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.