Various conditions of the lower back, or Lumbar Spine, can cause pain that may be felt as hip pain. These include osteoarthritis of the small joints in the spine called Facet Joints, stenosis (narrowing) of the spinal canal or neural foramen where the spinal nerves exit the spine and form the main nerves going to the pelvis and legs, and degenerative disc disease, where the discs between the bones of the spine, become thinner and lose their supportive properties. The pain caused by these pathologies can sometimes be mis-interpreted as pain caused by hip osteoarthritis. Often, a patient will have BOTH hip arthritis AND low back pain. It is important in these cases to identify the true cause of the pain, as performing a Total Hip replacement on a patient with early OA of the hip may not take away their pain if it is due to degenerative changes of the lumbar spine.

If it is your lumbar spine that is causing the main problem, then a steroid injection into the offending area can often prove very effective. Failing this, Dr. Thornton-Bott will refer you on to a Spinal Colleague for further management.