Really painful Thigh pain. Please help!!!

[Cheeseboy]

Hello,

I hope someone out there can help me. In May, my wife and I had a baby. For the first two weeks we didn’t really leave the house so I didn’t get out for a walk or to do any sport. My first day back to work I started my two mile walk when within half a mile I was hit by a sharp pain on the inside top to middle of my left thigh. It was so painful to the point that it left me breathless. I stumbled the rest of the way to work taking a break every few hundred yards. The pain only went away once I took the weight off my leg and rest for 15 minutes. The doctor prescribed me ZAPAIN capsules which did nothing to ease the pain. Only when I applied an icepack did the pain calm down although the inside of my leg felt like it was burning. I booked in to see the Physio and cycled to work for the next three weeks. I had no pain whatsoever from cycling. After seeing the Physio for a few weeks the pain did resist. I booked into see a hip specialist who confirmed my hip movement was good. I had an MRI scan which revealed that I had a bursa (about the size of a golf ball) situated next to my hip bone, my main two arteries and inside quad (Basically in the middle of the top of my leg). I have continued to have Physio for the last 8 months (mainly deep tissue massage on the area and also work on my back). I have been able to walk without pain, swim and do stretching exercises. On Thursday night I played a gentle game of football. Within five minutes at the small of my back above my left hip i felt a pull. As I continued playing the pain on the inside of my thigh came back. Two days later I couldn’t walk again without excruciating pain. I am back to square one. The specialist has been hesitant in treating the bursa because it is next to the two main arteries. If he does pop the bursa will this fix my problem? It feels to me like a nerve running from the bottom of spine, along the bottom of my back, round my hip and across to the inside of my thigh is the problem and is either knotted or caught on something. Can anyone advise at all?

Any feedback will be great.

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[Josephine]

Oh, Cheeseboy - that sounds very painful!

Actually what you have described is an ilio-psoas bursa as in the attached image. Bursae tend to come and go which is why it seemed to get better and then come back. They are mostly self limiting which is to say they will usually resolve in time but it can be protracted. Sometimes the only recourse is to inject it with a steroid to make the inflammation calm down. But he wouldn't pop it because that's not the solution.

The reason it is affecting your back and feels like a nerve is knotted is because it is so close to the femoral nerve which is then getting involved in the inflammation. I would try taking some over the counter pills such as ibuprofen to help take down the inflammation. Exercise is unlikely to help.

But go back and hassle that surgeon. He has the solution in his syringe! Given the position, he will very likely to this under xray control to make sure he stays away from the blood vessels.

Hope you have success with him.