Severe Hip Pain. What should I do ?

Ok, so all my life I've been a very active/athletic person. Been dancing since I was old enough to walk, been a long-term attender of the gym, a fan of cycling long distances, sprint running etc etc. When I was a baby though my mum always thought there was something wrong with my right hip as it used to click when I started walking & I used to curve slightly to that side as a newborn. Plus I've always seemed to walk with my right foot turning slightly in involuntarily (like pigeon-toed except on 1 foot).

Never had pain from it though growing up, as it didn't stop me from doing the things I love. Got to 21 and got pregnant with my son (now 3yrs old), during the late stages of pregnancy I had some pain in my right hip, I used to have to circle it in the air to relieve a pressure pain & it used to click near the joint (the clicking also felt good, as in relieving pain & pressure).

After giving birth the pain mostly went away again, although sometimes that pressure/clicking feeling would flare up from time to time (nothing too painful). I went through a phase after that of rapidly trying to get my fitness back to top-notch again (when my son was 2yrs old). I admit I went about it the wrong way & it was very extreme. I stopped eating normal meals (only ate 1 weightwatchers meal a day & drank Lucozade to get me through) & I went to the gym every day for about 4 hours straight, pushing myself to the max; sprinting on the treadmill for half an hour at a time & other equally extreme things (with only my Lucozade) before coming out & cycling very long distances. I lost weight drastically (I wasn't really big to begin with just felt heavier after giving birth as I'm used to being very slender).

Anyways, I pretty much ran myself into the ground for about 4 months before resuming a normal lifestyle again (after a trip to the hospital & a stern telling-off from the nurse). A year has passed since then and I had been trying to still remain active (walking everywhere). But over this last summer whenever I walked somewhere quite far, a weird sensation started to work its way from my hip-joint, all the way down the outside of my leg & to my knee (making my foot turn in even more than usual), whenever I tried to straighten my foot out again, the pain got worse in my hip-bone.

Over that time its just been getting worse (it doesn't happen over short distances though, ie; walking to the shops & back) but whenever I try to do the things I love, walking long distances for fun &/or power-walking up a steep hill. It really starts to flare up so bad that its almost crippling if I just try to ignore it & keep on going. The pain definitely stems from my right hip-side, spreads down the outside of my Femur & causes stress on my knee (making my right foot turn in a lot, I have to make a conscious effort to make my foot stay straighter & it hurts so bad doing so). Its getting to the point where I'm actually stuck in my house a lot.

I feel depressed because I can't just go walking like I used to be able to do & I feel as if I'm starting to gain weight again (especially on my thighs, although that's not what started the pain, it was painful before I started gaining weight). I really want to get back to the gym again after a year of not going but this stupid thing is stopping me. Oh forgot to mention, I'm 25yrs old & this should not be happening at my age.

I don't know what has suddenly set it off like this, as I've managed years of no-pain & I haven't really done anything different in my life (the only thing I can think of is over-doing it at the gym last year, but that's all). Can someone please help as I want to get back to normal again with no more pain. I'm not a "sit around the house" type of person & its driving me insane. xx

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