Hip Pain Treatment in Delano, MN

Foot pain affects over one-quarter of the population and can significantly decrease your quality of life and your ability to do the things you love.

The hip is involved in almost every motion of your body, from running to squatting to twisting to jumping.

If your hips aren’t working well, you’re going to notice.

Here are 5 major causes of hip pain.

  • woman holding foot pain

    Hip Sprains & Strains

  • woman in high heels

    Trochanteric Bursitis

  • man using foam roller on back of legs

    Snapping Hip Syndrome

  • elderly person with walker

    Hip Osteoarthritis

  • Hip Impingement

soccer player in blue uniform holding leg

Hip Sprains & Strains

There are a number of muscles, tendons, and ligaments crossing your hip, some large (like your glutes and psoas) and some small (like your obturator muscles or the pectineus). Any of these structures can get injured, creating a sprain or strain.

The hip manages and generates a huge amount of force, so when something in there is injured, it can create a lot of issues in your life. Additionally, the body works to guard these injured structures, creating compensation patterns, additional tightness, and muscle spasms, which can prevent further injury to the area but also make the hip less functional.

A sprain occurs when a ligament is damaged, while a strain occurs when a muscle is damaged. Both of these create similar symptoms and require a similar approach to treating them. Commonly sprained muscles in the hip include the hip flexor, the groin/adductors, and the hamstring.

The major causes and risk factors for plantar fasciitis include:

  • Direct trauma, like being hit during a sporting event or overstretching your leg and hip

  • Overuse, muscle fatigue, and overtraining

  • Not warming up before physical activity

  • Having a prior history of hip sprains/strains

  • Being in poor physical condition

Symptoms of hip sprains and strains usually occur suddenly after an injury, but they can sometimes come on over time with overuse injuries. These symptoms can include:

  • Increased pain when moving the hip

  • Swelling and/or bruising around the hip

  • Decreased range of motion of the hip

  • Muscle weakness around the hip

  • Tightness/stiffness in the hip

Hip sprains and strains can be prevented.

Preventing hip sprains and strains often requires a personalized approach, looking at the activities you do, the physical condition that you’re in, and any movement deficiencies or imbalances that you might have. Adding a warm-up and ensuring that you’re giving yourself enough time to rest and recover between workouts can both help prevent sprains and strains.

Unfortunately, not all sprains and strains can be prevented.

Treatment for hip sprains and strains will address your pain, while also evaluating any underlying imbalances and deficiencies that might have created an environment for the injury to occur. A treatment plan for a hip sprain/strain might include:

  • Chiropractic Adjusting - Chiropractic adjusting is used to ensure the hip, low back, knee, and ankle are moving well. If any of these joints are restricted, the surrounding tissues can get tight, creating biomechanical changes putting you at a higher risk for injury. Adjustments also decrease pain in the areas around the joint while increasing strength and control of your muscles.

  • Soft Tissue Mobilization - Assisted stretching techniques, manual therapy, and trigger point work can also help loosen up tight muscles around the hips. This helps to address muscular imbalances while decreasing pain and dysfunction in the region.

  • Corrective Exercise - Specific stretches and exercises are used to loosen tight muscles, while also strengthening hip, low back, and leg muscles to prevent the issue from recurring.

  • Lifestyle Changes - Depending on your occupation and daily routine, certain changes may be necessary. These changes could include adding a warm-up to your workout routine, getting more movement throughout the day if you work an office job, and making sure that you’re getting enough protein and water in your diet.

Trochanteric Bursitis

A bursa is a small sac of fluid, designed to reduce friction as your muscles and tendons move. Sometimes, these bursas can get inflamed, causing pain and inflammation around the area.

Trochanteric bursitis happens when a bursa on the outside of your hip/leg gets inflamed. Usually, this happens from overuse of the hip/leg muscles, like frequent cycling or running. This can also happen after a fall or another trauma, where the bursa gets inflamed after it gets smashed. In older adults, osteoarthritis can create bone spurs, which irritate the bursa.

Trochanteric bursitis most commonly affects women because of the angle their thigh and pelvis make (the Q angle), which can put more strain on the IT band and muscles around this bursa during physical activity.

Causes and risk factors for trochanteric bursitis include:

  • Direct trauma to the hip, like a fall

  • Overuse of the hip muscles, like in running or cycling

  • Prior history of injury to the hip

  • Leg length inequalities or other issues changing your walking gait

  • History of arthritis or other inflammatory condition

Symptoms of trochanteric bursitis can include:

  • One-sided outer hip pain

  • Pain that feels sharp with movement

  • Pain that responds well to NSAIDs

  • Pain that gets worse when laying on the affect side

  • Pain that gets worse after prolonged sitting or physical activity

Trochanteric bursitis is manageable.

  • Chiropractic Adjusting - Chiropractic adjusting is used to ensure the joints in the foot, ankle, hip, and low back are moving well. If the joints are restricted, the surrounding tissues can get tight, changing your biomechanics and putting more pressure on the bursa. Adjustments also decrease pain in the areas around the joint while increasing strength and control of your muscles.

  • Soft Tissue Mobilization - Assisted stretching techniques, manual therapy, and trigger point work can also help loosen up tight muscles in the hips, thighs, and lower back. This helps to address muscular imbalances while decreasing pain and dysfunction in the hip.

  • Corrective Exercise - Specific stretches and exercises are used to strengthen the muscles around the hip to take pressure off of the bursa, allowing it to calm down.

  • Lifestyle Changes - Depending on your occupation and daily routine, certain changes may be necessary. These changes could include modifying your workout routine and avoiding putting pressure on the bursa until the inflammation calms down.

Snapping Hip Syndrome

If you often feel a clunk, pop, or rolling sensation when you move your leg, you might have Snapping Hip Syndrome.

Snapping Hip Syndrome occurs when a tendon snaps or rolls over a bone while you move your leg. Normally, this movement should be smooth, but if a muscle is chronically tight or your biomechanics are off, the tendon can get caught up on the bone until it snaps over it, almost like releasing a rubber band.

This release is what creates the feeling or sound of a “pop” or “snap” during hip movement. Typically, this condition is painless and not a major problem, but sometimes the condition is too annoying or starts to cause pain, which can indicate tendon damage or another issue arising.

The snap can occur in the front of the hip (usually caused by tightness in the iliopsoas/hip flexor), the side of the hip (related to the IT band), or the back of the hip (related to the glutes and hamstrings).

Symptoms of Snapping Hip Syndrome include:

  • Snapping in the front, back, or side of the leg when moving the hip, which can be painful or painless (just a sensation/feeling)

  • Tightness around the hip

  • Having a hard time moving the hip in certain positions, getting “stuck”

  • Weakness or swelling in the hip

Causes and risk factors for Snapping Hip Syndrome include:

  • Activities requiring extreme or repetitive hip motion, like ballet, weight lifting, soccer, and running

  • Certain congenital anomalies of the femur and pelvis

  • History of trauma to the hip

  • History of surgery or other medical procedure to the hip

You don’t have to live with your snapping hip.

There are a variety of options to conservatively manage your Snapping Hip Syndrome.

  • Chiropractic Adjusting - Chiropractic adjusting is used to ensure the joints in the foot, ankle, hip, and low back are moving well. If the joints are restricted, the surrounding tissues can get tight, creating tightness and other biomechanical changes that can lead to a snapping hip. Adjustments decrease pain in the areas around the joint while increasing strength and control of your muscles.

  • Soft Tissue Mobilization - Assisted stretching techniques, manual therapy, and trigger point work can also help loosen up tight muscles in the hips and legs. This helps to address muscular imbalances while decreasing pain and dysfunction around the hip. Managing tightness is a key aspect of treating Snapping Hip Syndrome.

  • Corrective Exercise - Specific exercises are used to stretch and strengthen the muscles around your hip which might be causing your Snapping Hip Syndrome. Often, muscles get tight when they’re too weak to deal with the work you need it to do; this tightness helps the muscle create more force to manage, but often creates other issues, like a snapping hip.

old man with walker

Hip Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is characterized by degenerative changes in the joints, usually creating bone spurs and other changes in the joint that impact movement and mobility. The hip bears a large amount of your bodyweight as you move and go through life and will commonly develop these changes as we age.

A significant factor that can cause osteoarthritis is instability. If your muscles and ligaments are too weak or too loose to create stability in your hip, your body will create that stability by creating bone spurs, which help with stability but will typically decrease your range of motion.

It’s important to note that osteoarthritis is not always abnormal. Some degree of “wear-and-tear” and joint degeneration is normal as we age and our bodies struggle to recover. Additionally, these age-related and degenerative changes do not always cause pain or dysfunction. Even if a provider has told you a joint is “bone on bone,” research has found that these findings don’t always correlate to your pain.

Symptoms of Hip Osteoarthritis include:

  • Pain in and around the hip, commonly in the groin

  • Stiffness in and around the hip

  • Pain and stiffness that’s worse in the morning or after prolonged sitting/resting

  • Locking, sticking, or grinding in the hip

  • Decreased range of motion in the hip

Causes and risk factors for Hip Osteoarthritis include:

  • Increasing age, particularly being over age 50

  • Being obese or overweight

  • Having a family history of osteoarthritis

  • Instability around the hip joint

  • History of surgery or trauma to the hip

  • Having certain congenital anomalies, like a deep or shallow hip socket

Hip Osteoarthritis can be managed.

There are a variety of options to conservatively manage your hip osteoarthritis and hip pain.

  • Chiropractic Adjusting - Gentle chiropractic adjusting is used to ensure the hip joint is moving well. If the joints are restricted, this creates biomechanical changes that can promote osteoarthritis or worsen the pain that you feel. Adjustments can help to ensure that joint is moving as well as possible, while also reducing pain and increasing strength and control of the surrounding muscles.

  • Soft Tissue Mobilization - Assisted stretching techniques, manual therapy, and trigger point work can also help loosen up tight muscles in the hips. This helps to address muscular imbalances while decreasing pain and dysfunction.

  • Corrective Exercise - Specific stretches and exercises are used to strengthen the muscles around your hip, helping to create stability and reduce pressure on the bones.

  • Lifestyle Changes - Depending on your occupation and daily routine, certain changes may be necessary. These changes could include moving more throughout the day and finding ways to manage inflammation, like with certain dietary changes. Additionally, some research has found supplements with vitamin D and K2 may help with osteoarthritis and related pain.

two people squatting on boxes

Femoroacetabular Impingement

The head of the femur and the acetabulum (part of your pelvis) make up the hip joint, creating a “ball and socket” that allows for the large range of motion in the hip. Normally, the head of the femur can move around a full range of motion without any obstacles.

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) occurs when the head of your femur hits the edge of the acetabulum. This is usually related to an anatomical variation, either a wide head of the femur or a deep acetabulum. When either of these variations develop, the head of the femur can’t move as freely and hits the acetabulum, creating pain and a decrease in range of motion.

Symptoms of Femoroacetabular Impingement include:

  • Gradual onset of pain in the hip, the crease of the hip, or the groin

  • Pain that gets worse with hip flexion (knee to chest) and internal rotation (moving your thigh in towards your midline)

  • Pain that gets worse with squatting, high-intensity activity, or prolonged sitting

  • Stiffness in or around the hip

  • Limping related to hip pain

Causes and risk factors for femoroacetabular impingement include:

  • Certain congenital anomalies (a CAM deformity of the femoral head or a pincer deformity of the acetabulum)

  • History of certain hip conditions, like a slipped capital femoral epiphysis

  • Excessive amounts of certain activities during growth and development, like squatting or twisting motions

  • Having a family history of FAI

Femoroacetabular impingement can be managed.

Femoroacetabular impingement is most commonly considered to be a anatomical variation related to your genetics and family history, so it’s hard to prevent. That said, it can certainly be managed.

  • Chiropractic Adjusting - Chiropractic adjusting is used to ensure the joints in the hip, lower back, and leg are moving well. If the joints are restricted, the surrounding tissues can get tight, creating additional pain and inflammation. Adjustments can also decrease pain around the hip while increasing strength and control of your muscles.

  • Soft Tissue Mobilization - Assisted stretching techniques, manual therapy, and trigger point work can also help loosen up tight muscles around the hip. This helps to address any muscular imbalances or compensations while decreasing pain and dysfunction.

  • Corrective Exercise - Specific stretches and exercises are used to strengthen muscles in your hip, lower back, and legs to reduce pressure on the hip joint. Core-specific training can help to create more stability and control over hip movement, reducing pain associated with FAI.

  • Lifestyle Changes - Depending on your occupation and daily routine, certain changes may be necessary. These changes could include modifying your workouts to reduce the amount of squatting or changing the form of your squats (using a wider or shallower stance, for example).

At Northbound Chiropractic, we work with you to find the cause of your hip pain and create an individualized treatment plan
targeting your specific problems.

We’ll make a plan with you to get lasting results, so you can continue doing the things you love.