You will need help from your doctor to determine whether the pain comes from your arthritic hip or a new problem in your low back. Your doctor will probably inject a numbing medication such as lidocaine into your hip. If the pain in your thigh goes away, you know the hip is the problem. You will need to look at different treatments for your hip problem.

If the injection doesn't take the pain away, you will need to do tests to determine what type of problem you have with your back. Your doctor will help you control the pain and get you started on a treatment plan for your low back problem.