Irritable hip - Diagnosis 

Irritable hip is fairly straightforward to diagnose. Your GP will ask your child to move the affected leg and they will examine their leg and hip.

Further tests may be recommended to rule out other possible causes of your child’s symptoms, such as a hip fracture. These tests may include:

• an X-ray to see if there's a problem with your child's bones
• blood tests to look for evidence of a bone or joint infection
• an ultrasound scan to create an image of the affected hip joint that will highlight any fluid that may be on the joint.  

If there's fluid on the joint, a sample can be removed and checked for an infection.