How to Treat Back Hip Related Pain & Symptoms

Common Causes of Hip Pain

Inflammation
Hip pain can derive from the structures within the hip joint or from the structures and ligaments surrounding the joint. Within the joint itself, there is limited space for the femoral head to move in the socket of the acetabulum. If an injury or illness triggers inflammation, this space can become easily filled with fluid or blood, causing pain. Inflammation of the sac outside of the hip, the bursitis, can also be the source of pain.  Bursitis is often the result of minor trauma or overuse.

Osteoarthritis and Inflammatory Diseases
Among older adults, osteoarthritis is the most common cause of hip pain. It involves a cycle of progressive cartilage loss and joint degeneration. Although this degenerative disease has no real “cure”,  there are ways to slow its progression and prevent symptoms from worsening. Other inflammatory diseases can also cause hip pain like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, or inflammation of the spine (ankylosing spondylitis).

Overuse Injuries
Heavy wear and tear on the cartilage surrounding the hip joint can cause arthritis and inflammation. Routine daily activities that place stress on the hip can also cause inflammation of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments surrounding the hip. This type of pain can develop gradually overtime.

Trauma
Less subtle than overuse injuries, fractures and dislocations of  the hip or pelvis are easier to diagnose since they frequently result from direct trauma and can be detected with an X-ray. In elderly patients, a combination of aging, brittle bones, and poor balance makes them susceptible to falls and hip fractures.

Even if no bones actually break, the ligaments and muscles in the hip area can be strained, sprained, or bruised with direct trauma. These injuries can still cause significant pain.

Referred Pain and Other Sources of Hip Pain
Often what patients describe as “hip pain” may actually derive from a different part of the body. Some patients that experience pain in the lower back and hips may actually be suffering from dysfunction of the sacroiliac joints, or the joints that connect the sacrum to the iliac bones. Pain in the groin and hip can also be a result of a hernia, when the abdominal wall is torn or weakened.

One of the more common types of referred pain is sciatica, or inflammation or irritation of the sciatic nerve. This can result from conditions like disc herniation, spinal degeneration, narrowing of the spine due to osteoarthritis, or Piriformis syndrome. Irritation of the nerve root can cause pain the in low-back, buttocks, hips, as well as radiating leg pain.

 

How Chiropractic can help with your Hip Pain

After performing an initial consultation and physical examination and evaluating your familial and personal history, our chiropractors can work to diagnose the source of your hip pain. Your chiropractor will then create a tailored treatment plan that could include chiropractic adjustments, exercise therapy, posture advice, stretching, massage. Treatments will aim to reduce inflammation, relax any existing muscle spasms, strengthen weakened muscles, and improve the mobility of the joint.

Multiple studies have found that chiropractic adjustments are effective in relieving sciatica, a common cause of pain in the hip and lower back.  In a study comparing the efficacy of chiropractic to surgery for sciatica, 60% of chiropractic patients with severe sciatica had substantially improved symptoms that enabled them to avoid surgery.2  Cases studies have also suggested that chiropractic can relieve pain associated with sacroiliac joint dysfunction and Piriformis syndrome, which both frequently result in hip pain.3-4

Some patients with hip osteoarthritis (HOA) have also benefited from chiropractic care. In one study, 83% of  HOA patients improved within nine visits to a chiropractor. Treatment included axial manipulation of the hip, stretching, and full kinetic chain treatment (manipulative therapy to the spine, knee, ankle, or foot when appropriate).5

Natural treatments of hip pain can allow patients to avoid the costs and risks of surgery and drugs. Contact us today to learn more about non-invasive relief of hip pain.

 

On your second consultation (the Report of Findings), once the cause of your symptoms has been established, we will provide you with a clear explanation of what we have discovered along with the best and most beneficial way forward. At that point you can start your treatment and start looking forward to feeling much better.

 

What’s Included In Our Consultation:

The key to the great results we achieve with the thousands of patients we treat across our four clinics is getting the diagnosis right, therefore, we have dedicated the first two consultations you will receive to this:

On your first consultation one of our qualified chiropractors will take a full history and will take you through a physical examination to pinpoint the cause of your symptoms. We will then use advanced Digital X-Ray* technology as part of the diagnostic process.

Review of your health history
You will be asked to complete a health history questionnaire which gives us a good overview of your general health history, this is important in understanding how your past may have contributed to your current chiropractic health.

Chiropractic Examination
(Orthopaedic, Neurologic and Palpation)
Your dedicated chiropractor will carry out an initial chiropractic examination, covering flexibility, range of movement, posture and many other general areas.

Postural & Spinal Assessment
As part of your examination we will cover your posture, a key part of assessing your general chiropractic health.

X-ray imaging
If your chiropractor feels it necessary they will carry out a digital spine x-ray. This will help in many cases to quickly ascertain the root cause of any pain and discomfort you are experiencing.
(Any number of x-rays needed are included)

A report of findings
Following your initial chiropractic consultation we will book a date for you to return so we can run through a full report of findings with you. This will explain what was found in the consultation and x-rays, our recommendations and your on-going treatment plan.

 

To Summarise

If you are suffering from back pain or any of the associated symptoms then you have a choice, you either live with the pain and use painkillers, and we know how that feels, or you click the book now button on this page and start your journey to getting better.