How Osteopathy Can Help Hip Pain
Hip pain is a common condition treated by osteopathic manual practitioners. It may occur because of problems with your muscles, hip joints, menstrual cycle and the nerves. In this blog, I will outline the symptoms and causes of hip pain, tips on to avoid hip pain and how an osteopath may help.
Symptoms of Hip Pain
- Groin, buttock or inner thigh pain
- A painful clicking in the groin
- Increased pain on going upstairs, vacuuming, and or walking
- A tightness behind your hip joints when stretching
- Pain in any of the areas above during or since pregnancy
Causes of Hip Pain
There are a number reasons for hip pain some of which can be helped by visiting an osteopathic manual practitioner.
Muscular problems
Pain can come from a tight, strained or overused muscle in the hip or from the joint itself.
Joints Issues
Pain from osteoarthritis or wear and tear in the hip joint is also common. You need to know that osteopathic manual practitioners can’t cure arthritis and it depends on the severity of the wear and tear. An osteopath can help by easing the symptoms of an arthritic hip joint.
Injuries
Pain in the hip can sometimes be the result of an injury; it can be referred from the back or related to the way you move, stand and use your hip.
Pregnancy and Hormonal issues
Pregnancy releases a hormone (relaxin) in the body to soften the pelvic ligaments so that baby can pass through more quickly in birth. However, relaxin softens all ligaments including those of the pelvis which can sometimes destabilise the hip.
Five Tips to Avoid Hip Pain
- Avoid staying in the same position for too long
- Check your posture, especially when sitting at a desk
- Do not sit at your desk for longer than two hours
- At home, stretch on your yoga mat for 10-15 minutes a day
- Walk for half an hour or more a day
How Osteopathy can help hip pain
Osteopathy can have a significant result in the treatment and management of your hip pain, although this does depend on the cause of pain and the damage already done.
An osteopath will view the patient as a whole rather than just the symptoms to determine the most appropriate course of action.
The key to treatment is to gently move the hip joint to stretch the soft tissues and spread the synovial fluid (the joints’ natural lubricant) over all the surface of the joint. In this situation, your osteopath can use trigger point, fascia, visceral and craniosacral therapy.
X-rays, scans and other tests are sometimes required to make a proper diagnosis. In such cases, an osteopath will refer you to your family physician.
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