Hip Pain

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Your hip is instrumental in your ability to walk, run, squat, crouch and even crawl. The hip joint is a very complex structure and any type of imbalance in the muscles, bones or nerves that run through the hip complex can cause pain that takes you out of the game of life.

Your hip is a ball and socket joint consisting of the thigh, femur and pelvis. There are many tendons, ligaments, bones and muscles that support the hip and and provide considerable stability to the joint. When you are experiencing hip pain a physical therapist can help determine the sources of the pain. Pain in the hip could result from dysfunction of the hip joint itself or it could be a result of a problem in the lower back. A physical therapist can evaluate you to determine the source and cause of the pain.

Symptoms of Hip Pain

There are many common symptoms associated with pain in the hip and low back area. These symptoms can point to larger issues in the joints and surrounding tissues, or they may be limited in scope. Regardless of your symptoms, working with a doctor of physical therapy can have tremendous healing potential for your pain and other symptoms. Commonly experienced symptoms of low back and hip pain include:

  • Pain or achiness in lower back
  • Pain or achiness in hip and hamstring region
  • Inflammation of the hip area
  • Inflammation of the low back

Working with a physical therapist to understand and diagnose the cause of your low back or hip pain is the first step toward relieving your pain and feeling like yourself again. Your physical therapist will perform a thorough evaluation of your physical health to pinpoint the reason for your pain in hips or lower back area.

Causes of Pain in the Lower Back and Hip

  • Herniated disc
  • Compressed disc
  • Protruding disc
  • Arthritic changes
  • Spondylosis
  • Spondylolisthesis
  • Muscle strain
  • Weakness of core and back 
  • muscles
  • Poor sitting or standing posture
  • Fracture

Physical Therapy for Pain in the Low Back and Hip

Once the cause of your low back or hip pain has been diagnosed and understood, your physical therapist will create a comprehensive treatment plan that may include manual therapy of various kinds, alongside training, and exercises performed in the clinic and at home

Don’t worry you will be back to running, playing tennis, gardening and playing with your children or grandchildren on the floor in no time!