Hip pain?

[Sky King]

Soaking up knowledge I know for me, with squats and anytype of side to side lunge I have to remember to focus on using my glutes, and hinging from the hip first. I tend to want to overload my quad and that causes my knee to cave in. My mantra is "stick your butt out first" and it seems to help. I can't step to the side at all when I am in any sort of squat, admire those who can.

[Catrin]

Sadly it's returned, but at a much lower intensity. So much lower that I can tell there is also groin pain at the same time. The Mayo Clinic website says that pain on the outside of the hip is usually muscular in nature while problems with the actual hip tends to present with inner thigh/groin pain. Interesting information. My coach is going to test a few things tonight to see if we can narrow things down a bit. It is encouraging that the pain intensity is several degrees lower, so I must be doing something right! Still hoping hip and knee issues are connected. Meanwhile I am saving in case I wind up having to get some kind of imagery done...

[ridebikeme]

My athletic training professor in college always stressed that we look "above" and "below" the injury, quite often the problem is another area of the body. And if it isn't, it's certainly connected. Of course, that was a thousand years ago, but still a very valid point.

[Irulan]

Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but have you tried laying off your workout for a few weeks? There are other things too- DH had a few problems like this. Hr had an inflamed bursa which two cortisone shots took care of.

[Catrin]

It is the days I work out that I don't hurt at night...so I am not going to take a break. The longer between sessions, the more my sleep is interrupted by my hip.

My coach thinks it related to my being seated all day so am experimenting with making changes there to open my hips up during the day using some things he showed me last night. I know a really good chiropractor who I will see if things continue.

[OakLeaf]

Way back when, Knott suggested a McKenzie maneuver for helping realign the pelvis, where you do standing lumbar extensions x 10 every two hours. As I remember it (which I probably don't ) you stand with feet sitbone width apart and weight on all four corners of the feet, heels of the hands right below the PSIS, knees straight but unlocked, then do gentle lumbar backbends, taking two to three seconds to extend and the same to return upright, and making sure you keep your pelvis over your feet and backbend, rather than thrusting your hips forward.

Now I probably remember that completely wrong, but just as something to get you out of seated position periodically, you might try that.


Another thing that's cured all manner of hip issues with me is ardha chandrasana (half moon pose). Might try that at home a couple times a day, either by itself or alternating with pavritta ardha chandrasana ("rotating airplane").

[Irulan]

Oh! Sitting all day.... #1 cause of low back and hip issues.

[Irulan]

Here is what I do for hip opening band stretches. I've been told to hold stretches anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes.
1. Hamstring stretch with band. I play with the angle and rotation

2. IT band stretch with band. Play with angles

3. opener band stretch

4. Hip flexor stretch ( lots of variotions out there)

5. modified pigeon pose


I then follow up with a seated twist,
this:


and some foam roller/softball work.

[Catrin]

Irulan, thanks!

My right hip has calmed...but now my LEFT one is strongly complaining. Can't figure out if it is my SI joint or referred from my lumbar spine, but I think it more likely to be my hip. I am going to make an appointment tomorrow with my Chiro, it is time to consult with someone. Again there is more relief after a hard workout, and much more discomfort when I am resting, but it is time to figure this out. Because exercise, even intense exercise, provides relief I am not concerned that it is an actual injury. Could be something needs released, or an imbalance causing the problem. In a way it is good that I can't afford an expensive scan like an MRI or CT scan, it's been my experience in the past that every time we've done that that all it did was to side-track our attention to things noted in the scans that turned out to be totally unrelated.

[Irulan]

I seriously doubt it is an injury. My experience is that it's just life and use, and then having to be very persistent to figure out how to best deal with it. Two rounds of PT did nothing; but changing my bike pedals was almost immediate relief. The right massage person was huge. Maintaining my regime is huge.

[Catrin]

Agreed, if it were an injury then using it would hurt. Just gotta figure out the correct movement pattern so that whatever is cranky will calm down.

[Catrin]

My chiro figured it out in about 3.2 seconds this morning :-) Apparently my lateral core stability is bad enough that lots of weird trigger points have developed, and my upper body has been doing all of the work in my high-volume competition training. While I DO have a bit of hip arthritis, he doesn't think it has anything to do with this. Apparently this can cause the intermittent & inconsistent cross-body symptoms that I've been experiencing. So he gave me some rather odd, and difficult, breathing exercises, and I will be meeting with him for a couple of sessions for some ART. He said things will calm as we release those trigger points and as I work on my lateral core stability. I had no idea!!!

He remembers how bad my left shoulder used to be, and while it will never be perfect, he is amazed at how functional it now is and how far I've come. All due to my current coach :-)

[OakLeaf]

Yay for progress! Good luck with the rest of the treatment.

Care to share the breathing exercises? My diaphragm and intracostals are implicated in a lot of my issues, and I've actually wondered if it's more my sternum than my clavicles that is displaced.

[Catrin]

Ryan told me that the nature of my problem does impact my clavicles, as well as many other little bits and pieces.

Hopefully I can describe this well:

Lay on your back in the "deadbug" position, legs bent at 90 degrees. Press both of your hands into your sides, just beneath your ribs. Breath...but NOT with your chest, only in/with your stomach. It sounds simple but, for me at least, it is difficult. At first I am only to do this for 5-6 repetitions.

Does that make sense?

[tulip]

Pilates really helps with my hip issues. In fact, I haven't had any hip issues since it made Pilates an almost-everyday thing. I recommend you find a classical Pilates teacher who understands modifications. Pilates improves strength, flexibility and posture and is very balancing. You might want to consider dropping your heavy workouts in favor of going to a classical Pilates studio. No need for one-on-one instruction, although that's nice . Mat classes are very effective. Just stay away from pseudo-Pilates, Pilates-inspired or, heaven forbid, "yogates." Most "Pilates" classes taught in gyms are useless at best and harmful at worst.