Cause for pain in hip area radiating to leg causing numbness, tingling and burning
Patient: The pain in my right hip area started about a month ago. It came on unexpectedly and without an injury or accident happening. It started as just an ache that I thought was arthritis. After two weeks the pain then started affecting my leg. The pain will radiate down my right leg and cause numbness, tingling and burning. My doctor has guessed that I have sciatica and has treated me for that. I haven t noticed any changes or improvements with the medications she has prescribed to me (Naproxen, Flexaril and Prednisone) X-Ray s showed no abnormalities. In the past three or four days I haven t been able to straighten my back. When I try to straighten it I feel slight pain in my lower back, but the pain isn t very severe. It s more that my back simply will not straighten, not due to pain, just due to inability to. What could be causing this? Doctor: Hi there,  Thanks for your query.  You have not mentioned your age, as there may be spontaneous collapse of vertebra in osteoporotic elderly people, causing 'pinching' of the nerve supplying the lower limb. Even a trivial event (which the individual may not even remember) may cause it.  MRI of lower spine will confirm the diagnosis, as it may be seen in a normal X-ray.  Other causes can be spasm of Piriformis muscle (called Piriformis Syndrome), or compression over the nerve at the hip joint.  Nerve-pain-killers, such as, carbamazepine- used for treating epilepsy) will relieve the pain.  Consult your doctor and apprise him of my opinion. I am certain that he will agree with me, get MRI done and will prescribe the advised drugs in appropriate doses.   If you find my response helpful and informative, do not forget an “excellent” (5-star rating)  to my answer, to ENCOURAGE ALL doctors- engaged in social service- to render sound advice to the FREE queries.   Take care  Dr. Rakesh Karanwal