Hip pain treatment in Wokingham
Relieve hip pain and stiffness and get back to moving comfortably
Understanding Hip Pain
The hips are strong weight bearing ball-and-socket joints. They have to put up with an awful lot of impact through our walking, running, jumping and exercise habits.
Pain can come from a variety of causes. Muscular tension is the one we see most frequently in the Wokingham Osteopaths & Massage clinic, especially with the number of patients we treat who are working from home. If your muscles aren’t stretched on a regular basis when placed into a shorten position they contract to adopt the position in which you place yourself most regularly.
Does this sound like your hip?
- Hip muscle stiffness or tension
- Pain running into one or both hips
- Discomfort weight bearing on one or both leg
- Gluteal pain
- Feeling tilted in the pelvis
What are the causes of hip pain?
Office habits
Sedentary office habits when working either in the office or at home can cause tension in the hips.
For example, being seated for too long can cause the hip flexor muscles to shorten and cause the pelvis to tilt.
Crossing one's legs can place strain on the hip muscles too which can cause discomfort when moving.
Wearing high heels also places an unnatural amount of pressure in the hip socket, upsetting the body's centre of gravity and, in a long enough time frame, potentially causing abnormal wear and tear leading to premature degeneration of the cartilage around the hip.
Activities
Repetitive movements like cycling or running without proper support, whether through improper bike setup or the wrong type of shoes or running style can strain the hip muscles, causing tension.
Stretching before exercise has long been disproved to be effective and actually increases your chance of injury. Instead doing a dynamic warmup and then taking your body through stretching at the end of exercise is the best way to protect your hips and body in the long run.
Age
We frequently see patients in the clinic who have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
As the hips are load bearing joints the cartilage around the head of the femur and the lining of the socket (the labrum) can wear down. Although we cannot and do not claim to treat osteoarthritis, we can help mobilise the hip gently and help release the muscles guarding around the hip to relieve the pain and improve your comfort levels.
Sometimes the cartilage can tear, which we can diagnose but not treat and will refer to the GP for confirmation and treatment with them.
How can Osteopathy, Sports Therapy and Massage help?
Our team of osteopaths and sports therapists are able to build a complete picture of your issue from a case history and physical examination, give a diagnosis and treatment plan.
As a healthcare clinic we are trained to take our time for maximum effectiveness, working through the musculature around the area in order to help release any problematic areas.
We use a combination of massage, joint articulation, stretching and often manipulation (if clinically justified) in order to restore function to the problematic area. We frequently dispense exercises, stretches and lifestyle advice as homework to address any maintaining factors to keep you healthier for longer.
