Treatment for Hip Pain

I’ve noticed a bit of a trend since christmas at my practice in Ely, Cambs.  I have had an increase in the number of people attending with hip pain. We always start the session with a bit of detective work to get to the bottom of why the pain is occurring because, whilst massage is very therapeutic and can be enormously helpful in resolving muscular pain, if the patient then goes away and continues to do whatever caused the pain in the first place, then the pain will return.

It has been particularly cold this winter and this is certainly a factor to consider, cold muscles are more prone to injury. We also spend quite a lot more time in one position over the holiday period, dining with friends requires us to sit politely at a table for a lengthy period, leaning forward over the table – a damaging position for the lumbar spine. We probably spend more time sitting watching TV or just reading, with legs crossed which stresses the hip muscles. Another thing I have noticed that keeps coming up is pain when lying in bed.

Over  the holiday period we sleep longer, mostly on one side because we share a bed with a partner. Often we have different mattress preferences, so that at least one partner is not as comfortable as they would like to be. Quite often we also have an idiosyncratic sleeping position, so that night after night, for longer periods over the holiday period, we sleep in the same position on the same side of our body.

Deep, aching hip pain can be effectively resolved with some specific soft tissue release.  A good therapist will recognise the pain patterns you describe and will know which muscles are causing which pains and also why they are troubling you in the first place. He or she should then be able to send you away feeling more mobile and equipped with some stretches to continue with the repair work, some lifestyle information to help you avoid exacerbating the problem and an appointment card for the next treatment to continue the process of restoring full function to your hip muscles and to keep them in good condition.