While people often attribute hip pain to the aging community or as affecting one gender over another, this type of joint pain affects a wide variety of people in various lifestyles and life stages. These chronic, painful conditions can lead to changes in social, physical, economic, and emotional health which can directly increase the risk of dependence on pain medication, declining mental health, and may even result in more emergent medical conditions.
Understanding the root cause of your pain can help to determine the next steps in your treatment including how chiropractic care can help manage your condition and alleviate symptoms.
One cause of hip pain may be impingement which is a general impairment of movement due to the lack of joint mobility. Through chiropractic adjustments, we can help to improve the joint mobility. We can also use manual therapy, such as the Graston Technique or cupping, and therapeutic exercises to increase the muscle tone and function.
Sciatica pain occurs when there is a compression of the sciatic nerve near or around the hip. The sciatic nerve runs through the piriformis muscle which can be manually stretched by your chiropractic care team to help alleviate that compression.
Many people have experienced pain due to inflammation or irritation of a tendon at the point it meets a bone, which is called tendonitis. Treatment of this condition would include working through the “belly” of the muscle instead of the pain site to relieve muscle tonicity and alleviate some of the tension on the tendon, allowing it to heal properly.
Unfortunately, there are some conditions in which chiropractic care would be a secondary or supplemental treatment. This is the case with osteoarthritis and bursitis.
When the connective tissue that cushions the joint degrades, the resulting pain is called osteoarthritis. While we can’t treat arthritis, we can definitely help alleviate some of the symptoms through consistent joint and muscle care. Our objectives would be to improve the joint positioning and mobility, alleviate muscle tension, improve joint stability, and tracking with exercise in order to achieve the goal of reduction in pain.
With bursitis, there is pain due to swelling and hypersensitivity on the lateral hip. In this instance, it is best to see your primary care physician for treatment options.
With the right diagnosis and a great chiropractic care plan, many of the conditions and symptoms related to hip pain can be managed and improved.