Hip Pain

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Northern Colorado Chiropractic Care

Hip pain is a common symptom that we treat here at our clinic. The hip is a ball and socket joint, where the ball-shaped piece of bone at the top of your thigh connects to the acetabulum socket in your pelvis. This connection is supported by a group of muscles and ligaments. Because of the complexity of the joint, there are a variety of reasons that you could be experiencing hip pain. This pain can impact your daily habits and make routine tasks extremely difficult.

 

Are You Experiencing The Symptoms Of Hip Pain?

  • Tenderness & swelling over the hip joint
  • Difficulty walking
  • Discomfort in the groin or buttocks
  • Restricted hip motion
  • Warmth
  • Difficulty sleeping on the hip

 

We’re Here To Help

In many cases, hip pain may subside after a few days, especially if you are conscious about your movements and are taking painkillers to help with the discomfort. If your hip pain is very severe or has been bothering you for over two weeks, we recommend scheduling an appointment to have one of our specialists take a look! With two Northern Colorado locations in Fort Collins and Loveland, we make scheduling an appointment convenient.

 

Addressing Hip Pain

There are a variety of reasons that hip pain occurs, and it can happen at almost any age. Those who participate in repeated strenuous physical activity, are elderly, or are overweight are at higher risk of hip injuries, but the following conditions can happen to anyone.

Hip pain should be addressed sooner rather than later, as it can lead to problems in other areas of your body if it is not taken care of. Hip pain can impact your gait, or the way you walk, which can put unnecessary strain on other muscles or joints in your body.

Because the hip is a complex joint, consulting an expert is usually the smartest course of action. Our specialists will carefully examine your hip to pinpoint the exact area of pain, which will help them diagnose the cause and therefore the best treatment option.

Types Of Hip Pain

Possible conditions treated by our chiropractors at Scott Family Health:

Hip Arthritis

If you are experiencing hip arthritis, this means that the surfaces of your hip joint have gradually eroded over time. You may have a family history of hip arthritis or have other causes leading to the pain. A common symptom of arthritis is that the pain is worse in the morning and then gradually gets better throughout the day with more activity. You may also feel it flare up again with more vigorous activity. The decrease in your range of motion may be so severe that you will be forced to walk with a limp.

Getting a professional diagnosis is the first step in accurately treating your arthritis. Unfortunately, there is no cure for arthritis. However, there are ways that we can minimize the effects of arthritis and lessen your pain.

Changes that you can make in your everyday life to help reduce your risk for further hip arthritis include working to maintain a healthy weight, building up strength, and not repeatedly participating in activities that agitate the hip joint. Our therapists can work with you to implement some of these physical rehabilitation practices, and can also recommend chiropractic care, physical therapy, or massage therapy to help alleviate your pain.

 

Labral Tear

The labrum is a piece of cartilage connected to the hip socket. One of its main functions is to cushion the connection of the femur and pelvis, and help the ball joint at the top of your femur to securely fit within the pelvis. A labral tear occurs when part of the labrum separates from the hip joint.

Often times a labral tear will occur while participating in sports that require you to quickly change direction (football or hockey) or quickly twist your hips (golf). It can also be the result of wear and tear that happens over time. When a labrum tears, you might even hear it pop, or hear a continual clicking sound in your hip area when you move.

A labral tear can result in intense pain in the groin or pain in the buttocks on the side of the torn labrum. You might also feel stiff when moving your hip. That being said, some people will tear their labrum and rarely feel any pain.

Our physical therapists will help determine what type of physical rehabilitation treatments are best for your labrum injury. These can include chiropractic care, acupuncture, physical therapy and massage therapy. Physical therapy is often a great option as our professionals can give you a set of exercises to perform to help with the pain. In severe cases we might recommend surgery.

 

Trochanteric Bursitis

In everyday language, bursae are liquid filled sacs throughout the body. The hip has two major bursae that become inflamed, one on the groin side and one on the outer, bony part of the hip. Trochanteric bursitis occurs when the sac on the outer side of the hip joint becomes inflamed and causes a sharp pain, often due to overuse, injury, or bad posture.

If you are experiencing hip bursitis, you know that it can be extremely painful. Times where you will hurt the most might be when you lay down on your side in bed or need to get up out of a chair or car.

It is a condition that is usually the result of extended periods of strenuous walking or running, especially on uneven surfaces. Anyone is susceptible to hip bursitis, but it is more common in women and elderly people. However, because direct impact to the hip can cause bursitis, it is commonly seen in young athletes as well.

Our physicians will diagnose trochanteric bursitis after a thorough physical examination, often followed by an MRI, CT scan, or X-ray. In some cases, prescribing exercises and stretches to increase strength and mobility is a simple course of action that can make a big difference.