Slow deterioration for about three years now. Specifically my left hip. It started seemingly overnight as a slight pain right under my glute, and kind of where the upper hamstrings and the glute meet. Initially it felt like I wanted to stretch it using the ‘butterfly’ pose, but it never really helped.

Fast forward to a year ago. Hip got tighter and weaker and more asymmetrical from the opposite hip. Eventually the hip joint would start “catching” and impinging. (I would like on my back and rotate my foot externally, and I would feel a catching inside the hip joint and it wouldn’t smoothly rotate.) When I would walk, the joint would feel like it didn’t glide/move correctly, and my hip would get irritated after walking just a quarter mile.

I’ve been attending a physical therapist, and I’ve been doing some capsule stretches and hip exercises, which has helped the impingment and stability of my hip. I can walk much further now compared to before.

HOWEVER, I seem to have reached a plateau, and I still have a noticable asymmetry of my hips. Yes, the hip is stronger and more functional now, but it just feels like two completely different joints working. Specifically, when I walk, it feels like whatever muscle is running down my inner thigh up to my groin is NOT firing, and the two hips just dont glide/move symmetrically. Secondly, when I get into a deep lunge, where my left knee travels slightly over my toes, I feel a very strange pain deep in my hip, where the upper hamstring meets my glute, almost like a cramping, “stretchy” feeling. This doesn’t happen when I lunge with my “good” hip. Finally, when I sit for long periods of time, I get a pinching, sharp pain in my hip joint.

I’m at the point now where my right side feels fully functional, and my entire left side feels weaker and less stable. My arch is weaker, I can’t curl my toes as much, my calf doesn’t fire equally the front of my shin feels weaker, my hamstring feels tight some days, too long on other days. My lower back muscles on the left feel weaker, my left oblique feels weaker, etc..

But it is specifically the hip where I feel considerable pain/asymmetry.

I come in a desperate spot. I’ve made a lot of changes in my life in the past few years, but this is really holding me back. If someone could please help point my in the right direction to help me make the right steps, I would greatly appreciate it! IT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD TO ME TO FIX THIS ISSUE!

Thank you for reading this.