What could be causing your hip area discomfort?
In day to day life, people in general are moving a lot less than they used to. They are combining errands, ordering online, and working from their home offices. They are no longer walking or commuting to work, meeting friends for drinks, or going out to museums or sporting events – resulting in less overall movement and more time spent indoors than ever before.
Due to the pandemic, many fitness facilities, gyms, and classes were restricted or cancelled. As a result, many people adapted their fitness or wellness routines and increased their outdoor walking and running, potentially contributing to the development of hip pain.
Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome
Pain on the outer side of the buttock and hip is often diagnosed as GTPS, or Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome. This area of pain used to be commonly called bursitis, but we now know there is more to this problem than an inflamed bursa.
Research shows that behind the hip pain symptoms there are unhappy hip tendons, a condition called gluteal tendinopathy. Why are these tendons unhappy? Not enough movement, weak muscles from not enough exercise and/or overload to the tendons (i.e. too much exercise or the wrong exercise), may contribute to development or exacerbation of this problem. It has also been found that one of the key contributing factors is the compression of this area, often imparted by less than ideal sitting postures and/or poorly fitted (office) chair seats. Avoiding or removing these compression components can often go a long way to settling pain symptoms.
Key points to focus on
Avoid bringing your knee across the midline of your body. So – at that casual home office- avoid crossing your legs. Avoid sitting or lying on the couch with your knees dropped to one side.
Get up and move frequently. When standing, stand with feet shoulder width apart and weight equally on both legs. Do not jut out your hip.
Review your exercise program. When walking and running, shorten your stride and land softly. Stay tall through your spine and pelvis, and use trunk and strong leg muscles to absorb your body weight during stance phase.
If you have significant hip pain, we’re here to help you get back to your favourite activities. Find a clinic near you or book an appointment now.
This blog post originally appeared on Lifemark.ca.
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