I've seen six doctors, taken x-rays, back and side, tried acupuncture, etc. For the last four months I'm been treated by a chiropractor that uses adjustments, traction and exercises. Two months into his treatment the pain went away, it lasted two weeks, and then it came back with a vengeance.
The symptoms are on the left side only, the pain starts after I walk for about 1-2 minutes, always when I hit the pavement, rarely at home: severe anterior hip pain, on the crease of the hip, calf pain as if a vice was crushing it, and often also on the back left side of the rib cage from waist to about 5 inches up (pressing with my left hand as hard as I can, pain on the back subsides a bit). Sitting makes pain stop, so now I carry a folding canvas stool because I never know when I have to sit down. Sometimes leaning against a flat surface and pressing hard also helps the pain go away momentarily. Over the counter analgesics did not help: Aleve, Motrin, Tylenol... I would rather not take prescription medicine.
Another symptom is that from time to time, if I lie down on my stomach for a massage, for instance, I feel a shooting pain on the front left thigh, going from inside the knee to the crease of the hip.
I believe the pain started after a Yoga class in which I tried to sit on the floor with the legs bend backwards. I felt a very sharp pain on the inside of the left knee and had to leave the class.
My diagnostic so far has been sciatica nerve pain, but based on what I've been reading, people with sciatica have more pain when they sit down, which is the opposite I'm experiencing, and also, I don't feel any pain on my back below the waist line, or on the back of the thigh. Thank you for your help.