Recurring Painful hip after IT Band Syndrome?

I've had issues with this too after a nasty sports injury (yayy rugby!). The only thing I can recommend is talking to a physical therapist and simply remaining sensitive to your limitations, frustrating as it may be. Trust me, I get it but at the end of the day if it hurts, it hurts. Be patient, and don't aggravate it further if you're finding certain movements trigger pain.

Best of luck :flowerforyou:

I had a similar problem. I only felt mine while I was active though. Really the only thing that helped was staying off it for a week or two, stretching and rolling frequently, and then restarting.

Do you have a foam roller? I suffer from hip pain as well, and have found I can really target the sore spots with the roller. I have recently begun doing a serious of hip stabilizer strengtheners, as I suspect an imbalance is coming from somewhere, putting undue stress on my iliopsoas, inner thighs, and quads.

http://blog.myoforce.net/articles/six-must-have-exercises-for-hip-stability.html

I am just coming out of a running injury and your symptoms sound similar to mine (pain while trying to sleep, increased pain after exercise, etc) - I went to my primary care doc who put in a referral for physical therapy. PT started me on a regimen of ultrasound/massage while I was there and then frequent stretching when I was at home. Also ice immediately after working out, heat at other times. I kept running through the treatment the entire time (with their knowledge) because I wanted to heal while I was active (although I did cut back on how far I was running (4 miles every other day, down from HM training)). And I am feeling MUCH better!!

I also had a leg that was longer than the other...that was because my hip "was out." Once they put it back "in" my legs were the same length again. And it felt so much better! Because my hip was out for so long, it kept going out, but over the course of treatment, it has started staying in more and more. They have also taught me how to put it back in on my own since I'm almost done with treatment.

I have really had to up my stretching routine and I try to use my foam roller and go to yoga regularly.

I can't emphasize enough how much this is helped and how happy I am to be feeling better doing the activities that I want. I probably waited 6 months before going to the doctor expecting the pain to heal with rest days and such but it never did...now of course, I wonder why I waited so long before going.

And of course, it will be important to find providers who are supportive of your being active while addressing this issue. Some of the PTs did not want me exercising, doing yoga, etc...but that didn't make sense to me as I plan to be active after treatment (I start marathon training in Feb) so I just started scheduling with the ones who were supportive.

Best of luck! Go find someone who is experienced in these sorts of injuries and get back to what you love! If you have any other questions you think I could answer, let me know.

You guys are great! Thanks so much for you quick responses. You are confirming some things I already suspected, like the trochanteric bursitis and leg length discrepancy brought on by a misaligned pelvis. I do have a foam roller but like I said the benefits are never more than an hour or so and then the pain returns. Over a couple of days it will mostly subside but is still tight / stiff and uncomfortable. I guess I am certainly going to have to watch my calories much closer since I can't work out like I want. I hate counting calories so much. As an avid cyclist I have not needed to do much of it till now. My BF is a PT and he is telling me to use heel cup inserts but he said to put them in both shoes. I'm not sure I agree, but then again, I'm not a PT. It just seems like if one leg was longer then you'd want to correct that first, right? He hasn't extensively accessed my situation as we live 600 miles apart.

The heel cups are meant for stability control, which is good in your case regardless.

I would look your whole hip complex, including working to strengthen your glutes and also your hip rotators-. There are some researchers now suggesting that IT band issues are more related to weak glutes than a tight IT band.

Here is a stretch that some people have found helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qZ517Rw7ME

I certainly did.

The problem with some of these long-standing injuries is that they can sometimes start as one thing but then evolve into something else. In any case, these interventions won't make things worse .

Hey. I have had a killer hip for the last 6 weeks. All began one day after running. I have been in so much pain ( getting up from the couch, toilet etc ) BUT sleeping was the worst. Cried a couple nights. Out of pain and exhaustion. Anytime I moved I woke up it hurt so bad. Went to Dr, went to a Chiropractor. Went back to Dr. Turns out i have Bursitis. Common in runners. Google it. Not much you can do. REST IT. I tried pushing through, I tried waiting 3 weeks till it felt a little better- set myself back again. I'm now at 6 weeks and it almost feels about 90%. I am going to start seeing a Physio next week. Dr. wants me to try that before resorting to Cortisone shot. Try Advil. I took 2 a day for 5 days. Took away much pain and helped speed the healing ( takes away some inflammation in the bursitis. Ice packs, and stretch stretch stretch. Anytime I had a few free mins. I would stretch. SOOOOO BORING but I think that was key to my healing. Check your shoes, run on opposite sides of the roads ( as the roads will curve for rain etc so running on the same side you are always going to have one hip slightly higher then the other ) Dr also suggested walking with a cane for a while. Just to take most pressure off that hip for a bit.
Good luck. It sucks. I put on weight. I was depressed cause I couldn't run and running was my thing! So I've stopped for a while and have started the 30 day shred and walking on a heavy incline on my treadmill. I will run again one day!
Good luck!