Question
I am 26 years old and have recently started having problems with my hips. They hurt when I walk more than a kilometre or so or doing any kind of exercise focussing on my legs/hips. The pain feels like it is deep inside and is more or less directly over my hip joint.
I also get a terrible cramp in one hip or the other when my legs are stretched apart for more than a couple of minutes. When the leg is moved the cramp stops. The area feel sensitive though for some time afterwards.
For some years now I've had low back pain on standing or walking for any length of time (in the lumbar/sacral area) but the hip pain is relatively new.
If you could offer any advice it would be most appreciated.

Answer
Dear Taryn:

Your pain could be due to many things.  The best thing you can do is see a good orthopedist to make sure that you do not have arthritis.  

Your pain could be due to a muscle cramp, torn ligaments, or tendons (if you have had a recent injury).  The pain over the hip joint (in the groin area) could be a sign of early onset arthritis.  Another possiblity could be that your legs are not the same length.  If you have one leg even 1/2 inches shorter than the other, you will experience back pain.  It could be that you have a leg length discrepancy, so it would be a good idea to have your doctor check the lengths of your legs to be sure they are even.  If they are not, you can add a small lift to the inside of your shoe of the shorter leg.

If the pain radiates up your leg into the buttock area, it could be sacraliliac pain. (excuse the spelling).

But the best thing you can do short term is get an X ray or an MRI to see if there are any bone problems.   Ligament and tendon problems will not show on X rays, so if there is no problem with the bone, chances are you injured the tendons.

26 years old is a bit young to experience arthritis-like pain, but if you do have arthritis in your family history, you might be getting early symptoms.  

Good luck to you.