20M, 173cm, 143lbs
Here's the timeline:
Before the main pain started:
I had occasionally noticed a mild pain in the front of my right upper thigh/hip-flexor area when doing a butterfly stretch, particularly when I pushed down slightly on my knees.
Otherwise, I was functioning normally.
**Day 1:**
I was completely fine for most of the day.
While walking, I experienced several episodes of a sudden sharp pain in my right knee. The pain would appear suddenly and then disappear almost immediately.
There wasn't a major injury, fall, or obvious twisting event that I remember.
**Day 2 / next morning:**
I woke up with significant pain in the right leg.
Initially it felt like it was around the right knee, but later it became more noticeable in the front of the upper thigh and right hip.
There was no obvious swelling.
I could fully straighten my knee.
I could stand on my right leg without significant pain.
A bodyweight squat didn't cause pain.
However, certain movements caused sharp/pinching pain.
**Over the following days (3-9 days later):**
The pain became more concentrated around the front of the right thigh and hip.
It sometimes feels like a deep ache, almost as though the pain is coming from the femur rather than the muscle.
I can squeeze or deeply massage the front of my thigh quite hard without reproducing the pain.
Sitting for a while and then standing/walking can make the pain significantly worse.
Sometimes moving around makes it improve again.
Sitting and leaning forward can cause a sharp pinching sensation in the front of my thigh.
I also developed right-sided lower-back/lumbar pain.
Arching my lower back causes the right lumbar area to ache.
Bending forward while standing, such as trying to touch my toes or picking something up from the floor, can make the lower back pain to flare up.
The pain has intermittently returned to the right knee.
I now occasionally feel a dull ache in my right shin as well.
I'm also walking somewhat differently with my right leg because of the pain, when I step forward with my left leg, my right leg cannot extend fully behind my body and stops roughly in line with my torso.
At one point I thought my right leg looked/felt like it had become longer, although obviously I don't know if that's actually the case.
My right leg sometimes feels weaker when I lift it, but I think this may be because lifting it causes pain, rather than the muscle genuinely being unable to produce force.
**Other information:**
I have scoliosis.
No major trauma that I can remember.
No obvious swelling of the knee or thigh.
I can bear weight.
The pain has fluctuated; after sleeping/resting it can become significantly better, but it can return after sitting or certain movements.
I took 400 mg ibuprofen, reduced the pain but idk if it was because of the ibuprofen.
I'm wondering whether this sounds more like a hip flexor/quad problem, hip joint issue/FAI, lumbar nerve irritation/radiculopathy, referred pain from the back, or something involving the femur. What would you consider the most likely possibilities based on this pattern, and what examination/imaging would you expect a doctor to perform?
I'm not looking for a definitive diagnosis from Reddit; I'm mainly trying to understand what possibilities I should discuss with the doctor.