As an Osteopath I am very passionate about my work. I had an interesting case on hip pain and I thought I would share it with you. I have been treating a young gentleman with chronic hip pain that would not subside. If you have ever had nagging hip pain you will realize how debilitating it can be as most movements require use of this joint! It can have a major impact on the quality of your life. This patient came to me after he had a minor car accident which happened over a year ago. It is important to realize that hip problems are not necessarily restricted to the elderly. Hip pain can happen at any age! For this patient, he was only in his 30’s and yet he battled to sit for prolonged periods of time, pick his kids up and even walking was a major struggle.
The hip joint is an amazing piece of machinery! The hip is one of the biggest and strongest joints in the body and is covered and supported by some of the strongest muscles, joint capsule and ligaments. Hip joint allows movement of the lower limb and transmits loads such as your body weight between the upper body and lower body and provides a stable base in weight bearing activities such as walking and jumping. In this case the patient had experienced a trauma but the main predisposing factors of hip degeneration and pain can be caused by insufficient exercise, obesity, and muscle imbalance causing them to become overworked and tired. Therefore, getting moving even if it’s just walking is great for your joint health.
As an Osteopath there are many techniques that can be used to help create a normal movement through the hip joint. During treatment I tailored a strengthening exercises program based on the patient’s weakness. The treatment incorporates a combination of soft tissue massage, joint articulation, muscle energy techniques as well as looking at how the surrounding areas of the body work. For more information please contact me at Richmond Osteopaths.
written by Nicolette Gygi