Young adult hip pain
Occasionally, in the young adult, the hip joint can be a source of pain even when there has been no injury and there is no arthritic change. This may be coming from the joint itself or the soft tissues that surround the joint.
Things that can influence hip pain in a younger adult include:
- The shape of the bones making up your hip joint
- How flexible you are
- What activity you do
- How intensely you do that activity
There are some instances, however, where it is best to seek medical attention about your hip.
If your hip pain is so severe that you cannot bear weight through it then attend A&E for a review of your hip, even if you cannot recall an injury that caused this.
If you can bear weight reasonably well then good, simple advice is to try and stay as mobile and active as your pain allows you to.
But contact your GP practice if:
- Your hip is still painful after 1 week of resting it at home
- You have hip pain and a fever or rash
- Your hip pain came on suddenly and you have sickle cell anaemia
- You have pain in both hips and other joints as well
If your GP practice is happy that there is no significant problem with your hip they may offer you physiotherapy, which is likely to involve advice and exercises to help speed up your recovery.
As described above, different structures associated with your hip may be contributing to your symptoms.
As a young adult you may also hear people use other terms as a potential diagnosis for your hip pain. Please see the “Glossary of other terms” section to find out more about these.
Even though there are several potential sources of your hip pain basic principles of management and treatment, however, are similar across these several causes and applying these principles to manage your hip pain is the simple first step to recovery. Watch the videos at the bottom of this page for advice on exercises that can help with hip pain.