Hip Pain II

[indysteel]

I will. Thanks!

Is it bad to gently stretch the groin? I originally assumed I just pulled something, but this has been going on since April with on modest improvement.

[KnottedYet]

It might just be pointless to stretch the groin, but probably won't hurt anything.

Muscles don't get tight just because they get a wild hair and spontaneously decide to tighten.

They tighten for a reason. Until you clear up the reason, they will just keep tightening up.

Stretching a chronically tight muscle can be a nice hobby. You can do it for years and years and years...

You did something to your back or hip. No biggie. Normally they fix themselves, maybe yours just needs a little extra push.

Try the one-step-at-a-time thing I wrote up for Oak. (remember, STOP the steps when you find something that makes you better) Again, if none of the 3 basic moves do diddley-squat, go to your doctor.

[KnottedYet]

It might just be pointless to stretch the groin, but probably won't hurt anything.

Muscles don't get tight just because they get a wild hair and spontaneously decide to tighten.

They tighten for a reason. Until you clear up the reason, they will just keep tightening up.

Stretching a chronically tight muscle can be a nice hobby. You can do it for years and years and years...

You did something to your back or hip. No biggie. Normally they fix themselves, maybe yours just needs a little extra push.

Try the one-step-at-a-time thing I wrote up for Oak. (remember, STOP the steps when you find something that makes you better) Again, if none of the 3 basic moves do diddley-squat, go to your doctor.

I need to add: the sideways banananana hip push thing is "sore hand on sore hip, push!" So if your pain is on the right, it is right hand on right hip, push everything leftwards. If your pain is on the left, it is left hand on left hip and push everything rightwards.

[Trek420]

This is making me wonder: what if the hokey pokey is what it's all about?

[kjay]

Maybe I shouldn't post this because I'm in my mid-60s and you're probably much younger, but I started getting intermittent pain in my groin and was going to a physical therapist for pain in my back. He suggested I get an MRI to know exactly what was going on. Turns out that there's a labral tear (cartilage) in my hip and I'll eventually need a hip replacement. I thought for certain I had pulled a groin muscle but unfortunately that's not the case.

[BikeDutchess]

Labral tears can happen at any age. My teenage daughter dealt with hip pain for years before we finally found out she had femoroacetabular impingement which, in combination with her intensive physical activities, had caused labral tears. But labral tears can also be due to an acute injury/trauma. Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, just someone who has learned a lot about FAI/labral tears during the course of my daughter's diagnosis and treatment.

As Knot advised,

if none of the 3 basic moves do diddley-squat, go to your doctor.

[indysteel]

Thanks for the additional information. I'm happy to try what Knotted suggested, but I think I better just get myself to the doctor some point soon.

[lo123]

Yes. I have that in both hips from ballet. I need to look into arthroscopic surgery though. That is the first step.

Unfortunately, this originally happened when I was a teenager. I assume there is too much degeneration for your doctor to consider the less invasive approach?

Well, I've been doing a LOT of research on this... I have hip issues due to something similar to rheumatoid arthritis, and I'm getting tired of getting steroid injections every 6-12 months so that I can ride and walk. =/

Hip arthroscopy is still pretty darn new. Not many docs do it. It seems the main indications for arthroscopy are labral tears and loose bodies. Some doctors are doing some FAI repairs through arthroscopy as well, but I haven't seen a ton of follow up studies on that.

From what I can tell, the general thinking is that if you can get the tear repaired early on, great--but you may still need more surgery down the line. But even after the fact, arthroscopy could help preserve the joint a little longer.

I know I'll eventually need a new hip, that's just the nature of my situation. But I'd prefer that to be in my 50s, not my 20s. My main problem now is that all symptoms point to some sort of loose bodies or labral tear, but nothing shows up on MRI. lucky me.

Edited to add:
Hmmm.... just noticed you said ballet.. I danced ballet for 13 years--until the arthritis dx. Wonder if some of the hip issues started there. Seeing ortho on Wed to get a non-rheumatologist opinion, will mention then. Can't hurt!

[indysteel]

Well, after months of procrastinating, I finally saw a doc today. I wasn't expecting a definitive answer--and I didn't get one--but I did walk out with orders to get an x-ray done of my hip and to start PT. I'm hopefully we'll eventually figure out what's wrong. I have my PT eval on Wednesday.