Chronic Conditions That Trigger Hip and Leg Pain

Hip and leg pain can result from numerous chronic conditions, often making it challenging to pinpoint the cause of your pain. When hip or leg pain persists despite at-home care, you should visit a physician to receive a formal diagnosis and the care you need. However, learning about the conditions that may cause hip and leg pain can help you better understand your symptoms. 

In this article, we’ll explore the diseases, injuries, and conditions that are associated with hip and leg pain, as well as the treatments available to address them. 

Table of Contents

What Diseases Are Associated With Hip Pain?

Diseases associated with hip pain include arthritis, bursitis, avascular necrosis, and lupus. 

  • Bursitis involves inflammation of the bursae – the small fluid-filled sacs surrounding the body’s joints to absorb impact and prevent damage. Hip pain is a common symptom of bursitis, which may be caused by acute injury or overuse. 
  • Avascular necrosis is bone tissue death from a lack of blood flow. It can be triggered by an injury or long-term medication use, and it may cause chronic hip pain. 
  • Lupus is a chronic autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s tissues and organs. It can cause joint pain and inflammation. 
  • Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an autoimmune condition affecting the central nervous system. It often causes joint pain, such as hip pain, from muscle tightness and stiffness.  

Hip Pain from Arthritis

Arthritis refers to a group of disorders involving inflammation, pain, and stiffness of a joint. Arthritis-related inflammation can break down the cartilage in the hip joint over time, potentially causing permanent joint damage.

The types of arthritis that most commonly cause hip pain include:

  • Osteoarthritis: Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent type of arthritis. It can be caused by overuse and/or age-related degeneration. 
  • Rheumatoid arthritis: RA is an autoimmune condition that causes inflammation of the synovial membrane, which encases the hip joint. With RA, the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy joint tissue. 
  • Psoriatic arthritis: This type of arthritis impacts people with psoriasis, an autoimmune disorder that causes patches of inflamed, red skin. Psoriatic arthritis involves inflammation of the joints, such as the hip joints. 
  • Ankylosing spondylitis: Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of arthritis that involves inflammation in the spinal joints and ligaments, as well as peripheral joints like the hips. Hip pain is a common symptom of this joint disorder. 

What Autoimmune Disorder Causes Hip Pain?

Autoimmune disorders that can cause hip pain include rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis. 

Rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis can cause permanent damage to the hip joints. With these conditions, the immune system’s inflammatory response can break down the cartilage in the hip, leading to pain and stiffness.  Lupus can lead to inflammation in the hip joints and increase your risk of osteoarthritis. 

Multiple sclerosis, on the other hand, doesn’t generally cause hip pain from joint inflammation or cartilage degeneration. Instead, it may trigger hip pain from nerve or muscle-related symptoms (i.e. spasticity). 

Can Hip Pain Be Caused by Something Else?

Hip pain can be caused by something other than injuries and arthritis, such as spinal conditions.

When people have hip pain, they often assume that the pain is stemming directly from the hip. But, hip pain can be a sign of a problem in the spine. Many lumbar spine conditions can cause pain that radiates to the hip and other extremities, including:

How Do I Know if My Hip Pain Is Skeletal or Muscular?

You can know if your hip pain is skeletal if you have pain on the inside of the hip or groin. If your hip pain is muscular, it will likely cause pain in the outer buttock, upper thigh, or the outside of the hip. 

Additionally, skeletal hip pain tends to:

  • Feel sharp
  • Improve with gentle physical activity
  • Worsen with excessive physical activity
  • Radiate down the leg
  • Feel the most severe in the morning

Muscular hip pain tends to:

  • Feel achy
  • Spread across the buttock and side of the leg
  • Be less debilitating than skeletal pain

What Can Cause Leg Pain?

Leg pain can be caused by:

  • Muscle sprains and strains
  • Acute injuries including bruises and fractures
  • Vascular conditions including blood clots, poor circulation, and varicose veins
  • Nerve conditions, such as diabetic neuropathy
  • Spinal conditions

Which Spinal Conditions Can Cause Leg Pain?

Lumbar spine conditions can cause pain that radiates from the lower back to the legs. These conditions include:

  • Spinal stenosis is the gradual narrowing of the spinal canal. This narrowing can cause spinal nerve impingement, with which pain can radiate into the hip. 
  • Spondylolisthesis occurs when a vertebra shifts out of its normal position, falling onto the vertebra beneath it. While some spondylolisthesis cases are asymptomatic, the affected vertebra may press on nearby spinal nerves, potentially causing pain that travels from the lower back to the hip. 
  • Degenerative disc disease is a condition involving damaged spinal discs. The spinal discs cushion the vertebrae by absorbing impact, helping to prevent damage. Whether due to age or overuse, disc degeneration can lead to spinal nerve impingement and radiating pain. 
  • Sciatica can result from all three of the spinal conditions listed above. It occurs as a result of pressure on the sciatic nerve, which extends from the lower back through the buttocks and down the legs. Hip pain is a possible symptom of sciatica.

Modern Treatments of Diseases That Cause Hip and Leg Pain

Modern treatments of diseases that cause hip and leg pain include:

  • Regenerative medicine
  • Physical therapy
  • Alternative therapies
  • Minimally-invasive surgery

Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative therapies like stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) can treat hip or leg pain from conditions like arthritis. These treatments work by stimulating and supporting the body’s natural healing process, helping to regenerate the damaged tissue. 

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is widely used in modern treatment plans for hip and leg pain. It involves targeted exercises and stretches to improve mobility, muscle strength, and muscle tension. 

Alternative Therapies

Alternative therapies that may help treat hip and leg pain without surgery include:

  • Acupuncture 
  • Massage therapy 
  • Supplements for inflammation
  • Magnetic pulse therapy

Minimally-Invasive Surgery

Modern, minimally-invasive surgical techniques can reduce the need for riskier, more invasive surgeries to treat hip and leg pain. With minimally invasive procedures, surgeons can make smaller incisions, disturb less tissue, shorten recovery times, and reduce the risk of complications. 

For hip and leg pain caused by spinal conditions, minimally invasive innovations can reduce the need for spinal fusion. Spinal fusion is commonly used after spinal decompression surgery to treat spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis. Unfortunately, it’s an invasive procedure that can limit the patient’s spinal mobility and pose the risk of adjacent segment degeneration. 

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Non-fusion spinal implants like the TOPS System facilitate minimally-invasive surgery for hip and leg pain. The TOPS System is a mechanical implant device that restores a controlled range of motion in the spine after spinal decompression. It can alleviate hip and/or leg pain from lumbar spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis. 

To find the root of your hip or leg pain and discover the modern treatment options available to you, schedule an appointment with a physician in your area today.