting it on a cardboard box on the countertop, to raise it up to a good viewing/typing angle. It's one of the best choices I could have made, because it encourages me to move around more. The only problem is that I probably stand up too much now (?!?!), because I still get so engrossed in work that I don't take many breaks, which is the same problem I had when sitting all day. Most of the time, I end up with swelled ankles by the end of the day. But I think it's still a better choice than what I was doing before. I have no idea if too much sitting had anything to do with my hip pain, but I thought I'd mention it!
 

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