Adam Rufa - 10/11/2006

Question
Hi Adam, thank you for giving your time and expertise. I would like to ask if you can shed any light on whether or not my hip could be irritating my sciatic nerve. My OS says that it can, my GP says that it can't and other hip sufferers say that it can. I am 39 and had Perthes disease as a child. Recent x-rays show a severely deformed femoral head and a somewhat deformed socket. I had an epidural to eliminate any back related possibility because the MRI showed no obvious cause. The epidural only served to isolate most of my pain in the hip with some slight pain remaining in the hamstring but still unable to push off properly when walking (this improved very slightly). Prolonged sitting causes me intense pain in the hip area also. My OS now wants to give me a cortisone injection in the hip and if that fails he wants to shave some bone off my hip socket that he says is catching. My hip does seem to be clicking, crunching and clunking more each day. I am also baffled as to why they haven't referred me to the physiotherapist. Thank you in anticipation of any advice you can give. Sean

Answer
Sean,

Sorry about the problems you are having. I would agree with the OS that hip pain can cause sciatic nerve issues or symptoms that resemble nerve issues. There is a muscle in the glut region called the piriformis. The sciatic nerve runs near this muscle and there is a theory that increased tone in this muscle can cause nerve pressure.

I often see referred pain mistaken as symptoms from a nerve. Your symptoms may not be nerve compression and could simply be referred pain from the back or hip.

PT could potentially help you and I would bring it up with the OS and/or GP and see what they say.

Good luck

Adam