Hip Pain Treatment Archives - Health Tips From The Professor

Relief From Hip And Knee Pain

April 20, 2021 by Dr. Steve Chaney

A Common Cause For Pains From Hip To Knee

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT –The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

Happy April! Happy Spring!

One of the best parts of April (other than all the beautiful flowers) is that the weather is great in both the North and the South. Up north, you are warming up from the bitter cold of winter, and here in the south, we still have low humidity and temps are in the 70’s most of the time. Perfect!

April Fool’s Day is a fun “holiday” that I loved when I was a child. It was always a challenge to catch my Mom, but I’m sure she was pretending most of the time when I told her silly things. I wonder if kids still play jokes on their friends’ and family?

This year the Christian Easter Holiday is on April 4^th, and the Jewish Last Day of Passover is also on April 4^th. So, lots of family gatherings are happening everywhere. And there are lots of ridiculous holidays, like International Pillow Fight Day (April 3^rd) and National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day (April 12^th). What will they think of next!!

Do you like to garden? Now is the perfect time to get your gardens planted so you’ll have home grown veggies for the entire summer. For me, it’s also a great time to do some spring cleaning and get the house in order before the summer closes all the windows and the air conditioning becomes our indoor relief.

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Happy, Happy News!

As you know from previous newsletters, I did a TEDx talk on December 6, 2020. I was so excited. Then the Powers-That-Be decided to decline putting it on YouTube because I dared to question why muscles aren’t ever thought about when searching for the cause of pain.

I jumped through a bunch of hoops, sending peer-reviewed medical journal articles that proved that trigger points are real, and they are known in the medical world. I had to send my CV to prove that I had background that qualified me to ask the question, and a bunch of other documents for them to ponder.

The good news is, I’ve finally been approved!

You can either go to YouTube and put in “Julie Donnelly, Pain” so you can also see the 20+ pain explanation videos I’ve done, or you can click on this link: The Pain Question No One is Asking! It’s really important to please Like it, and then Share it with as many people as possible. The parent company, TED, will invite me back to speak if I get enough Likes and Shares. My next talk would be to explain to people why muscles in your thigh and hip cause low back pain. People are suffering, and they are looking at the wrong area for relief. Your low back isn’t really the source of low back pain.

I’m communicating with an animated graphics expert to build a short video that visually explains the “why” and “which” of the muscles that cause low back pain. It could make a huge difference for millions of people.

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A Common Cause For Pains From Hip To Knee

There are times when I am led to sharing a treatment because I had a run of clients all suffering from the same source muscle. That is what happened for this newsletter. In March I had at least six clients come to my office, all having different symptoms, but all stemming from the same source.

My clients complained of hip pain, thigh pain, knee pain, and pain down the outside of the lower leg.

In this case it was the Tensor Fascia Lata and two of the three Gluteal muscles: Medius, Minimus. The Gluteus Medius is directly over the Gluteus Minimus, so treating one will actually treat both. And the Tensor Fascia Lata is right next to both these muscles.

All these muscles insert into the same area of the hip, and for different reasons, they all cause hip pain. Also, each muscle refers pain to a different location, so you think you have a problem in these referred pain locations, but they are all coming from your hip.

This is one of the many times when working on one area will solve many different problems.

Take a look at these Trigger Point charts:

To read the charts, look at the shaded area (which shows where pain is felt) and look for the muscle name in the same color. Then follow the arrow to the same-colored round circles with “x”. This is the trigger point (spasm) that is the source of that pain pattern.

You’ll notice that the spasm (trigger point) for the purple pain pattern is in the Gluteus Minimus at the outside of the hip, but the pain pattern goes to the outside of the thigh, the knee, and all the way down to the ankle.

The spasms for the Tensor Fascia Lata is in the same place on the hip, but the pain pattern is the hip, the thigh, and the outside of the knee.

In each of these cases the pain is being felt along the insertion points for the muscles.

Relief From Hip And Knee Pain

To relieve the muscle spasms that are causing the problem, use my “Perfect Ball” (You can use a baseball or tennis ball, but my Perfect Ball is just the right size and hardness for the job). Then, either lie on the floor or stand up and lean into a wall as shown in the two photos below. Lean into the ball, easing your pressure onto the ball gradually. As the muscle releases it will hurt less and less.

Then you can rotate your body, so the ball is pressing into the front of your hip or rotating so the ball is rolling toward the back of your body. You will likely find multiple painful tender spots. Each spot is a spasm that is putting pressure on your bones or is pulling on the tendon (called the IlioTibial Band – ITB) that is putting pressure onto your lateral knee joint.

You can also treat these muscles by using a length of 1” PVC pipe as shown in the picture on the left.

This picture was shared with me by an athlete. An avid runner, she couldn’t get down on the ground, nor was there a wall that she could press into, but using the pipe and a street sign pole, she was still able to release the tight muscles that were preventing her from running.

This may not be perfect for you, but if you are an athlete, it could be just what you need when you’re unable to treat yourself as shown above.

You REALLY CAN Treat Yourself

Since 1989 I have been working with people who are experiencing severe &/or chronic pain. During those years I’ve managed to figure out why they are in pain, and how they can stop the pain by treating themselves.

It is wonderful when someone can come into my office and I can work directly with them, but I’ve found that the key is the self-treatments I teach them to do at home. With the self-treatments you can release the tension multiple times every day, retraining your muscles to stay relaxed.

Thousands of people have been able to stop pain fast because they have followed the simple techniques I teach.

You can stop pain fast too! Even chronic pain releases when you treat the source and not just the symptom!

To enable you to know where to treat, and how to treat the muscles that cause pain, I’ve produced several “How To” books and DVD programs.

Visit my shopping cart to see the full line of pain-relief products that will help you overcome:

Shoulder pain
Neck pain
Carpal tunnel symptoms
Trigger finger
Low back pain
Hip pain
Sciatica
Knee Pain
Plantar Fasciitis

In fact, you can get relief for pains from your head to your feet!

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

About The Author

Julie Donnelly has been a licensed massage therapist since 1989, specializing in the treatment of chronic pain and sports injuries. She is the author of several books including Treat Yourself to Pain-Free Living, The Pain-Free Athlete, and The 15 Minute Back Pain Solution. She is also often chosen to speak at national conventions, medical schools, and health facilities nationwide.

Julie has also developed a proven self-treatment program for the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Hip Pain Causes and Treatment

March 20, 2018 by Dr. Steve Chaney

How To Find and Treat The Muscles That Cause Hip Pain

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT – The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

This article will help you discover hip pain causes and treatment. We’ll first uncover hip pain causes and then we will teach you how to administer self treatment.

Hip Pain Is Commonly Caused By Tight Muscles

Hip pain is commonly caused by one or several muscles putting pressure on the insertion points surrounding your hip. The body is amazing! Consider the number of muscles that enable us to move in countless directions, and you’ll really appreciate your body.

However, when the muscles shorten from either repetitive or static movements, they pull on the bones. Tight muscles pull on the bone and cause hip pain. You can think of it as being like your head hurting because you were pulling your hair.

Muscles That Cause Hip Pain

Your hip has approximately 17 different muscles originating on your pelvis and inserting into your thigh bone. Each muscle causes your leg to move in a different direction.

On the outside of your hip, you have muscles that lift your leg out to the side and stabilize your knee joint. Your gluteal muscles , including the large gluteus maximus (butt) muscle, and tensor fascia lata muscle may cause lateral hip pain.

Deep inside your hip joint are multiple muscles that move your thigh to the front, back, and toward midline.

Muscles like the adductors and hamstrings are major muscles that move your thigh midline, or toward the back.

And the six deep lateral rotator muscles can cause hip pain, including sciatica, deep inside the joint.

Deep inside the curve of your pelvis is your iliacus muscle. The iliacus muscle lifts your thigh up, so you can sit down or take a step.

Your quadratus lumborum muscle lifts your hip up, so you can take a step. It also is responsible for allowing you to bend to your side.

There are other muscles that put pressure on your hip to allow you to move. With so many muscles it is impossible to do just one self-treatment to get total relief of hip pain.

Hopefully, the above has given you a better understanding of what causes hip pain. But, we promised to show hip pain causes and treatment. Now, we will demonstrate some hip pain treatment.

An Effective Self-Treatment For Hip Pain

Take a ball and place it on the muscle that is between your hip and thigh bones. You are on your tensor fascia lata muscle. Then lie down on the floor as shown in this picture.

You can also do this treatment standing up and leaning into a wall.

Move around your pelvis by turning your body forward and backward. You’ll be able to feel your pelvis as you move. Try to stay along the edge of the bone, and then move the ball further down toward your butt.

End the treatment by pressing the ball along the top of your thigh bone. You have found a spasm each time you get to a tender point. Press into the tender point and hold it for 30 seconds. Then let up the pressure for 5 seconds before repeating it again. You’ll find that each time it will hurt a little less.

It hurts less because you are forcing out the H+ acid that is causing the pain. As the acid/blood ratio changes, the pain diminishes and the spasm releases.

Solutions For Hip Pain And More

There are many other self-treatments that will eliminate pain throughout your body. You can find solutions to pain in my books:

The Pain-Free Athlete is a book written specifically for active adults. Whether you like to run, bike, walk, swim, or play any sport, you’ll find solutions to common aches and pains.

Included in this book are two chapters by guest authors that are important to active adults.

Steve Chaney, PhD, authored Sports Nutrition which is great information even for non-athletes.

Greg Matis and Mike Young, PhD, authored a detailed Exercise Routine chapter that is excellent for the serious athlete.

Treat Yourself to Pain-Free Living is my most popular book. It has been totally updated with new self-treatments for the entire body.

Self-treatments that are effective for sinus headaches are included in this book. Plus, you’ll discover how to help someone who suffers from sinus pain.

Now, you should understand hip pain causes and treatment.

You don’t need to suffer from hip pain! Learn effective self-treatments that will eliminate aches and pains before they become debilitating by checking out my book.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

Julie Donnelly is a Deep Muscle Massage Therapist with 20 years of experience specializing in the treatment of chronic joint pain and sports injuries. She has worked extensively with elite athletes and patients who have been unsuccessful at finding relief through the more conventional therapies.

She has been widely published, both on – and off – line, in magazines, newsletters, and newspapers around the country. She is also often chosen to speak at national conventions, medical schools, and health facilities nationwide.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Chronic Hip Pain Relief

March 15, 2016 by Dr. Steve Chaney

You Can Enjoy Pain Free Living From Home

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT –The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

You may not be an Irish dancer like the woman who sent this question, but if you are a runner, golfer, or you play tennis – or if you are just having chronic hip pain – you’ll find answers to the cause of your pain, and what you can do to resolve it!

The Cause of Bridget’s Chronic Hip Pain

I received this question recently.

I am a competitive Irish dancer. I love what I do, it is my passion. I am 40 years old and I have been Irish dancing since I was 35.

The pillar of Irish dancing is core muscles and hamstrings. The better I have gotten with my dancing, the worst my everyday pain in my high hamstrings right at the hip joint (Bicep Femoris). I have been in pain for 4 years now. It only gets worse.can you please advise.

Bridget

Obviously “Bridget” is overusing all of her muscles. She doesn’t have a “chronic hip pain condition” she has overuse syndrome, and it CAN be reversed easily. It’s just a matter of discovering what is causing the pain, finding the source of the pain, and then eliminating it with simple self-treatments.

My Answer For Bridget’s Chronic Hip Pain

Hi,

I LOVE Irish dancing, and I’ve always appreciated how grueling it is for the dancers from their hips to their feet. I’m happy to tell you that it is easy to treat each of the muscles, but it’s more than just your hip joint and hamstrings. This chronic hip pain pattern actually starts from your quadriceps, specifically your rectus femoris.

It will help you follow this discussion if you first read my article on hip joint pain relief . You’ll see that your quadriceps cause your leg to go straight after you bend your knee, so it is being repetitively strained from all of the dancing.

The rectus femoris is the only one of the four quadriceps that originates on the tip of your pelvis, so when it is being repetitively strained – and therefore shortening – it is pulling DOWN on your pelvis and UP on your knee.

As your pelvis rotates down from this strain, it causes the muscles of your hamstrings to become OVERSTRETCHED. The worst thing to do is to stretch your hamstrings without first treating the muscles that have caused your pelvis to rotate.

The overstretching occurs because the origin of your hamstrings are on the base of your pelvis. So as your posterior pelvis is pulling your hamstrings, which have their own spasms occurring and are tying the fibers into knots, they are now being overstretched as the pelvis moves.

The muscles of your hip become involved because they are twisted as your pelvis pulls them down in the front, and contracts them as your pelvis moves up in the back. This puts a great strain on the top of your thigh bone, called the greater trochanter.

You need to do your self-treatments in a specific way to sequentially release your muscles in a manner that will reverse the domino-effect your rectus femoris is putting on your pelvis. As you release each muscle in what is called the Julstro Protocol , your pelvis will be able to release.

As a dancer, I suggest you self-treat each of the muscles regularly, even daily. This will force out the toxins that are created as you dance for hours, and will enable your muscles to heal while you sleep so you’ll be fresh in the morning and not carrying around yesterday’s pain.

You can release all of the muscles that are causing your chronic hip pain, and you’ll find that you’re dancing better, with more flexibility, and you’ll also feel stronger.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

SI Joint Pain Relief

December 15, 2015 by Dr. Steve Chaney

You Can Enjoy Pain Free Living From Home

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT –The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

I received a call from a distressed client about her son’s unbearable SI joint pain that refuses to hold a chiropractic adjustment. Her son has dealt with the pain for several years. His pain is beginning to turn his life into a bad dream since it’s prohibiting him from playing the sports he enjoys and he doesn’t see an end in sight. Maybe you can relate.

What Causes SI Joint Pain?

The sacroiliac joint is the point where the sacrum (white area) and the ilium (red area) join together (circled in yellow).

When the muscles that surround the joint are either too tight or too loose, or if you have an accident, the joint can be pulled out of alignment.

This misalignment will cause pain in the immediate area, and also cause symptoms that are similar to low back pain and/or sciatica.

Imagine the overlapping area (circled in yellow) moving in a manner that separates the two bones…ouch! You can imagine how this not only strains the sacroiliac joint, but also causes a misalignment at the hip and pubic joint.

This can cause low back pain, SI joint pain, hip pain or groin pain. The pain can also refer down the leg and even into the foot.

Why Chiropractic Adjustments May Not Hold

We love chiropractors and the care they provide. Spinal health is essential for longevity and vitality.

Some adjustments may not hold, whether it’s an adjustment for SI joint pain, sciatica, back pain, shoulder pain, or anything else, because the muscles that pull the bones out of alignment in the first place aren’t being released prior to the adjustment. (When releasing a muscle you are releasing tiny muscle fiber knots that cause the muscle to shorten and pull on the bone.)

Think of this analogy, imagine you had a length of rope with a stick tied in the middle. As you pull one side of the rope to tug the stick in that direction in order to bring the stick back to the middle you have to first release the tug (tension) on the rope.

This is similar to what happens when adjustments are unable to hold. The tight muscle is pulling on the joint, the chiropractor pushes (adjusts) the joint back into place and then the tight muscle pulls it right back out again. This can go on and on until the muscle knots are released.

Get SI Joint Pain Relief with this Muscle Release Technique

STEP 1: Place a Trigger Point Treatment Ball (or a firm tennis ball) directly on your SI joint.

Ease your body down onto the ball gently. It’s important to stay in the “hurts so good” range; it may feel uncomfortable but not a sharp pain. If you feel a sharp pain, move the ball to a spot nearby, but not directly on the joint.

Move the ball around the entire area to release the tension (muscle knots) in all of the muscles. Stay on any tender points for about 30 seconds.

STEP 2: Once you feel you have released the tender areas (trigger points), place the ball directly on your SI joint. Bring your same-side leg up, resting your lower leg on the thigh of your opposite leg. (The same movement as crossing your leg in a chair.) The intention here is to add an additional stretch to the muscles surrounding your SI joint.

This muscle release technique may take a few times before the muscles completely relax and the SI joint is no longer being pulled out of alignment.

Now the next time you see your chiropractor you’ll get an adjustment that lasts! You may even find that this technique allows the joint to move back into alignment on its own.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Natural Treatment for Hip Pain

October 20, 2015 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT –The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

Do You Love Sports?

Do You Exercise Frequently?

Do You Have Aches & Pains?

Wish there was a natural treatment for hip pain? Exercising and playing sports is a “pluses and minuses” situation because it’s great to build muscle and burn fat, but it can also cause joint pain.

And athletes are especially vulnerable for hip pain.

Today I taught a serious triathlete an at-home hip pain treatment. Up until now he has been side-lined because of chronic hip pain. He’s an excellent runner and a top cyclist, but both of these sports have caused hip pain so extreme that he had to seek treatment.

The Cause of Hip Pain

The hip has powerful muscles attached to it so you can stand, sit, bend, maintain balance and move your body in an infinite number of ways. Each muscle needs to work perfectly with the other supporting muscles. As one contracts the opposing muscle needs to lengthen.

For example, sitting for extended periods of time is a key cause of pain all the way from your low back to your knees! In order for you to be able to sit various muscles contract including your psoas and iliacus muscles (front of pelvis), meanwhile your quadratus lumborum (low back) and rectus femoris (front of thigh) must lengthen.

As you stand those muscles switch roles – unless one or more of them have shortened because of a phenomenon called “muscle memory”. When this happens the tight muscle pulls on the bone causing tightness in the pelvis which leads low back pain, groin pain, sciatica or pain in the front of your hip.

Pain on the outside of your hip happens because these muscles are rotating your pelvis forward and down, and this rotation causes the muscles on the outside of your hip to torque. This torquing causes spasms (muscles knots or trigger points) to form in your hip muscles and the pull refers pain to your entire hip area.

If you play a sport that involves kicking your leg out to the side, such as soccer or ice skating, you are repetitively straining your hip muscles, specifically your tensor fascia lata, gluteus minimus and gluteus medius. These muscles apply tension on the outside of the pelvis and on the top of the thigh bone making your entire hip hurt!

A Natural Treatment for Hip Pain

To release the muscles on the outside of your hip, take the Trigger Point Therapy Ball and place it directly on the side-seam of your pants, between your hip bone and your thigh bone. This is the location of your tensor fascia lata muscle, which is a key muscle when treating for hip pain.

Lie down on the ball (as pictured). You may need to ease into it if your muscle is very tight. The goal is to be able to lie on the ball without feeling pain.

This could take a few minutes if your muscle is in spasm.

Once you are able to lie on the ball without pain, begin to move your body so the ball moves down to the insertion point (top of your thigh bone).

Then move so the ball rolls along your entire pelvis and sacrum.

As you move along feel for any tender spots. Each tender spot is a trigger point (muscle knot or spasm) that is causing your hip pain.

When you feel a trigger point allow your body to rest there for 30-60 seconds for a full muscle release.

Need More Help?

There are so many muscles involved in hip pain that I suggest you watch the Focused Flexibility Training Foundation video. The Foundation video is a comprehensive demonstration of muscle release techniques from head-to-toe.

After you release the knots in your muscles it is now the best time to stretch. In the Focused Flexibility Training system the two lower body sessions effectively stretch the muscles of your hip

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.