What a nuisance a bad hip can be if you can’t stand or walk very far before you have to sit down. This is exactly what was happening to Louise, a patient of ours, before we found the cause of the problem and we were able to help her.

Louise came to us with nagging hip pain that would travel down her leg. Shopping was a bear. After about one hour of walking and periodic standing, her hip would hurt so much she would have to sit down. Her hip would also become quite painful after sitting for about two hours, making traveling painful and difficult.

Louise had a trip to France coming up and she knew her bad hip would not allow her to sit comfortably throughout the flight. She also knew her trip would involve A LOT of walking and she did not want the fear of her hip hurting and holding up the group she was traveling with.

3 Common Causes of Hip Pain

Louise came to us for help and there were several problems we found that were causing her hip and leg pain:

• A left “shift” misalignment of her hips and pelvis (see photo).
• Weakness of her hip muscles, especially her “glutes”
• Weakness of her abdominal muscles
• Loss of flexibility in her foot, ankle and big toe on the same side as the bad hip. This either led to, or was the result of a bunion surgery she had 9 years prior. Foot “weaknesses,” such as these, commonly cause compensations in the knee or hip which can lead to pain in these areas years later.
  
• She was a “chest breather”

We immediately started working on her problems by adjusting her hip, spine and posture to restore proper joint alignment and nerve strength to her hip muscles. She also received adjustments to her foot, ankle and big toe to restore strength and flexibility of her foot.

We placed her on the following exercise program:

• The Dead Bug progression exercise with abdominal breathing to correct her chest breathing pattern and improve her “core” strength
• Foot Sliding exercise to improve the muscle coordination of her hip, knee, ankle and foot
• Squats to improve the muscle coordination and strength of her hips/glutes
• Gait Retraining exercises to improve her walking

Louise had a phenomenal response to her treatment and exercise program. She had a new posture and spinal alignment and her hip strength improved dramatically. She was pain-free and ready for her trip.

After returning from France, she said she had a wonderful trip because she was able to sit and walk as much as she wanted without getting any pain and she was very pleased her hip did not stop her from experiencing the trip of a lifetime.

We help people like Louise with hip pain everyday without using anti-inflammatory drugs, cortisone injections or surgery. If you or someone you know is suffering from hip pain, contact us to see if we can help.

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