Hip Pain: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Your hips are one of the biggest joints in your body and work in tandem with your pelvis, low back, knees, and ankles. Your hips are very mobile joints and require a lot of work from the surrounding muscles, ligaments, tendons, and fascia to work properly.

WHAT CAUSES HIP PAIN?

Your hips are ball and socket-joints that allow for tons of movement. In fact, the only joint that’s more mobile than your hip is your shoulder. While hip pain may be caused by the actual joint, commonly we find your hips are impacted by other structures surrounding your hips.

Hip pain falls into one of two categories: acute injury or chronic injury.

Acute injuries would be fractures, sprains, & strains. Chronic injuries usually stem from unresolved acute injuries but may also include inflammation from overuse and poor diet. Common overuse injuries include hip tendonitis, hip bursitis, and hip flexor strains.

Your hips are also common spots for referred pain to present. Meaning your problem is somewhere else but your hip is where it hurts. A common example of this would be IT band syndrome.

A common source of hip pain that we see from crossfitters, cyclists, and runners are imbalances in the function of your core & low back, hip mobility, ankle mobility, and spinal limitations.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF A HIP PAIN?

While your hip may seem like an independent part of your body, it’s really part of larger system. That’s why it’s crucial to determine the root cause of your pain. Hip pain may be linked with other pain like: thigh pain, groin pain, buttock pain, and low back pain.

Other types of joint pain may include overuse or inflammatory conditions. Symptoms of this type of injury include:

  • Reduced range of motion in the hips

  • Tenderness and swelling

  • Stiffness in the muscles and joints

  • Increased pain when pressure is added to the affected area

  • Increased fatigue during physical activity

  • Pain may be worse at night, when lying on the affected hip, and when getting up from a seated position

TREATMENTS FOR HIP PAIN

As with any pain or injury it’s imperative that your address the root cause and not focus solely on the pain.

Traditional therapies for addressing hip pain include pharmaceuticals, injections, and physical therapy. Though these commonly come up short in addressing the underlying reason causing your hip pain.

The best way to take care of your hips and make sure they’re operating at 100% is by being proactive! Stretching and mobility work can be a great way to address hip pain and help speed recovery.

HOW PROACTIVE HEALTH CAN HELP:

HIP PAIN DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT, AND PAIN RELIEF

Proactive Health providers are experts in diagnosing the root cause of pain and dysfunction. Our doctors will guide you through a full body functional movement assessment which is designed to uncover movement issues that may be contributing or causing your pain. Our main treatments for hip pain are hands on manual therapy combined with targeted rehab exercises focused on restoring proper function to your hips. We strive to provide you with the tools and resources to manage your pain, so you can get back to living your active, awesome life!

If you’re experiencing shoulder pain, don’t wait. Call us at (423)779-3295 or click the button below to get started.