Hip Pain

MamaRiss

Hello everyone
I've been dealing with hip pain since I was a teen. It's not an every day pain, but I usually have at least one sore day a week. It was worse during my pregnancies ( for the obvious reason of hormones and extra weight). And I'll be honest, sex can be excruciating sometimes. Squats ( especially the sumo squats Jillian Michaels forces me to do) also makes the pain flair up. Does anyone know of any good exercises or stretches I can do to help ease the pain. Or should I suck it up and see the doctor and figure this out? I usually just deal with it and keep on going with life, but this week has been bad every day and my husband is planning a day long motorcycle ride in a couple weeks and that seems to be another trigger.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Ask for a referral to physical therapy. It helped me tremendously, and I learned that I have hypermobile hips, which has caused a lot of pain over the years. He gave me some stretches to do as well as strengthening work and it has helped a lot.

MamaRiss

Thank you. I'm might schedule an appointment for a full physical and a for a referal to the bases new fitness clinic, and see what the doctor can reccomend for me. With military doctors they always refer people for physical therapy before considering anything else, so I think it should be pretty easy to get in to the PT clinic

wkwebby

Warming up and stretching is key with my hip pain. I fell badly on my knee and it ended up translating into a hip and then back problem. We aren't getting any younger so we have to make sure that there is adequate stretching before we work out. Sumo squats are better for the knees, but they sure are a stretch for the hips.

I tend to find yoga positions help the hip. Maybe start doing some of that a few times a week, but def start and end workouts with some hip stretches.

husseycd

Focusing on strengthening the glutes has helped by hip pain tremendously. Glutes can be hard to target. I've added barbell flute bridges, cable pull through, kneeling squats, good mornings, and a few others. I still get some hip pain, but its diminished.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Thank you. I'm might schedule an appointment for a full physical and a for a referal to the bases new fitness clinic, and see what the doctor can reccomend for me. With military doctors they always refer people for physical therapy before considering anything else, so I think it should be pretty easy to get in to the PT clinic

Definitely. That and "drink more water" are pretty much staples at the base clinic here. :laugh:

radimage

"Hip pain" is a confusing term. Where exactly is the pain? If it's coming from the buttocks area...that's lower back. If it's coming from the side of your hip, that is usually Trochanteric bursitis. If it's in the groin area...that is most likely coming from the hip joint, itself.

I'm just trying to help.

MamaRiss

"Hip pain" is a confusing term. Where exactly is the pain? If it's coming from the buttocks area...that's lower back. If it's coming from the side of your hip, that is usually Trochanteric bursitis. If it's in the groin area...that is most likely coming from the hip joint, itself.

I'm just trying to help.

Groin area, feels like the joint itself to me, not surrounding muscle

MamaRiss

Thank you. I'm might schedule an appointment for a full physical and a for a referal to the bases new fitness clinic, and see what the doctor can reccomend for me. With military doctors they always refer people for physical therapy before considering anything else, so I think it should be pretty easy to get in to the PT clinic

Definitely. That and "drink more water" are pretty much staples at the base clinic here. :laugh:

Thankfully I'm a dependant, so at least I don't hear " Drink more water, take some motrin, change your socks"

MagnumBurrito

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBHzXF-mVjY

The stretch starts around 2:00 mark.

This is my favorite one that gets passed around MFP. I think QueenBishopOT initially posted it.

jessiruthica

I was having some hip pain when I started the C25K program. I went to the chiropractor and he said my pelvis was twisted. After three adjustments (1 per week) and using the Mytrl Routine (http://www.njsportsmed.com/files/myrtl_routine.pdf) regularly, there's no pain anymore. Hope that helps!

jbee27

I think seeing a PT would be a great idea if it's a chronic recurring problem.

I found my hops started getting really sore when I started running, and I found a foam roller to be incredibly helpful, as well as yoga. Yoga really exposed how tight my hips and hamstrings are, and has helped immensely to stretch, loosen and strengthen pretty much everything.

zombiesalad

Do you notice any pain after walking long distances? Do your hips ever "click" when you walk?

I was having similar pain a few years back and went to a doctor about it and found out I have hip dysplasia that went undiagnosed until I hit my 20's. I tend to get a lot of pain (in the hip joints) after walking long distances, during sex and sitting in certain positions can be pretty bad. Some days are just sore in general. Adding yoga, strength training and losing weight in general has really reduced the amount of pain I have.

I hope you're able to figure out what the issue is soon and figure out some sort of solution.

katematt313

Yoga

It helps strengthen and improve flexibility, which can decrease pain over time.

radimage

If it's the joint...no amount of stretching is going to do any good.

You need to see an Ortho, and get some xrays done...or a MRI. It's the only way of knowing what the proper treatment plan is.

I wish you luck.

MamaRiss

Thank you everyone so much! I will look at some of these stretches and see if they help. But next time I'm in to the doctor I'll bring it up and see if we can get a better treatment plan. I've never noticed a clicking type sound, but walking long distances and certain sitting postions do hurt a lot. I do know my granma has had both hips replaced twice, so maybe it is something that runs in the family, and I'd prefer not to need a replacement!

burtonvdp

3 questions...

1) Do you sit for most of the day or stand mainly still?
2) Is one of your legs shorter than the other?
3) Do you do a ton of stomach exercisers like crunches?

I have the same problems that you mentioned (Although I am male so I cannot comment on some things). It feels like a bone pain which it kind of is but for me its related to my hip flexors. I have a slew of issues that led me to this problem but the 2 main factors that we found out (PT is the place to be as long as you have good trainers) was one leg shorter than the other do to a tilt in my hip. Which cannot be corrected or at least is not very likely... Also now that I sit at work a lot its causing my hip flexors to be very tight which was pulling my hips forward and causing an alignment issue with my hips joints/joints. As well as doing too many stomach exercises which effectively caused my hips to pull forward because my rear muscles were too weak and could not correct the position.

I hope Im explaining this right... So at any rate look up a hip flexor stretch. There is one that is will not put too much pressure on the knees (It looks like a leg stretch but your back knee is bent). After doing those and staying away from any stomach exercises that would also pull my hips forward Im feeling much better!

I went from having constant pain to it only acting up everyone once in a while. When it acts up it now feels more like a sore muscle instead of a stabbing pain in my join. For years I thought I had some sort of bone spur in my hip socket!

I hope this helps, its a very common issue that is over looked quit a bit.

TomZot

I think physical therapy is a good idea.

Also, any chance you have a leg length discrepancy? I have head of that causing hip pain.

vs1023

I had hip issues and went to a PT to work them out. We worked on strengthening my core and doing glute activation exercises too. I get psoas issues and it's like my reg leg likes to be rotated externally a lot so we work on stretches to get more internal rotation. I stopped squatting and deadlifting for awhile and focused on box squats with lighter weights, lunges, hip thrusts, core activation exercises, clam shells.

MamaRiss

3 questions...

1) Do you sit for most of the day or stand mainly still?
2) Is one of your legs shorter than the other?
3) Do you do a ton of stomach exercisers like crunches?

I have the same problems that you mentioned (Although I am male so I cannot comment on some things). It feels like a bone pain which it kind of is but for me its related to my hip flexors. I have a slew of issues that led me to this problem but the 2 main factors that we found out (PT is the place to be as long as you have good trainers) was one leg shorter than the other do to a tilt in my hip. Which cannot be corrected or at least is not very likely... Also now that I sit at work a lot its causing my hip flexors to be very tight which was pulling my hips forward and causing an alignment issue with my hips joints/joints. As well as doing too many stomach exercises which effectively caused my hips to pull forward because my rear muscles were too weak and could not correct the position.

I hope Im explaining this right... So at any rate look up a hip flexor stretch. There is one that is will not put too much pressure on the knees (It looks like a leg stretch but your back knee is bent). After doing those and staying away from any stomach exercises that would also pull my hips forward Im feeling much better!

I went from having constant pain to it only acting up everyone once in a while. When it acts up it now feels more like a sore muscle instead of a stabbing pain in my join. For years I thought I had some sort of bone spur in my hip socket!

I hope this helps, its a very common issue that is over looked quit a bit.

I do sit a lot ( there is a reason I'm a member of MFP )
I've never noticed a difference in the length of my legs, but I do have a slight curvature of my spine (not bad enough to need treatment)
And I'm not a huge fan of doing countless crunches and such, so I'd say they are porportional to all the other exercise I've ben doing.

After making it through my workout today, and then a quick trip to the store my hips are aching again. So I think I'm going to get with my husband and see if he has a break in his schedule anytime soon so he can watch the baby while I see the doctor.

sofaking6

I agree that you should see a doctor, but in the meantime I have a favorite hip stretch: Lie on your back, arms stretched out to the sides. Lift your legs straight up then bend 90 degrees at the knee. Then let both legs fall all the way to one side and turn your head to the other side. At least it should feel great while you're doing it

MamaRiss

9 am, havn't done my workout, and I was hurting. Called the doctors office and they gave me an appointment for this afternoon. Not sure what she'll be able to tell me, but I'm expecting a referal