How does a chiropractor help hip pain? Hip pain can be frustrating especially when the hip pain interrupts your sleep. Many runners develop hip pain as well which can increase with activity. Is it tendonitis, bursitis, a strain, or something else? It is interesting to hear what other people think when you mention hip pain. Often they will ask if you had an MRI, seen an orthopedic surgeon, go to therapy, or get an injection. You will very quickly learn that most people have a very poor understanding of why things hurt and have an even poorer understanding of who you should visit first. This type of “In the box” thinking is likely to cause joint problems later on as it results in many tests and therapies being done but little relief. Years later, many hips and knees are damaged by in-the-box thinking. The joint replacement business is robust as a result of this type of thinking years later. For most of us, hip pain is more of a systemic movement problem we don’t understand than an acute injury from lifting bending, or exercising. Medically speaking, visiting a medical provider is likely to result in receiving medication for a mechanical problem and an evaluation of the painful area. Often, they will refer to a physical therapist to work on the painful region with exercise, massage, and therapies designed to loosen and strengthen the area. Some will refer everyone to an orthopedic who will refer to physical therapists automatically or offer to inject the area to relieve the inflammation. Unfortunately, this common approach rarely solves a painful hip problem. Why are more people visiting chiropractors first for hip pain? Most medical doctors will not tell you that your hip pain is a mechanical problem as their understanding of the dynamics of movement is quite limited in their training. The idea that parts need to be treated is a professional bias. Look at anyone in the park and if you can find a hip walking around in the wild, let us know :). The truth is people have hips and movement can be different from person to person as well as their adaptations to their body styles, their genetics, and old injuries. Chiropractors understand that hip pain is a movement problem that begins at the feet. They also understand that body asymmetries, flat feet, and how we move will result in low back, hip, knee, and even foot pain. Upper body problems such as neck and shoulder pain are also adaptations to the lower body. Movement is holistic so why evaluate it as if we are parts? Chiropractic evaluation and treatment are holistic, meaning that a good chiropractor will ask you about everything in your history to understand your problem better. They will then perform an evaluation of how you move, perform orthopedic tests and determine the mechanism behind your pain and the best path forward to help you. Most chiropractors are one-stop shops for everything musculoskeletal. Their primary care approach to the musculoskeletal system is effective, drug-free, and improves the way you move, feel, and function. If your hip problem and its cause are properly treated, you may avoid having chronic neck, shoulder, and even foot problems later on. Chiropractic treatment involves manipulation of the spine and extremities, loosening of the myofascial surrounding the affected area, and giving therapeutic exercises to strengthen while often suggesting the use of foot orthotics and proper footwear to level the pelvis. Most hip problems will markedly improve with this approach. Women are more likely than men to develop hip problems due to wider hips. Some have had c -sections and have active scars which they are unaware of that affect how they walk and move. There is growing medical evidence of the effectiveness of chiropractic care for hip pain. The problem is that not all hip pain is the same and cannot be treated as if chiropractic is a therapy. Care must be customized to the patient rather than one size fits all approaches using protocols to a joint commonly used in physical therapy clinics. Chiropractic is a profession of physicians trained to diagnose and treat problems that are movement-related naturally, without the use of drugs or surgery. Medical approaches have very limited research to back up their own approaches so why not see a professional who uses the best available evidence with a comprehensive approach to resolving the condition. Some will find sports chiropractors more effective as they may have a better understanding of conditions like these. Need relief now. Book online here.