Alison is suffering from Hip Pain after a possible Hip fracture

December 21, 2016

In October 2015 (yes, more than a year ago!), I had a nasty fall from a horse, landing butt-first on hard ground. A round of x-rays and an afternoon in A&E left doctors almost convinced (though they couldn’t see for sure on the x-rays) that I’d cracked my left Ischium and I was told to take a couple of weeks off sitting and skip the sports until I could walk a mile or more without discomfort.

After eight weeks of hobbling around, I returned to riding more or less normally (and largely without discomfort), but now suffer from persistent hip pain when sitting for prolonged periods of time. My  doctors say the bone is fine and they suspect the source of the pain is soft tissue of some kind, but no one has been able to locate the problem or give me tools for dealing with it, apart from a dose of painkillers which is obviously not a good long term solution.

Clearly some physio is in order, but I’ve just changed jobs and am waiting for my new insurance to kick in. Any suggestions in the meantime?

Alison
December 21, 2016

Hi Alison – yes!

Some doctors are too 1 dimensional – you’ve had a (possible) fracture, it’s still painful and so the pain therefore must be related to the original injury….even a year after it occurred!

I think the pain has nothing to do with the old fracture, but I do think it’s from the knock on effect of what you’d have done to your back during the fall and more importantly the post injury compensatory movement patterns you’ll have developed.

Time to go back to basics and really concentrate on getting more movement through your thoracic spine and less through your lower spine, but learn/coach yourself to get better control and endurance through your gluts.

Try this back stretch for the next week or so,  add a good sprinkling of these arm openers and really get festive with some glute control & Yule need a little elf control here too

Don’t be tempted to chase the pain away, but deal with the reasons as to why a year down the road it’s still painful.

The Guru

Alison replied immediately…

I know it’s too early to draw permanent conclusions, but wow. I tried your recommendations last night and while the first two didn’t seem to do much (I’ll keep trying though!), the third one provided almost instant relief…I wish I’d reached out to you months ago!

This particular spot has been almost constantly painful since the original injury in October last year, and nothing I’ve tried has managed to reach (stretch?) that spot, but the third video with the ball on the wall was brilliant, particularly the hip hitch. Is there any way to achieve something similar without the ball? (I’ve got one at home but don’t normally travel with one…though maybe I’ll have to start!)

Thank you!

Alison

The Guru replied:

Good news!

The first 2 bits of rehab are to deal with the cause, and not for symptom relief (initially) the 3rd just makes you feel better, but doesn’t actually get you any better in the long term!!

Keep going with the rolled towel one – it’s ace for lots of things.

Anything firm, with round soft edges is good.

Guru Responded

Have more questions?

If you're struggling with Hip issues then we'd love to help. We offer appointments within 24 hours whether face to face at one of our London Physio Clinics, virtually or if you’d prefer we can arrange a home visit.

Request An Appointment

We aim to get back to you within an hour

How should we contact you?