Hip pain is common and everyone’s differentiation of hip pain is different. The true hip joint is located to the medial side of your thigh, this is where your femur (thigh bone) attaches to the the pelvis, or more commonly referred to as the groin. The joint is a ball and socket joint, designed for high levels of mobility.
Common causes
Occupation related – Hip and lower back pain are commonly seen in professions with a lot of sitting and a lot of driving, trades that have heavy toolbelts can commonly cause problems in the hip as well. Sport – Overuse and traumatic accidents can cause a multitude of hip injuries. Often sports with high running and jumping loads are frequently causing grief to the hip. Chores – activities (or hobbies) such as gardening can cause hip complaints, especially around the spring time when that load increases, spending lots of time in a semi- squat position or on our hands and knees trimming bushes and pulling out weeds. But then other activities such as vacuuming can cause pain in many individuals. Posture – Any posture that we spend too much time in has the potential to build up pain. Whether it be sitting all day or standing all day. The most important thing to do is keep changing your posture, get that blood moving and use your muscles!
Potential structural causes of hip pain
Referred gluteal pain – the glutes are a group of muscles that attach to the posterior part of our hip. Trigger points, weaknesses and strains can refer to the joint as well as the front of the hip and groin pain. Impingement – Labral tears are a frustrating injury commonly seen in athletes of high intensity sports and runners. This can present as ‘catching’ and sharp pains especially on flexion and rotation. Tendinopathy/Bursitis – As the hip and pelvis are common attachment sites for our muscles many tendons can become unhappy. These include quadriceps, adductors and gluteal tendinopathies. This presents as moderate pain at the beginning of activity or early mornings that gradually improve with exercise, only to come back as a gnawing pain a few hours after exercise. This will require activity modification and progressive tendon loading to enable return to sport or activity. Bursitis can be directly related to a gluteal tendinopathy and will often cause pain laying on the affected hip resulting in restless sleep and an inflamed/burning pain. Osteoarthritis – Common in the older patients although osteoarthritis may be seen in people aged in their 40's. This can be due to natural ageing or from previous traumas or overuse from sports or active jobs. SIJ sprains – Your sacroiliac joint is where your hips, tailbone and lumbar spine all connect. Depending on how many ligaments are irritated the pain can spread from the lower back through the hips and to the groin. Pain is often worse when going from a sit to stand position, and feelings of unsteadiness particularly when doing exercise loaded onto one leg (like a lunge or getting in and out of the car). This is also an area commonly sore with pregnant women, due to the obvious extra load being carried through the joint.
Treatment
Soft tissue and Deep tissue massage Stretching Manipulation and articulation Exercise prescription