Terrible left hip pain from carrying chunky toddler! Should I see GP?

[humuna]

In the last week or so I’ve felt a niggle in my left hip. I thought it was from co-sleeping on my side so made sure to change sides more often.

Well, in the past 24 hours it’s got really bad. When I stood up from being on the sofa last night, I couldn’t walk, and had to crawl up the stairs.

DS is 20 months, 85th percentile, and has only learned to walk in the past couple of weeks so of course I’ve been carrying him all this time and still need to quite a bit.

Of course, a solution could be to carry him on my right hip but it feels odd!

My hip feels very sore. Should I contact GP/physio?

I think physio will be more useful than GP - some practices let you self refer to physio rather than needing to see GP first.

A really good deep tissue massage may also help, it helped me a lot with a similar problem, but it did have to be really deep (I had bruises!)

It's physio you need.

In my area you can self refer using a form on the hospital website. Confusingly, it's called Musculoskeletal Services (MSK) so not immediately obvious to many people.

Physio or osteopath. A GP would just tell you to go away and take paracetamol.

Hippychick hipseats are a godsend with clingy heavy toddlers https://www.hippychick.com/shop/hippychick-hipseat-baby-carrier/?attribute_pa_colour-swatch=denim-mocha&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=22967896488&utm_term=hipseat&utm_content=772188416344&utm_adgroup=186448428604&utm_campaign=TOFU-Purchase-HB-Search-UK-DMXS&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22967896488&gbraid=0AAAAADezj8rg39U5rNBO6yhzLmeYKRFaf&gclid=CjwKCAjwxITRBhBYEiwA6mZm7dSNCgqnY3irnI7z6Dmf0dCh9rIAczScnHAc5GZj7djgFciFsYphAhoCq1gQAvD_BwE

Physio/osteopath

Thanks so much all. I’ve made a physio appointment for next week - I didn’t realise I could book through my GP surgery!

Those who are recommending the Hippychick, would you recommend that above the hip slips like this one?

www.wildridecarrier.co.uk/products/toddler-carrier-leopard-print-grey

That’ll just hurt your shoulder tbh

I have hip issues (not baby related although it may have contributed over the years) and most effective pain relief is Tens machine. Doc has me on strong codeine which I take at night but tens during the day is more effective than the codeine. I probably need a hip replacement to give you an idea of pain levels

I've never used one like that, but I imagine it might pull on your shoulder. The hippychick has a wide, supportive belt that distributes the weight evenly. You do need to keep a hand on your child though, it's not a carrier as such, just a more comfortable alternative to balancing a child on your hip.

As well as avoiding creating the problem, you can try taking ibuprofen for 5 days, the full dose each day (perhaps also with omezaprole to protect your stomach). I was surprised how much it helped me recover from a similar issue.

Also, depending on where the pain is, a dead hang might be helpful. If you go to the park just dangle off the monkey bars for a bit if you can and see if it works. It helps my pinched nerve a lot.

Less of an immediate solution but I'd really recommend pilates to strengthen your core and muscles in general.
A friend recommended it when I was getting a really bad back picking DS2 up. Pilates class once a week is a great preventive measure for me and I feel so much stronger for it and notice when I don't do it

Adult ballet for me: has sorted that out and a ton of other stuff too. Can't recommend highly enough.