What could a bad pain around hip be?

23 year old female - popping hip/severe pain?

• Hey everyone, thanks for reading my question. A little back story, about 3 weeks ago I stepped on a very small shard of glass in my basement that I just could not get out. After trying for a couple days I kind of gave up, and have been just "limping", and putting my pressure on my good foot. The glass in the heal of my foot, sometimes I forget it's there but if I put too much weight on it I can definitely feel it. Fast forward to last weekend I went to Niagara Falls. Still limping a bit from the glass in my foot, I also wore boots that were a size too big (I dont have a lot of money right now and needed boots for the trip). I'm only mentioning all the above because I think they might have something to do with it perhaps? Anywho, after walking around Niagara for a day (lots of walking!) I noticed my hip was popping, even after resting for a few hours there was still pain in my right hip. The night it started the pain got very, very intense I almost cried it hurt. I tried googling stretches to alleviate the pain, but nothing worked until I ended up buying some advil at the hotel (pricey!) The next day, with the advil's help I managed to enjoy the rest of my trip. I got home and after a good nights sleep in my own bed the pain seemed to have gone away. I began to think that maybe I had arthritis in my hip joint and it got so severe because of all the moisture in the air at the falls? But then, still wearing my oversized boots (i honestly dont have any other winter shoes :(), the pain has returned in full force. It's winter here, and I haven't been walking all day but it hurts so bad. (Actually, I did walk/bus across town for an interview in the dreaded boots), or maybe it's because everything is melting? Obviously, a doctor trip is an order I probably left it too long, but do you have any idea what this could be? Has my lame foot cause a misalignement in my body? Is just a change of shoes in order? Is this serious? Do you think it could be arthritis (it runs in my family, well, my grandma had it)? It's really disrupting my life it hurts everytime I walk, it hurts even to move around in bed. When I get up i grunt now in pain and walking upstairs hurts really bad, and this has become a CONSTANT problem. :( Please help! I'm only 23! Oh some other info, I'm lactose intolerant so milk has never been huge in my diet, infact i've had a couple hypoglycemic episodes and sugar troubles which I think it due to lack of nutrition in childhood. Also I'm not very active, and have in the last 6 months gained about 25-30 pounds.

• Answer:

  Well, the awkward way you have been walking may have been forcing the hip to scrape against the cartilage between the two bones, weakening it. This can cause fairly severe pain and usually leads to arthritis without treatment. You need to go to the doctor for a diagnosis. As for the glass, this should have been removed immediately. It could have possibly lodged itself into the bones of your foot and this would require years of expensive surgery to correct, even after the glass has been removed. I'm guessing the skin has healed over the glass so you will need minor surgery to remove it but trust me, it's worth it compared to the agonizing pain and treatment needed to fix it if you don't remove it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but, with some treatment, your life will be back to normal and you can enjoy it the way it's supposed to be! Good luck!