13 Mar That pain in the…. side of your hip!
DO YOU HAVE HIP PAIN? CLICK HERE TO BOOK AN APPOINTMENT AND GET THE HELP YOU DESERVE TODAY!
Have you started to notice a pain on the side of your hip for no known reason? Is going up and down stairs becoming increasingly difficult? Are you struggling to lay on your side at night? Well listen up, we may have the information to help kick that hip pain for good!!!
Two of the primary structures that are often affected in lateral hip pain are the tendons of the gluteus medius and minimus muscles and the greater trochanteric bursa.
Tendons attach muscles to bones (to help us move) and the bursa sit between the tendon and the bone (stopping friction between the tendon and bone). Both of these structures respond directly to load, meaning they thicken (become stronger) when our load increases, and become smaller (or weaker) when our load decreases.
In some instances, we can increase our load at a rate that’s higher than our tissue threshold, causing a painful change in the tendon structure (tendinopathy).
More often than not, our load increases when we try something new, like taking the stairs every day instead of the elevator, or sitting with our legs crossed during a full week of meetings (you may normally only have 1 meeting per week).
Treatment of lateral hip pain is relatively straight forward. If we suspect that there’s inflammation around the tendon (known as tenosynovitis) then we first want to settle down that component of your injury. You can do this by taking anti-inflammatories and avoiding compressive positions (ie sitting with your legs crossed). While the inflammation is settling, it’s extremely important to not stop loading your hip all together.
A cause of lateral hip pain is weakness of the muscles around the trunk and pelvis, so adding capacity to these areas is imperative! While the discomfort from your tendinopathy is starting to ease, it is important that you begin to load your gluteal tendon in a controlled manner as determined by your physiotherapist. Unfortunately there is no perfect recipe for tendon loading, and the process is determined by your on going clinical assessment findings.
GET RID OF YOUR HIP PAIN FOR GOOD! CLICK HERE TO BOOK AN APPOINTMENT!
Once you’re able to load your tendon in weight bearing positions relatively pain free, you should then progress to more functional based rehabilitation, that align with your goals!
If you’re suffering from lateral hip pain, call our friendly staff on 03 9370 0345 or click here to make an appointment and get the help you deserve today, as the longer you leave a tendinopathy, the longer it takes to recover!
