Question
You probably get this one a lot but I'm suffering from a recurrent pain in my hips that comes and goes as it pleases.  To be honest, I can't really associate it with any activity that may have caused it.  I'm a 28 year old female, 5'7", 140lbs, and gave birth to my first child via c-section in September. One would guess that pregnancy was the cause but it's been happening since I was competitively playing soccer until age 20.  It would flare up and start on my pubic bone - it would usually disappear after a good night sleep.  Now, it usually starts deep inside my butt cheek (usually the left) and then worsens and radiates down the inside of my thigh.  It actually feels like stabbing pain down along the femur and STOPS at my knee.  Sometimes it shoots down the outside of my thigh, but usually never in the back.  It happens without warning or any pattern - I can guess and say 8 times a year... I'll just wake up one morning and it kills! It sticks around for about 4-5 days, and I literally walk around like I'm 90 years old!  It's strange because I can't stretch it, or tie it to a muscle pain - it feels to deep!  There is no cracking or popping, just stabbing pain.

I've been seeing a DC aggressively for 12 weeks (3 x week) and have had some relief (two episode only lasted 2 days vs. 4-5.  They took x-rays of my upper and lower back and apparently I suffer from subluxation in the neck and very mild scholiosis in the lower back (SI joint??) He's told me that the SI joint is causing it not my sciatica (which is what I thought it was all along - he said sciatica pain doesn't stop at the knee and usually was down the back of your thigh exclusively) but WHAT in my SI joint is causing it?  I firmly believe in chiropractic and am now a lifer, but I really want to get to the root of the problem once and for all!  I've been told is this, its that, etc. since I was 16 years old and no solutions OTHER than chiropractic have been given to me.  I've switched shoes, mattresses, even the way I work out, and it seems like the "mystery hip pain episodes" return when they feel like pissing me off!  It truly is a quality of life issue because I used to exercise more than what I do now, and it's hard for me (at times) to hold and pick up my 6 month old.  This is hard on my and my husband and I'm so tired of it.  I suffered 16 + hours of excruciating labor and I can honestly say that the hip stuff hurts worse!!  

Please help!  Any suggestions?

Answer
First...I definitely feel for you!!!  Sciatic pain SUCKS...plain and simple!!!  Sciatic pain can be felt anywhere along the leg, and is graded according to where you feel it to (Grade 1, buttocks, Grade 2, back of thigh, grade 3 to the knee, Grade 4 to the foot).  It sounds as if there is a complex set of circumstances, ranging from SI joint dysfunction, Piriformis spasm, and Iliopsoas spasm.  All 3 must be addressed, as well as a rehab program, to get this in control so that you may end up as pain free as possible.