Hip & Leg Pain in Putney

Ask five people with hip pain to point at it and you'll get five different answers. The groin. The side, over the bony bit. The buttock. The top of the thigh. The lower back, somehow.

They're not all the same problem, and that's genuinely the most useful thing on this page. Where you point tells us where to look.

The Three Common Patterns

Groin and deep at the front. This one is most often the hip joint itself. It tends to be worse putting socks on, getting out of a car, or after sitting a while.

The outside of the hip. Usually the soft tissue over the bone rather than the joint. Classic sign: it hurts to lie on that side at night, which is how most people discover it.

Buttock and down the back of the leg. Frequently not the hip at all. This is often the lower back referring pain downwards, and it's where hip pain and sciatica get confused with each other.

Further Down

Hip problems don't stay put. When one hip isn't moving well, the knee, shin, calf and foot on that side end up absorbing the difference, and the pain often shows up there first.

So we look at the whole chain rather than the spot you pointed at.

If It's Arthritis

Osteoarthritis of the hip and knee is common and it's one of the things we see most in people over fifty.

To be clear about our role: chiropractic works alongside the core treatments for osteoarthritis, particularly exercise, and alongside whatever your GP has recommended. We're an adjunct to that, not a replacement for it, and we won't tell you we can reverse it. What hands-on treatment and the right exercise can do is help with pain and movement, which for most people is the thing that actually affects their day.

When it Isn't Us

A hip that won't take your weight after a fall needs assessing urgently, particularly in older adults. So does sudden severe pain with fever or feeling unwell.

If the leg pain comes with numbness around the saddle area or changes to bladder or bowel control, that’s A&E today.

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