What is irritable hip?
Irritable hip, also called transient synovitis, is the most common cause of hip pain in children. It is most likely to happen between the ages of 3 and 10 years.
The cause is unknown – it is likely caused by inflammation (not infection) of the hip joint. It often happens after viral illness such as sickness and diarrhoea, the common cold, or a sore throat.
Your child may complain of pain in their hip, thigh, or knee. They may limp or find it hard to move around. Younger children may cry at night or when having a nappy change.
To diagnose irritable hip, a doctor or nurse will need to talk about your child’s symptoms and examine them.
There are no tests needed, but sometimes your child may have an x-ray or blood test to help rule out other causes of hip pain.
Most children will start feeling better after a few days and back to normal after around 2 weeks. There is no treatment needed for irritable hip – your child may need to rest and take a few days off school or nursery if they are in pain.
Give them regular paracetamol and ibuprofen following the instructions on the medicines to make them feel better.
Swimming is a good low impact exercise to help get joint moving again when they are feeling better.
There are normally no long-term issues following an episode of irritable hip, but 1 in 10 children may get it again in the future
You should contact your GP, 111 or the Children’s Emergency Department if, whilst having irritable hip, your child has any of the following:
• Becomes unwell
• A temperature over 38 degrees
• Worsening pain, even with regular paracetamol and ibuprofen
• Hip pain that stops them from putting any weight on the affected leg
• Weakness in the affected leg
• Redness or swelling in any joint on the affected leg
• Hip pain that lasts longer than 2 weeks
For more information on information on irritable hip, visit the NHS page: https://
Contact: Children’s Emergency Department 01253956731
