Pain in hip when walking / standing please help!

[flowergrow]

I am a 20 year old female and I have been having pain in my left hip. It seems to happen when I lift things that are more than 40 lbs or so. I work at a garden center, so I am constantly lugging around large pots, plants and soils. I do make sure that I left with my legs as opposed to my back. Also I have noticed that when my backpack is heavy there is an increase in pain.

The pain its self feels more like strain, like my left hip is trying to move but it cant. Also walking up and down stairs hurts a lot, as well as shifting my weight to my left hip. When the pain is present it feels like it can't support my body weight (I am not over weight, about average around 125 lbs) and it feels like its going to buckle.

It hasn't gotten to the point where i cant move my hip, however sometimes it hurts so bad it is very difficult to walk and I need to limp. Also when I lay on the floor and rotate my left hip it makes a popping noise but my right hip doesn't have this problem. I'm an active person and I love to hike but it gets painful. Please help, Thank you.

[flowergrow]

Oh I forgot to add this has been happening since around May of 2009 and I have had no injuries.

[caregiver222]

It sounds very much like sciatica, caused by crushing of the cartilidge in the lumbar region after lifting something heavy. You have a squished nerve. You need a lumbar MRI (L1-L5), your lifting days are over for a while, and you will need some physical therapy. This will only get worse if left to its own devices. A surgical procedure called a laminectomy is a last resort.

[flowergrow]

Thank you for the suggestion, upon research of sciatica, it seems that it is characterized by more of a shooting pain in the leg.
My problem seems to be more in the area where the hip joint is and pain there. Again thank you for the suggestion