I have been experiencing sharp stabbing pain in my left upper inner thigh. It started out as kind of random but now I can hardly walk. I thought maybe a hernia, but can't find any bulges, and I have no pain elsewhere. I am female, 53, healthy, I think, and active. I'm home, in pain, wondering, should I go to the ER?
I have been doing construction work on my home. Pain started about 1 month ago. I had been doing some heavy lifting. My back felt strained, but hot bath couple days in a row seemed to fix the back pain. The shooting pain in upper inner left thigh kept getting worse and more frequent, especially when getting up from seated position, getting in or out of my truck, and now, walking is almost impossible for more than a few steps.
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I’d go to the hospital, there’s no harm to check out a bit of professional advice
Yes. Go. If you can hardly walk, something is very obviously wrong.
Why wouldn’t you go to the hospital?
There’s really no way any of us on an Internet site could possibly diagnose what the problem is.
Your situation requires a hands on examination by an MD and likely some type of imaging procedure as well.
Go and get evaluated by a professional.
My vote is also for the hospital. A dear friend had similar pain a few years ago. It turned out to be a blood clot, and potentially very dangerous.
Agreed. Please update us as to the results. Hope you feel better soon.
Go to the hospital! If a painful leg is associated with a back injury, it could be very important to get this addressed.
Yep, it could, potentially be a blood clot, serious stuff. My ex husband is 55 and he just had a huge clot in his neck that extended down his arm. Deep vein thrombosis can be deadly, causing aneurysms and embolisms, RUN do not WALK to the ER stat!
@Coloma did he make it? Is he out of danger? Did he collapse?
@ZEPHYRA He woke up with his arm extremely swollen and painful and went to the doctors and they sent him to the hospital for 3 days trying to dissolve it.
It is a rare type of clot, they said maybe from years of sleeping on his arm but also maybe something to do with his anatomy. He may have to have a rib or two removed. Very weird.
It extended from his neck all the way into his arm. and he will be on blood thinners for at least 6 months. . They also said that this type of clot can come from trauma but he has not had any trauma. They stated a women who had been hit in the shoulder from the recoil of shooting a high powered rifle. It’s a mystery.
Back pain and leg pain would make me worry about a slipped or herniated disc. Get to the ER.
Back pain and leg pain probably is not an emergency, but the off chance it’s a blood clot is a serious emergency. Is the area red or hot or sensitive to the touch? If so, I’d go to the ER now, no procrastinating. Even if it isn’t, I’d say since you are almost crippled I agree with the people above, go to the hospital. If it was a weekday or even just daytime I’d just say go to your doctor or urgent care.
If it’s a disc or muscular they’ll like just prescribe you muscle relaxers or ibuprofen, maybe also some narcotics, and tell you to rest. Maybe prescribe some physical therapy.
If it is some sort of fracture, like a stress fracture, it’s very important to get that diagnosed too.
Here’s the thing, if it is a blood clot it’s important not to experiment with drugs for the pain, because you don’t want any agents that would conflict with the drugs given for blood clots. It’s too serious.
Yes, go. If you’re in too much pain to walk, get it checked out. Better be safe than sorry.
I hope the OP comes back and it wasn’t spam. My money is on the back injury and needing rest and muscle relaxers. I hope he’s ok if it is real.
I would also be concerned about a DVT which can cause a pulmonary embolism that can be fatal. As @JLeslie says, there is probably a good chance it’s related to a back injury, but I would want a MD to rule out any worst-case scenarios.
I don’t think it’s a hernia..as the position of your pain is too low. A hernia would be higher up, on the lower quadrant of your abdomen.
Most likely you just tore what we call the ‘fascia” which is a thin layer of tissue that wraps around your upper quadriceps, which as you probably know are the names for your thigh muscles. These muscles are among the biggest and strongest in the body, BTW.
So, yeah, you just moved that leg once, to quickly, without that fascia being warmed-up or loosened, and so you put a slight tear in in. I did this once, hurt like hell and I thought it was gonna be someting serious, but I cured it with NSAIDs (anti-inflammatory meds, like Ibuprofen) and just some ice treatment.
So do this. Follow the old “RICE” rule for injuries like yours, as well as muscle strains: Rest; Ice; Compression; and Elevation. And add Ibuprofen. Begin with 400 mgs. three times a daily. Make sure you take with at least a little bit of food, or a glass of milk, as Ibu has a tendency to cause some folks to have a bit of gastric discomfort.
Good luck!
Was the pain in the front of the thigh or the back?
I wish the OP would update us.
OP hasn’t returned since posting. We may have been involved in a prank.
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