Hip Hip Hooray! The Importance of Your Hips!

We often take our hips for granted, fail to understand what they do for us day in and day out and what they withstand just to keep us functioning normally. They keep us upright, allow us to bear weight, walk smoothly, run, jump, kick and link our lower limb to our trunk. As the hips are involved in nearly every way we move, pain in this area can have debilitating impacts on us. Here are some common reasons why you may experience hip pain

Inflammation:
There are many structures that make up our hip joint, within the joint itself as well as structures and ligaments that surround and attach onto the joint itself. Within the hip joint, there is limited space for movement between the head of the femur (thigh bone) and the socket (pelvis). If there is an injury or illness that triggers inflammation, this space decreases leading to pain. Hip bursitis is a common result of hip inflammation to the sac outside the hip as a result of minor trauma.

Overuse injuries:
A lot of athletes are constantly putting stress on their hip joint leading to heavy wear and tear of the cartilage surrounding the joint which can cause arthritis and inflammation. Routine daily activities also can place constant stress on the muscles, tendons, ligaments and cartilage which can cause pain to develop overtime. 

Osteoarthritis:
Osteoarthritis is the most common cause of hip pain among the older population, involving progressive cartilage loss and joint degeneration. Although degeneration has no real cure, there are ways to help slow its progression and prevent worsening of symptoms. 

Referred Pain & Other sources of Hip Pain:
Often when clients describe hip pain it may actually derive from a different part of the body. Many clients who experience hip pain may actually be suffering from a dysfunction in the sacroiliac joints. One of the more common types of referred pain is sciatica or inflammation or irritation of the sciatic nerve, this can result from a multitude of conditions including disc herniation, degeneration, tight muscles or decrease in space around the nerve due to osteoarthritis. 

How can Chiropractic help hip pain?
After completing and evaluating your history and physical examination, a chiropractor can work to determine the cause of the hip pain and develop a personalised treatment plan which could include: chiropractic adjustments, soft tissue work, exercise therapy, postural advice, stretching, and coordination with other health care professionals and more. 

Treatments will aim to decrease inflammation and pain, relax muscle spasms and reduce tightness, strengthen weakened muscles and improve motion of the hip joint as well as surrounding joints. 

For your Chiropractic Appointment phone the Carter Chiropractic & Dubbo Acupuncture Team on 6884 1655