Question
Hello, I am a 32 year old woman, who is overweight and has been all her life, but not morbidly so.  Ever since I was a teenager, I've had the occasional pain in my hips, the right one more often than the left.  Over time the pain became worse and worse, and I began having sharp pains in the tops of my feet, where all those little bones are.  When I became pregnant, the pain in my hips got worse (obviously), to the point that now, two years after having my baby, my right hip constantly aches.  When I work, I get about halfway through my shift (I stand all day) before the pain in the right one gets distracting, and the left one begins to hurt from me taking the weight off the right one.  By the time my eight hours are up, I'm limping out of my workplace... sooner than that, if I had to mop the floor.  One time I was lying on the hard floor to clean under the counter, and had to have two guys pick me up, I was in so much pain.  I can't roll over in bed without waking up to do it, and it hurts to lie on my side, even on a mattress.  Since I know you'll ask, I'm 5'4", and weigh about 200 lbs. (It's more accurate to say I never weigh more than 200 lbs., though right now I'm probably around 190.  I stopped obsessing over my weight in an effort to finally lose some of it.)

I appreciate any help you could give me.  I'm too young to have arthritis, and I know it's not sciatica, because it's not a radiating pain down my backside, it's a sharp pain right in the joint, like something's grating or pinched or something.  I don't have any noticeable swelling.  I plan to go to a doctor one of these days... the pain is getting pretty bad.  But before I go, I'd like to rule out the simple stuff so I can find out the problem.

Thank you.

Answer
I'm so sorry you're in pain.  I can relate so much to this, weight and all. The hip that bugged me since high school was my left.  I wasn't diagnosed with osteoarthritis until my late 40's, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there before. I blamed myself because of the weight, but later found out I had a relative who was kicked out of the Army at 18 with hip arthritis, so it's a little easier to think I got the "lucky" genes!

You need to see a doctor to find out for sure what it is, but don't rule out something because you're "too young."  In the meantime, joint pain can be treated with heat, mild exercise, and stretching.  Once you see a doc, if it is OA, the first recommendation is to lose weight. Believe me, I know how easy (NOT!) that is. Beyond that is glucosamine/chondroitin which gives me very subtle relief, NSAIDs like Motrin to reduce pain and inflammation, or pain killers if you're like me and can't take the NSAIDs. I also use external lidocaine patches for a range of pain -- they're moderately effective. Work with your doc to find what's best for you.