Hip Pain

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prospero

5 posts since
Jun 4, 2008

Jun 4, 2008 6:11 PM

Hip Pain

Hi,

I've been running for a few years and have experienced most of the common injuries runners get. I cant seem to recover from a recent hip injury. I have had IT band injuries on both sides, usually in the upper thigh. My current injury is different, it appears to be the bone itself and not ligaments or muscle, it hurts to touch the centre of the hip bone and as soon as my foot makes contact with the ground. I can warm up for hours lightly jogging but as soon as I propel myself forward with moderate strength there is pain on contact. Unlike the IT band injuries which I never felt until 20 or 30 minutes into a run, this injury is painful walking or climbing stairs. It feels like a bruise, as if I had fallen. The odd thing is it appears to go away the day after a long walk, (10-15k) and then returns after a short run (5k). I have been nursing this for three months. During this time I have stopped running for two and three week periods and then began walking and finally slowly jogging. Each time I begin running the pain returns. I have been treating the hip and the upper IT band with Traumeil and ice three times a day and taking anti-inflammatories, all to no avail. I have been avoiding hills, running only on flat even ground.

At present I run 5k, experience hip pain the following day , treat with ice for a few days and walk extensively, the pain subsides , wait a week or so run 5k again , and the pain returns the following day.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Paul

dpritchny

17 posts since
Dec 14, 2007

1. Jun 5, 2008 8:31 PM

in response to: prospero

Re: Hip Pain

Hey Paul! Sry to hear about the injury. I have had that exact problem. I thought it was caused by my bike trainer being out of level or something crazy like that. I was training for a duathalon and had hip pain so bad with just the pressure from my belt while at work would make me limp. The only relief I found was to stretch, stretch, stretch ... and over time, the pain slowly subsided. Two stretches were key and used to treat IT band injuries. The first was to stand and cross legs while reaching up and leaning over so as to stretch the hip. Picture this .. .cross right foot over left and put left hand on left hip while reaching up w/ right hand and lean toward the left.

The other stretch is to do a yoga pose caused 'pigeon' (try googling it for description). There are two varieties. I do the standing one while at work or while riding my bike and the one on the ground (mroe effective) when i am running.

chamblin

387 posts since
Dec 14, 2007

2. Jun 6, 2008 5:08 AM

in response to: prospero

Re: Hip Pain

Hi Paul,

If you've had this for several months, then you really need to get it checked out professionally. In the worst case it could be a stress fracture which could put you out for a while. Either way it sounds to me like you need to rest for a while - maybe take a couple of weeks off running and replace with something lower impact and see if that helps any.

Cara

prospero

5 posts since
Jun 4, 2008

3. Jun 6, 2008 8:27 AM

in response to: chamblin

Re: Hip Pain

Thanks for your advice.

I don't know why I waited so long but yesterday I decided to type "running injury hip" into google and it all came back Bursitis, I forgot all about Bursitis, (another common running injury, to add to my portfolio). I am sure this is what I have; it's a perfect match right down to the pain climbing stairs and walking. Also, since Bursitis can be caused by a contact injury, my hip pain began a couple of weeks after a fall and it is possible that the fall caused the injury.

I have been seeing a sports therapist, but if this is Bursitis my confidence in him is shaken. I see the therapist because of lower back troubles that extend to the sacrum and iliac, I do reinforcement exercises to increase my chances of being able to run without injuring my back. I have worked with this therapist for years, he knows my situation, and without him I wouldn't be able to run. However I have seen him three times for this hip and obviously if I am asking for your help it's because I am starting to suspect that treatment was not going in the right direction. If what I am reading on line is correct then I shouldn't even be walking until the pain is gone, and yet my therapist told me to use my judgment to determine how much pain I should run with. (In his defense he knows how hard it is to keep me from running, but if he had told me three months ago not to run for a month I think I'd be back to my regular weekly volume by now.) My therapist has been more focused on the opposite hip during this ordeal because apparently it keeps slipping out of alignment, and he believes the right hip pain is through compensation.

I think I'll try rest and a zero tolerance to pain strategy for a few weeks.

Thanks for your help

Paul

kimber45caliber@yahoo.com

427 posts since
Oct 20, 2007

4. Jun 9, 2008 5:53 AM

in response to: prospero

Re: Hip Pain

I was going to suggest bursitis but it seems you've found some information about the signs and symptoms of bursitis. It could also be your gait or your shoes. Did you go to a running store to buy your shoes? How many miles are on them? Did the shoe store analyze your gait? If you're wearing the wrong shoes, it will throw off your gait. If your gait is off, you're going to have pain. I have 188.5 miles on my current pair of shoes. And I need a new pair. My gait has worn down my shoes. When they get worn down, it changes how you run and that can give you pain. Believe me, I'm not happy about needing to buy a new pair of shoes. But it's certainly better in the long run to buy new shoes. Otherwise I'll find myself changing how I run to accomodate the worn down shoes. Then I'll end up having pain.....................So I'll be buying new shoes.

So you might want to consider the shoe situation. That would be an easy fix to your problem. Good-luck.

kyengst

2 posts since
Jun 7, 2008

5. Jun 9, 2008 6:31 AM

in response to: prospero

Re: Hip Pain

Hi Paul,

I'm just getting over bursitis in my left hip. I had exactly the same pain you described. I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who diagnosed the problem. Since it could also be a stress fracture, I highly recommend going the ortho route. A cortisone shot and 3 weeks of physical therapy twice a week have done wonders. I also have a home program of stretches and strenthening exercises the therapist gave me.

Good luck!

prospero

5 posts since
Jun 4, 2008

6. Jun 10, 2008 5:50 AM

in response to: kyengst

Re: Hip Pain

Am I correct in assuming since you had the cortisone shot that ice, rest and time wasn’t healing the injury? If so how long before you realized it?

Paul

kyengst

2 posts since
Jun 7, 2008

7. Jun 10, 2008 6:26 AM

in response to: prospero

Re: Hip Pain

Hi Paul,

The cortisone shot was to keep me comfortable so I could do the physical therapy. I had actually had the pain in my hip since mid-January and had let it escalate to the point where it would wake me at night, sitting in a car was very uncomfortable, etc. Plus, I'm rather knuckleheaded and kept working through the pain. <grin> The shot took effect within 24 hours and allowed the physical therapist to massage deeper than he would have been able to if all the inflammation remained. I noticed the effects of the shot were not as apparent 2 weeks after the injection, but by then the physical therapy was starting to work and the pain was not as bad as before.

However, ice and time would likely have worked just as well, especially if I went that route closer to January than April <chuckle>.

Kathleen

spicegeek

837 posts since
Jan 14, 2007

8. Jun 11, 2008 12:32 PM

in response to: kyengst

Re: Hip Pain

Can you hop pain free ? .. if the answer is no you more than likely have a stress fracture and you need to stop all activity involving the lower body even swimming until the location of the fracture is known. I had the same symptoms and mine was stress fracture - 1 month walking with a cane and no bike , eliptical or swimming or any weight training standing up - 1 month with zero impact - I could bike swim and stand up to to upper body - then I was allowed to slowly re introduce running and lower body weight training

prospero

5 posts since
Jun 4, 2008

9. Jun 11, 2008 6:58 PM

in response to: prospero

Re: Hip Pain

Hopping pulls the muscle a bit but its not as pronounced as contact while propelling forward, or climbing stairs. I am pretty sure that it's bursitis. I slipped on the ice while running and landed directly on this hip three months ago and I've found many references to bursitis caused by hard contact. It took me a while to suspect the fall since the pain didn't start until a few weeks later. I have been inactive for almost two weeks and running only 5k a week since mid-April, while icing and taking anti-inflammatories. It's possible I haven't given the injury enough time, but my feeling is its not healing. Apparently bursitis can get infected so I am going to ask a doctor for a diagnosis. Or else I am simply aggravating the problem by not applying the correct treatment. There appears to be conflicting opinions about when to stretch and exercise the affected area, sometimes it appears as though the stretching, massaging and exercising is therapeutic other times not only absolute rest is recommended (avoiding all hip rotation) but also avoiding pressure (like sleeping on the affected side), until absolutely all the pain is gone. If the latter is true then I have probably prevented the injury from healing by remaining active.

Thanks all for your help.

Paul

spicegeek

837 posts since
Jan 14, 2007

10. Jun 13, 2008 3:15 PM

in response to: prospero

Re: Hip Pain

yup - I spent 2 months convincing myself my fracture was bursitis too - I`d get an MRI if I were you to be be sure

prospero

5 posts since
Jun 4, 2008

11. Jun 13, 2008 3:49 PM

in response to: spicegeek

Re: Hip Pain

Does a stress fracture show up on an MRI ?

bootsy

16 posts since
Jul 10, 2007

12. Jun 13, 2008 3:57 PM

in response to: prospero

Re: Hip Pain

You should look into info on stress fracture of the femoral head, that is the joint that is seated in your hip's socket. Two of the tell-tale signs of stress fracture here are pain at night(dull aches, throbbing), and failing the "hop test". If you have a stress fracture, it will hurt you if you hop on the affected leg. Also, the pain will increase during a run. Hip flexor injuries will differ here in that the pain will tend to go away after you warm up and the tendons loosen.

There is also the possibliity of a labral tear. That is the rotator cuff of your hip, soft tissue like cartillage. I think that they inject a dye into the area and then do an MRI. The dye will highlight any injured tissue and/or bone fractures.

Both of these sound possible hearing your symptoms and both should be taken seriously. You need to make an appt. with an orthopedic MD!

spicegeek

837 posts since
Jan 14, 2007

13. Jun 13, 2008 6:44 PM

in response to: prospero

Re: Hip Pain

A stress fractue will ONLY show up on an MRI - a hip xray will likely come back clean

And to add to what the last poster said - a stress fracture of the femerol neck is exactly what I had and what you describe sounds very familar. I would feel fine walking. even biking or using the eliptical - hoping hurt - squat jumps hurt - oddy running didn`t hurt until a litle while later - same for jumping rope and jumping jacks ... as time went on and I kept trying to run - and doing all the other cardio stuff , walking etc I made the fracture worse eventually walking was painful.

The other tell tale sign for me was my hip gor more painful as the day went on - and seemed to stiffen up when I sat still

Once I was diagnosed and stopped all activity - I was even walking with a cane - for the first week my hip hurt more than it had done when I was active.

I really hope that this is not the case for you - but please go and get checked out

Jun 4, 2008 6:11 PM

Hip Pain

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