You have been having pain in your hip, knee or ankle, but you can’t remember injuring yourself there. Could it be that the pain in your leg isn’t from your leg, but your lower back? Chances are it is.
Sometimes knee or ankle pain is just that, knee or ankle pain. However, it can be something else.
Your lower back muscles are the largest and strongest muscles in your body. They are called the psoas muscles. When they are tight or injured it creates tension on all of the muscles, ligaments and joints in your pelvis, which then causes the same kind of tension on muscles, ligaments and joints in your legs. That means your knees and ankles have to pick up the slack causing wear and tear on them.
Surprisingly, pain in your hip signals problems with your back as well. Hip injuries cause pain in the groin on the affected side. That’s because it’s where the actual joint of the hip is near the spine.
If your pain is in the hip area, not the groin, you probably have issues like a herniated disc in your lower back, the nerve affected is the sciatic nerve and that can be felt in the hip. Or the leg and knee! Sciatica is felt in the lower back, buttocks or hip, shoots down your leg, gets worse when sitting or bending and improves when you stand or walk around.
Your best bet if you are experiencing pain in your leg or hip is to get it checked out by a professional. See a doctor or physical therapist and let them help you find the true issue. Then it can be treated and the pain will end!
Sometimes what appears to be a problem isn’t. Seeing a professional is the only way to be sure.
Here at Specialized Physical Therapy of Denver, we focus on helping people with leg pain. Of all the injuries we see, many of these exist in the body’s lower extremities: hips, knees, ankles and feet. Typically these injuries are the result of years of abuse from poor mechanics that continually play havoc on your tissues and joints.
Give us a call today to find out more (720-493-1181) or make an appointment for a free pain evaluation.
