Overview
Many patients come to us for pain relief. Modalities such as heat,
ice, electric stimulation and ultrasound can be helpful in the treatment of acutely inflamed and irritated tissues, but we believe it is more important to identify and treat the reasons why your tissues have become inflamed and irritated to begin with. For this reason, we examine the entire body to identify and treat not just the pain, but also the source of the pain.
Hip/Leg:
Pain in the hip and leg can begin over time without any memorable injury or warning. Other times, injuries to the hip and thigh region can be due to a sudden event in which a muscle or tendon is overloaded with excessive force. In both cases, the injury may be influenced by imbalance of muscles in the leg, pelvis, and abdomen. Consideration must also be made to joints below and above when hip or thigh pain is the main complaint. Some hip and thigh injuries include but are not limited to:
- Degenerative joint disease-Wear and tear of the ball and/or socket of the hip joint noted as groin pain.
- Total hip arthroplasty or replacement- The progression of degenerative joint disease can often times lead to such great pain that the ball and socket of the joint need to be replaced.
- Adductor muscle or groin strain- A tearing of the soft tissue on the inner portion of the thigh.
- Hamstring strain- A tearing of the muscle tissue along the posterior portion of the thigh.
- Bursitis- An inflammation of the soft tissue at the lateral aspect of the hip often times directly over the hip bone.
- ITB syndrome or ilio-tibial band syndrome- Associated with a snapping of a tendon over the lateral portion of the hip bone often times in conjunction with bursitis.
The treatment goals for each condition is similar
- Diminish symptoms
- By using heat, ice, electric stimulation, ultrasound (modalities)
- Through pain reducing exercises specific to each patient
- Identify and treat the underlying source of the problem
- Specific hip and leg muscle imbalance
- Specific conditions at the knee and ankle joints below
- Specific conditions in the lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints
- Specific core muscle weakness
- Abnormal functional movement patterns specific to each patient’s work sport or activity of daily living
- Prevention: Each patient is instructed in a preventative
home exercise program to minimize the chance that the problem will recur
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