Herniated disc hip pain is one of the many symptoms diagnosed as stemming from bulging intervertebral disc issues in the lumbar spine. The tissues stemming from nerve roots from T12 through S1 pass through the hip area, making this type of pain easily blamed on a wide range of possible causative conditions, including spinal stenosis and foraminal stenosis. Other common diagnostic conclusions formulated to explain hip pain may include piriformis syndrome, sacroiliac joint pain and hip bursitis. Of course, hip issues can also be completely nonstructural and may be related to the mindbody process in some patients. This is always worth considering.
This dialog will investigate the origin of hip pain symptoms and how these complaints might be related to herniated disc pathologies in the lower back.
Herniated Disc Hip Pain Problems
The hip joint is known to be the site of common arthritic process activity and may be the subject of medical scrutiny in many cases of chronic pain. Some degeneration of the hip is normal and even advanced cases of joint or socket deterioration are typical in older patients. Many of these instances are not painful or symptomatic in any way.
Statistics show that many patients with severe hip deterioration do not have any pain, while other patients with minor and expected degeneration have terrible intractable symptoms. Likewise, some lumbar herniated discs can cause hip pain in rare instances, although most herniations do not create any pain at all.
The sacroiliac joint is incredibly strong and perfectly designed, but it is also one of the possible subjects of investigation in hip pain syndromes.
Finally, piriformis syndrome might enact pain deep inside the hip region in some patients.
All these factors make achieving an accurate diagnostic conclusion especially difficult, even considering the low standards set by the back pain industry. Since so many of these possible causes of pain are universal or nearly so, it may be challenging to link the actual source process to every symptomatic expression.
Hip pain diagnosis is further plagued by the simple fact that many patients identify pain as existing in the hip, when all along, it may be in the side of the buttocks or the upper thigh. The hip region is large and ambiguously defined. However, I am always shocked that many doctors do not take the time to correlate the exact location of the symptoms when the patient describes them as residing in the hip. It would probably help reduce misdiagnosis considerably if this simple task was always performed by the diagnostician.
Hip Pain from a Herniated Disc
I have a hard time talking to some patients about herniated disc hip pain, as the diversity of possible causative conditions is astounding. I try to work a valid conclusion mostly from the symptomatic expression, rather than just using the evidence gathered during medical imaging. This is due to the many instances of misdiagnosed structural pain which seems to come from an anatomical issue, but is really due to some other reason, such as regional ischemia.
If the pain exists only in the hop socket or exclusively consistent with the nerve root suspected in a herniated disc condition, then structurally-based pain is more likely. However, the symptoms are often far too widespread, leaving the ischemia model to be the far more logical choice. In my experience, the SI joint is often blamed, but is rarely the actual source of pain, especially chronic and severe cases. Remember, the SI is one of the strongest joints in the human anatomy.
Herniated Disc Hip Pain Considerations
Hip pain conditions are never easy to explain. However, the majority of hip symptom syndromes blamed on herniated discs have the distinct possibility of being mistakenly diagnosed. There are often several possible causative processes existing concurrently. This theory receives considerable support from the abysmal curative statistics offered by most herniated disc treatments used when hip pain is involved.
For variable pain, more than consistent pain, the most common source is regional oxygen deprivation, although this can create all types of symptomatic expressions, as well.
If you have been stricken with hip pain which is being linked to a herniated disc concern, make sure to take special care in monitoring your therapy. If you do not improve with several attempts at treatment, it might be smart to reconsider the accuracy of the diagnosis, since the conclusion may be precise in identifying structural issues, but not in confirming the underlying source of agony. Speak to your doctor with any concerns you have and demand explanatory answers which make sense to you.
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