BOILLAT Julien
Osteopat D.O/M.R.O.DK
Master Degree in Osteopathy (Switzerland)
Master Thesis in Cranial Therapy
Specialization in treatments of babies and kids
Auth. osteopath & Member of Danske Osteopater
Hip pain
Hip pain can have multiple origins.
It can be caused by functional, inflammatory, degenerative issues or referred pain (problem deriving from somewhere else).
A specific anamnesis and medical examination will help the osteopath to understand why the hip is painful and treat it as well as possible.
Functional hip pain
The functional hip pain is when the joint doesn't work as it should which creates joint's pressure and muscles and ligaments irritations.
This is generally the consequence of a misalignment of the pelvis, the knee or the foot but it can also come from above such as the shoulder complex.
The hips are connecting the spine and the pelvis to the ground (through the legs) and therefore receive a lot of pressure and constraints when there is a misalignment in the body structure.
I would say, 90% of patients coming to see me with a hip pain would be described as "lateral" hip pain, which is the irritation of the muscles insertions on the great trochanter.
The remaining 10% have pain in the actual groin which could be described more as an actual hip joint pain.
Irritation of the great trochanter due to the hip muscles.
Degenerative hip pain
This is called arthritis. Because of too much pressure in the hip joint, the bone starts growing trying to reduce the pressure. Like with inflammation, arthritis is a natural process of the body and cannot be stopped. But with the right osteopathic treatment, it can be slowed down by diminishing the causes of the increased pressure and by working specifically on the articulations.
Patients with arthritis can have pain in the groin but also referred pain in other muscles. They also show reduced mobility and a typical "unlocking" pain: after sitting or resting for a while, the patient have difficulties to start mobilizing the hip joint for the first 15-30 minutes.
Referred hip pain
The referred hip pain is when the hip is actually doing well but another structure in the body is causing pain in the hips. An example is knee arthritis which can create a pain in the hip or a psoas' tension which, because of it's anatomic position, can give the illusion of a hip problem.
The psoas placement.
Bursitis
The bursitis is the inflammation of one of the bursae.
You can see on the image that there are several bursae. Their 'job' is to make the muscles slide smoothly on the different surfaces. Because of a repetition of movement, bad position or misalignment, these bursae start getting irritated and create pain in the hip region.
This is an inflammation pain where resting the joint will be as important as the treatments.
Osteopathic treatment of the hip pain
The different hip bursae
Osteopathy can help to release and understand the pain you have in your hip.
Be aware that some inflammatory hip pains can take several months before getting better. As we cannot stop walking, the hip is an articulation that we use constantly and therefore the healing process is slow.
An osteopath can help you find out how to take good care of your hip and how you can optimize the recovery.