Hip and Pelvic Pain: How do we find the root cause?

MPR Health's Approach to the Hip and Pelvic Pain

If you have experienced pain in the hips and pelvis, you are not alone. With issues occurring during development, stress through pregnancy and childbirth, to arthritic changes later in life, pain in the hip and pelvis can affect anyone at any age.

The good news is a pain in the hips and pelvis isn’t inevitable, and with careful management and tailored treatment, anyone suffering from pain through the hips and pelvis can expect to live a happy, healthier life

The following is a guide to how our practitioners here at MPR Health use their experience, diagnostic testing, and access to imaging to craft treatment and management specific to the underlying problem that’s causing all of your hip and pelvic discomfort.

What causes pain in the hips and pelvis?

One of the most common causes for people to see a healthcare provider is pain in the hips and pelvis. While many things can cause hip and pelvis pain, it’s usually linked to some injury or strain.

If you’re experiencing hip or pelvis pain, an osteopath can diagnose and treat the underlying cause.

Who are the common people we see with hips and pelvis pain?

Children and adolescents with pain from developmental issues or over-training
Pregnancy or post-pregnancy pain in the hips and pelvis
Arthritis and other age-related hip and pelvic pain
Athletes (especially runners) suffering pain in the hips and pelvis

Support your hips and pelvis with stretching and strengthening tailored to you

What are 3 core issues we treat with the hips & pelvis?

Stability for your core

The hips and pelvis create the base for most movement and stability in your body. Also, the pelvis forms the lower anchor for all the core muscles. Instability in the hips and pelvis muscles can lead to issues ranging from muscle straining to the bulging of lumbar discs.

Our practitioners at MPR Health perform a functional screen to assess the stability of movements involving the hips and pelvis. This allows a tailored exercise and strengthening program to enable you to achieve your goals and help avoid injury.

Compensatory stress leading to wear and tear

The hips and pelvis often compensate for issues from below like flat feet or knee pain, as well as local issues like poor core strength and tightness in the hamstrings. This constant compensation can cause accelerated wear and tear on the hips and pelvis. When this has happened, we often see patients presenting with degeneration and arthritis in the hips and pelvis.

Our practitioners go out of their way to integrate with your current medical team to help create the best team care approach to your health. We have found that this team care approach achieves the best short and long-term results to manage the pain and return any lost movement and strength.

Injury prevention

The hips and pelvis are prone to acute and chronic stress-based injuries. Strengthening and stabilising your hips and pelvis alongside your current training can help prevent injury whilst improving your performance.

At MPR Health, we treat several athletes with recurrent hip injuries but have noticed that it is especially prevalent with runners and golfers.

Hips and Pelvis Pain on Runners

Running, especially distance running, places a huge demand on the stability and endurance of the muscles around the hips and pelvis. If these muscles can’t keep up with the demands placed on them, they will often strain to lead to pain in the gluteal muscles, TFL (side of the hip), or even lower back pain!

Hips and Pelvis Pain on Golfers

The golf swing is a unique movement requiring both flexibility and stability. At the end ranges of the swing, the hips are asked to rotate and stretch while maintaining control to get a solid strike of the ball. These demands can often be beyond what our hips are happy doing, and many golfers find they will get a catching pain or tightness in their hips that affect their swing.

Many of our practitioners at MPR Health have worked with sports both in the past and currently, giving them the edge when it comes to identifying, treating, and ideally preventing injuries stemming from the hips and pelvis.

Helpful links to some stretches and exercises for your hip and pelvis pain that you can do easily at home!

Hip and pelvis pain can be debilitating. It can get in the way of your daily life and prevent you from doing things you enjoy. However, there are things you can take to improve your condition.

Here are some stretches and exercises you can do at home to improve your hip and pelvic health.

If you have a foam roller, try these:

Muscle Lengthening Exercises

The muscles in your pelvis and hips are some of the most important in your body. From taking a step to taking a seat, everything rests on the hips and pelvis. And as we get older, they tend to weaken and shorten, which can cause pain in the hips and lower back.

However, you may not be aware that certain very basic activities can make a difference.

Learn how to start stretching the hips and pelvis with the videos below:

Muscle Activation Exercises

The hip and pelvis are important parts of the body. They help you run, walk, and stand up straight, but they also help you sit down, bend over, and get in and out of bed. If you have problems with your hips and pelvis, it can make it hard for you to do these things. That’s where muscle activation exercises come in!

Learn how to strengthen some of the key muscles of the hip and pelvis with the videos below.

Conclusion:

Hips and pelvis pain can occur at any stage of life, and that pain can have many root causes. At MPR Health, we know this, so we have developed our treatment and management to treat the pain and underlying problems. This allows us to get you back to enjoying your life, exercise as quickly as possible, and, importantly, stay that way!

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In the spirit of reconciliation, MPR Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.