Hip Bursitis - can someone say if my symptoms r typical of this?

I have pain in my left hip which comes and goes, depending on how i'm sitting, if i'm standing or walking. The pain is in a few different places, especially on the pelvic bone and sometimes at the top of my left buttock (when i am sitting).
It's ben here for a couple of weeks now, and if u look at my previous question regarding pain in the hip, u'll see that i first got it by laying on a terrible mattress.
Oh another thing is that when i was walking today and standing still, i could feel pressure in my left hip and sometimes the pain sort of radiates to the top of my thigh, as if it is a nerve.
i don't know whether to go to docs, coz i don't like to waste their time, so can anyone just help me in this and tell me whether it is likely that i have it. Many thanks guys!

This could be an ileopsoas muscle strain or, as you suspect, a bursitis. And the pain can indeed come and go. It is possible for it to become a chronic condition when not rested /treated appropriately.

But! laying on a mattress, however 'terrible', is not likely to cause this injury. (Though it may aggravate it, so wrecking your quality of sleep and rest....).

It takes time for a bursitis to form - and it is not at all unusual for
one to develop weeks, even months,after the original injury.
(Which is why it sometimes seems to come 'out of the blue')
It is a common sports injury, but may also be connected to excessive weight-bearing. or other forms of trauma. (I see from a previous answer that you are just 27 yrs old...? sports injury)...

Primary care doctors are not good at diagnosing these kinds of problems - indeed they don't really want to, since the diagnostic tests involved are expensive (CT and MRI imaging) - and, when all is said and done, none of their patients ever die of pain!!

Moreover,while patients are waiting for those tests, the problem frequently resolves itself.

Treatment is image-guided deep injection of steroids,but the success rate for this is only 50-60%. (Surgery for very extreme cases).

An alternative diagnosis might actually be spinal problems - a herniated disk in particular - which can cause 'referred' pain to the hip and other structures. However I would be willing to bet money that you have a bursitis - primarily because you identify the pelvic bone as a major pain site. (The ileopsoas muscle attaches to the pelvis).

In this condition, you are likely to feel OK when mobilising - but experience pain when you sit/ lay in a 'fixed' position. You may also experience pain on internal rotation of the leg on the affected side.

You need 'Brufen' (Ibruprofen) for pain relief and as an anti-inflammatory. And you need to rest for a bit with only gentle exercise.

If you have a continued experience of pain - over several months - you will need to seek a definitive MRI scan of the pelvis - primarily to exclude spinal radiculopathy (nerve root involvement) and lumbar disk problems. But lets hope you won't need one and that it is a minor problem. Its a 'wait and see', really.

I really hope this helps you. Good luck.

Hi there,

I would suggest you go to your doctor to make sure either way. I had bursitis in my hip about 7 years ago (I was only 17!!!) from sitting on a till at Sainsbury's and twisting all day long. My hip ended up being really swollen and painful. Its was almost as if I'd put on weight but only on one hip. Most odd. Ideally you need to get it correctly diagnosed. Rest it as much as is practicable and try an anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen. This will bring down the swelling and can be taken in conjunction with paracetamol if the pain is really bad. I made a special oil to massage in so you could try that too. I can't remember the exact ingredients but try looking in a book called Fragrant Pharmacy. In the meantime mix some Chamomile essence with a base oil and massage directly onto the area.

HTH and good luck!

Fozbah ;-)

If the pain comes and goes, I'm not sure if it would be bursitis. Sounds like a pinched nerve, maybe the cyatic nerve. Either way, get to the doc, it doesn't sound like something that should be ignored.

About 10 years ago I was diagnosed with bursitis, but the symptoms were milder than yours. However, I now have osteoarthritis (and I'm not yet 50!) and your symptoms are very similar to mine. Go to an orthopedist, or a rheumatologist (this is who I go to), and have them take an x-ray of your hip. If most of the cartiledge is gone, then you have osteoarthritis and the doctor will tell you how to manage it.

I hope it is just bursitis and if it is, they can give you a shot to help the swelling and pain.

Doesn't sound like bursitis, sounds more like siatatica, I've bursitis and yours sound different, over the weekend you could try taking anti inflammatories like ibuprofen, if you don't have asthma and paracetamol which will both help with the pain and then go and get it checked out next week at your doctors.