What kind of doctor should I see for this kind of leg pain?

November 20, 2019 3:19 PM

I've recently been experiencing an unpleasant and painful issue with my leg where every once in a while it feels like there's a band stretched between my groin and my quad and that band has snagged on something. When it happens the pain starts near my groin where the "snagging" is happening and radiates down to my knee. If I shake my leg around/stretch out it eventually goes away, but it hurts like hell.

When I saw my GP she had me move my leg around a bit (I couldn't recreate the issue - it seems somewhat random) and said nothing seemed amiss but prescribed me some physical therapy. I admittedly haven't gone to physical therapy (I know, I know) but I would really like to know what the issue is before I go, since I don't really see how we can know we're not making whatever it is worse without knowing what it is to begin with.

So, mefites, what kind of doctor should I see for this? If you have any ideas about what the issue might be I'm all ears on that too. Thank you!

posted by wuzandfuzz to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

I had something like that but instead of starting at the groin, mine started on the outside of my hip radiating down to my knee. The physical therapist figured out what it was by bending my leg and pushing it this way and that. I had thought there would need to be diagnostic images first, but apparently not.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 3:34 PM on November 20, 2019

I second that this is something that physical therapy might be able to help with. I have had knee issues that seemed serious to me that were diagnosed and resolved with relative ease through stretching and exercise.
posted by procrastination at 3:39 PM on November 20, 2019

The PT is actually the perfect person to figure out what this is, because they'll be better-able to test your range of motion and work out the cause(s). PTs spend all day immersed in human anatomy -- one of mine actually taught anatomy courses to pre-med students on the side. They'll diagnose you before they try to fix you, so start there. (In some countries, you can find PTs who specialize as "kinesiologists," but I'm assuming you're in the US, and it's not really a thing there. A PT with a solid grounding in anatomy/biomechanics or kinesiology is the way to go here.)
posted by halation at 3:49 PM on November 20, 2019

Yeah, I second that seeing the PT next is the best route. They're better than imaging sometimes, because they have so much experience with bodies and anatomy and have all kinds of movement tests that they do to suss out what has gone wrong. Like they literally have checklists for different conditions where if you can move X in Y way, that rules out Z, and so on and so forth.

That said, PT does take time sometimes, where you'll need to go back and say "these exercises aren't helping" and then they'll try something else. And not all PTs are the same, so don't hesitate to try another one if the first can't help you.
posted by purple_bird at 4:06 PM on November 20, 2019

A physio or a sports medicine clinic (even if it's not a sports related injury) should be able to point you in the right direction.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 4:10 PM on November 20, 2019

Fifth‘ing that a decent physiotherapist will diagnose the issue using functional testing, and likely be able to help you resolve it with hands-on therapy and some homework.
posted by sixswitch at 4:12 PM on November 20, 2019

OK, broken record time, but there's several things it could be from your description. I've wasted time thinking I had shin splints or possibly another stress reaction, when I was diagnosed with a problem with my flexor digitorum longus. Doing the prescribed exercises fixed me up.

Just go to PT to find out what your issue is. The internet is horrible for diagnosing fine problems with musculature/ligaments.
posted by nobeagle at 6:28 AM on November 21, 2019

What everyone else said about PT and Sports MDs, but also it reminds me of when I had “snapping hip syndrome”, which is exactly as fun as it sounds.
posted by matildaben at 9:57 PM on November 21, 2019

Sounds exactly like a hip problem I have, & my physio says it's caused by the hip capsule, the tough cartilage layer surrounding your hip joints, getting stressed and inflamed. Seconding physiotherapy - they can help you with posture, gait & biomechanics etc as well as strengthening exercises, and they'll be able to get a lot more specific than a GP in pinpointing exactly where the problem is.
posted by BlueNorther at 2:02 AM on November 22, 2019

Le sigh, to the PT I go. Thanks for setting me straight, everyone!
posted by wuzandfuzz at 2:45 PM on November 22, 2019

Sciatica?
posted by Dansaman at 10:15 PM on November 22, 2019