Hip Problems?

HIP Pain Causing You Problems?

Unfortunately there are tons of people out there suffering from hip pain.  There are many things that can cause hip pain and I would recommend you get checked out by an MD or physical therapist.  If you ask someone to point to their hip you might get a few different responses.  Some folks might point to their buttocks, some to the outside part of their waist, some to the front of their leg.  You can have sore muscles in the glute (buttocks area) or sacroiliac region (you may have had someone talk to you about your SI joints), you might have pain along the outside part of your hip and get a diagnosis of trochanteric bursitis, you may have pain or popping in the front of your hip.

“WHY DO MY HIPS KEEP GOING OUT?”

The folks I treat in the clinic will often times have hip joint restrictions and muscle imbalances causing a pelvic obliquity, or an asymmetrical pelvis.  An asymmetrical pelvis is usually an overlooked part of your hip pain.  We are taught in school to look at how the femur or thigh bone moves on the acetabulum (or socket) and we just assume that the orientation of that acetabulum (socket) is in a good position.  Often times however you have a muscle imbalance that is pulling one or both sides of your pelvis forward and rotating it, so that the acetabulum is in a less than ideal position.  This means that your femur is starting off in a bad position and can lead to hip pain, knee pain, foot pain, and back pain.

If all we look at is your femur position and not the position of the pelvis and acetabulum we are missing an enormous piece of the puzzle.

“I CAN GET TEMPORARY RELIEF BUT THEY JUST GO OUT AGAIN”

This is something I hear from my patients all the time.  People will see a healthcare practitioner of some kind and feel better for a little while.  Maybe they feel better for a day or two, or a week, but when they go back to see the healthcare professional the problem has returned, and continues to return.  The reason this continues to happen is because they may be able to treat a symptom and get you temporary relief but until the muscle imbalance is treated with the correct combination of hands on therapy and specific corrective exercise you will only get temporary relief at best.  Your pelvis is being pulled on by an imbalance of muscles and until that problem is addressed your hips will continue to go out and you will only get temporary relief at best instead of a long term solution.

“ONE LEG IS LONGER THAN ANOTHER”

I have patients show me how one leg is longer than another, a very small difference in leg length is not uncommon, and your body can usually deal with the discrepancy.  A tilted pelvis is usually the culprit for a leg length discrepancy and once corrected, the legs no longer appear to be different lengths, because they are now starting from a symmetrical position.

SO and SO TOLD ME I NEEDED TO STRENGTHEN MY GLUTS

Good, I agree.  I just might have a different view on how to go about strengthening your gluts.  Because it isn’t just about getting them stronger, we want your gluts along with all of your other muscles to turn on and off at the right time (this is the definition of motor control).  Once we establish this, your pelvic alignment improves, muscles are in the right position, things are in proper working order, and you won’t be condemned to a life of having to come to Physical Therapy forever.  I want to get you feeling great as quickly as possible and back to the things you want to do.  I’m sure you have better things to do than hang out in physical therapy forever.  The good news:  This is a correctable problem.