Limping: causes, assessment and treatment

Limping is a change in the way you walk that may result from pain, weakness, stiffness, injury, or a difference in leg length.

You may shorten the time your foot stays on one side, avoid putting weight through a painful leg, swing a leg outward, or use a wider stance. The change may be more noticeable on stairs, after activity, or when first standing. Limping can come from the hip, thigh, knee, lower leg, ankle, or foot, and the place that hurts is not always the place causing the altered movement.

Arrange prompt medical assessment if the limp follows a fall or blow, if you cannot put weight on the leg, or if pain is severe or rapidly worsening. Seek urgent help for a leg that looks misshapen, a cold or pale foot, new numbness or weakness, or fever with a hot, swollen joint. A child or teenager with sudden hip, groin, or knee pain and a limp should be assessed promptly, even when the hip is the area that feels normal.

The causes below are listed alphabetically, not by likelihood. A clinician considers age, activity, injury, pain location, and the pattern of walking before identifying the cause.

Assessment starts with questions about when the limp began, whether it changes with activity, any injury, footwear, recent growth, and symptoms such as swelling, fever, numbness, or back pain. The clinician watches you walk, compares both sides, checks joint movement and muscle strength, and feels for tender areas. They may examine the back, hip, knee, ankle, and foot because pain can be referred.

Depending on the findings, imaging may include an X-ray or another scan. A child may need an examination focused on the hip even when the complaint is knee pain. Keeping a note of triggers and bringing supportive footwear can make the assessment more useful.

Care is matched to the problem. A fracture may require protected weight bearing, immobilisation, or an orthopaedic procedure. Arthritis care can include activity adjustment, strengthening, mobility work, pain relief, and other options selected with a clinician. A limb-length difference may be monitored or managed with a shoe adjustment when appropriate. In children, hip conditions need timely specialist assessment and a plan based on growth and examination findings.

Do not push through a new or worsening limp during sport. Until assessed, reduce activities that reproduce pain, use support only as advised, and avoid borrowing a walking aid without learning how to fit and use it safely.

Build exercise gradually, vary high-impact activities, and use footwear that feels stable for the activity. Warm up, strengthen the muscles that control the hip and knee, and address recurring pain early rather than repeatedly changing how you walk. After an injury, return to sport in stages when strength, movement, and walking have recovered. Children with a new limp should not be encouraged to keep playing through pain.

Notice whether limping comes with pain in the hip, groin, thigh, knee, shin, ankle, or foot; swelling or warmth; stiffness; clicking; weakness; tingling; or reduced balance. Record whether symptoms appear at rest, with the first steps, or after exercise. This pattern helps distinguish a movement problem from an injury that needs protection.

Arrange follow-up if the limp persists, returns after activity, or causes hip, knee, or back discomfort from compensating. A physiotherapy assessment may help identify strength, flexibility, balance, or movement factors after serious causes have been considered. Ongoing or unexplained limping deserves a clinical examination rather than a self-diagnosis.