Case Summary  |  Mysterious hip pain (probably) related to a fall

I used to run marathons, and was doing a fine job of keeping my joints in shape. Then one winter I misjudged how thick the snow was on a frozen sidewalk, and took a flying, vaudeville-style fall onto the cement. I landed on my hip, and although it seemed not to be hurt, about a week later I started getting increasingly bad groin pain. It's gotten better and worse over several years -- sometimes it only happens if I run a mile or two; other times it's been bad enough that I needed to walk with a cane. I've seen at least ten doctors, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, and sports doctors, and had several X-rays, a hip MRI, and a contrast MRI where they injected gadolinium solution directly into my hip joint (the only upside is that I got to learn about gadolinium, an element I'd otherwise neglected in my schooling). No one has been able to help, and I still don't even have a definitive diagnosis.

Standard treatment for joint or muscle pain seems to do a little bit, but hasn't done any long-term good.