HIP PAIN
WHAT IS
HIP PAIN?
When clients come to us with what they describe as hip pain, they may be referring to many different areas of the body. Some point to their sacroiliac joint (SIJ), their groin, their gluteus muscle, low back or acetabulum (hip) joint. It’s a large area and let’s face it, the average person doesn’t know correct anatomy.
Therefore, there are a variety of different conditions that may be contributing to your hip pain. No matter where your pain is located, in most cases, we find that clients have some dysfunction or misalignment in their pelvis which contributes to their pain.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF A
MISALIGNED PELVIS?
Throughout your life, you may have sustained different injuries (macrotrauma) or microtrauma, which includes sitting down for long periods of time. This can result in a pelvis that is not functioning well or positioned optimally.
Your pelvis is a girdle, consisting of bones such as the ilium, ischium and pubis and sacrum and coccyx (tailbone). Then there are numerous ligaments and muscle attachments. Your hip joints (acetabulum) are the attachment of your femurs (thigh bones) to your ischiums, via ball and socket joints.
As you can imagine, there are many moving parts in the pelvis and hip. If any of the joints or soft tissues, such as a muscle or ligament, become injured or weak, then this creates an imbalance, which can result in a misaligned pelvis.
SYMPTOMS OF A
MISALIGNED PELVIS:
- You are stronger on one leg than the other
- Your gait (the way you walk) is not even
- Your shoe wears more on one side than the other
- You constantly lean towards one side when you sit
- You can not sit comfortably
- It’s painful for you to get up from a seated position
- You sleep with one leg crossed over the other when you sleep on your side
- One hamstring is a lot tighter than the other
- Knee and/or ankle pain
- Pain when doing high intensity training such as running
The only way that you can determine if you have a misaligned pelvis is by consulting a health professional who assesses biomechanics, such as a chiropractor.
OUR
FAQS
Chronic hip pain is pain that has been present for longer than a few weeks, and it can be debilitating. If left untreated, it can affect more than your hip joint, further affecting nearby sites, including your lower limb muscles, lower back, and even your knees and ankles. Walking up and down the stairs and even sitting or standing for some time may be difficult. Some conditions which may cause pain in your hip area include:
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Strained muscles and soft tissues
- Irritated or entrapped nerves
- Inflammation or tendons or ligaments
- Lower back dysfunction
- Dysplasia
- Trochanteric bursitis
Hip pain typically happens from the hip joint or the surrounding elements of that joint, like the ligaments. There is very limited space within the joint itself where the femoral head (femur or the highest part of your thigh bone) moves in the acetabulum (hip) socket. If you’re injured or sick, it triggers inflammation. The constricted space in the joint can be quickly filled with blood or fluid, which then causes pain.
If there is inflammation of the exterior hip sac, you can also feel pain due to bursitis. It is often a result of malalignment, overuse or trauma.
Other inflammatory diseases, such as osteoarthritis, can also lead to hip pain. There is no real cure for osteoarthritis. However, with lifestyle changes and treatment, you can help slow its progression, so the symptoms reduce and become manageable.
Our integrative chiropractors at Open Space Healing will perform a thorough physical examination of your hip and adjoining parts of the body. We will also interview you about your familial and personal history to evaluate your health. Our goal is to determine the source of the pain so that we can effectively address it.
Our treatment plan varies depending on your needs. Sometimes this may mean additional testing such as x-ray or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and in some cases, coordinating with other health professionals, so that you are provided with the best care possible for the fastest and most optimal results.
You may think that you have hip pain, but it actually comes from a different part of the body. This phenomenon is known as referred pain. For example, you may experience hip pain due to sacroiliac joint dysfunction. These joints connect your iliac bones (the “wings” or upper crest on the pelvic girdle) to the sacrum (the triangular bone found at the base of the spine).
Another example of referred pain is when you feel groin and hip discomfort because of a hernia. Sciatica also may lead to hip pain that can also radiate to the leg, buttocks, and low back.
Chiropractors are tertiary trained to identify the cause of referred pain. Part of our assessment is to determine if what you are experiencing is local or referred pain.
After a thorough examination of your physical and health background, we work with you to determine your health goals related to your hip pain. Our personalised treatment plan includes a variety of unique treatments and lifestyle changes to help you reach your goals quickly and enjoy optimal health.
Exercises, posture correction, stretching, and adjustments are common components of treatment plans. Our treatments target the actual source of the pain, which is beneficial for those with referred pain symptoms. We then aim to reduce inflammation, a major cause of hip pain, especially in older adults.
If you experience hip pain, don’t wait for it to get worse. Contact Open Space Healing and book an appointment so we can get you back to feeling your best right away.
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Our greatest hope at Open Space Healing is that we can help you live out this purpose. You’re on Earth to accomplish something that nobody but you can! By improving the health of your nervous system, you’ll be better equipped to live the life you deserve.
Find out more about what we may be able to do for you by contacting our South Fremantle team today! Saturday appointments are available.