Anterior Hip Pain
Most commonly this is due to an overuse injury involving repetitive movements
There are a few different structures that can be the source of pain and most often it isn’t just one structure in general.
Our body moves and works as a unit, so we must treat it as one.
Some of the structures which could be involved include:
- Superficial and deep nerves
- Tendons of the hip flexors
- Bursa sacs
- Hip flexor group (iliopsoas, rectus femoris, sartorius, gracillus, TFL, and the adductors).
Symptoms
Common aches or pains that a person likely experiences come on at the beginning of a movement such as:
- Standing up
- Going up or down stairs
- Laying on a side while in bed or stretching
- Sitting down for long periods of time
- Running
- Simply just walking.
Treatment
We start by identifying if the hip flexors are tight through orthopedic tests, muscle activation, and stretches.
Then we perform soft tissue work such as:
- Myofascial cupping
- A.R.T
- Instrument Assisted Techniques
- Muscle Energy Technique
- Instrument Assisted Techniques
Finally we start working on core stability, as well as adding in isometric hip exercises to improve strength and muscle patterning/firing.
Pro Tips
Sometimes we must normalize a painful movement. Just because there is pain in a movement does not mean there is necessarily an injury. When we find a painful spot, it helps to explore the area and try to normalize the pain before telling ourselves we are injured.
PROXIMAL STABILITY = DISTAL MOBILITY