The hip joint joins the leg to the pelvis.  When it is out of alignment or stressed in some way, the pain may be felt locally in the hip joint, directly above it in the low back, in the middle of the thigh or in the groin.

The hip is a ball and socket type of joint, which is subject to two common problems:

1. The narrow neck of the femur under the ball can break.  This is usually what happens when an older person falls.
2. The ball portion of the femur gets its blood from a small artery through the narrow neck.  That artery can close off which leads to death of the bone and a type of arthritis.

The hip joint is deeply located in the body, which may make it difficult to locate the exact source of the pain.  The pain may be caused by injury, trauma, infection, arthritis, or bursitis.

For many people, both legs are not the same from a purely physical standpoint.  One leg may be rotated either out or in.  In rare instances, the bones in one leg may actually be shorter than the other, especially if one were broken at one time. These physical problems can put stress on the hip joint as the body tries to compensate for the misalignment.

The pelvis may also be out of alignment or rotated.  This is another possible source of pain, since this condition again puts stress on the hip joints.  An unbalanced pelvis may also cause one leg to appear shorter than the other when, in reality, the bone lengths are the same.  The common medical treatment for this condition is to put a lift in one shoe to try to compensate for the difference.  This does not address the source of the problem.

People with chronic hip problems have often had cortisone injected directly into the bursa in order to relieve the pain.  The bursa is a fluid filled sac that helps the muscles glide over bony prominences. But relief obtained in this way is often just temporary. 

Sciatica is another condition that may be a source of pain in the hip region.  The sciatic nerve runs between the two heads of the piriformis muscle.  The nerve may become pinched by a tightening of the muscle, by fascial restrictions or adhesions.

More than 120,000 hip joint replacement surgeries are done annually in the United States.  A major problem with the artificial parts is that they eventually become loose and again need to be replaced, putting the patient at additional risk for infection and complication.

At Windsong Therapy and Wellness, we treat many hip pain sufferers who have not found relief with other types of treatment, surgery, and therapy.  We work to discover the cause of your pain and restore you to an active functional lifestyle.

We look at the whole body to determine the cause of the hip pain and then correct it.  If the pelvis is rotated or the spine misaligned, it may contribute to the restrictions that are impeding movement. We work to align the body, relieve fascial restrictions and gently release adhesions that are preventing proper movement throughout the body.  When the body is balanced, stress on the joints will be relieved and that often relieves pain and improves range of motion.

This website last updated on 31 July 2010

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