Are your hips trying to tell you something? Maybe your hips allow you to express yourself through dance like Shakira, or maybe your hips are open enough to allow you to sit on the floor comfortably in meditation.  On the other side of things, maybe you have been experiencing symptoms of pain or tightness in one hip or both. The hips are also a part of the body that often harbor a lot of emotions and stress, so it’s important to listen to what they are trying to tell you and give them your attention.

Hip Joints: The hip joint is technically used to describe the ball and socket joint, where the femur bone inserts in the the ilium bone of the pelvis. This is the largest weight bearing joint in the body. Hips however, must also move on the sacro-iliac (SI) joint. The SI joint is where the ilium glides on the sacrum. These joints, as well as nerves and muscles work together to enable the hips to move.

Hip Muscles: The hips are very movable joints. The hips flex, extend, and rotate. The hip muscles attach and activate around the hip joints so that you can walk, run, sit, stand and move through life. The main muscles of hip flexion are the quadraceps and the iliopsoas. The tensor fascia lata (TFL), sartorius, and adductor muscles assist in flexion too. Extension is made possible by the glute maximus, medius, piriformis, and hamstrings. The glute medius, minimus, and TFL provide internal rotation and abduction, and the piriformis, gemellus, obturator muscles are responsible for external rotation and adduction.

Hip Nerves: It is the nerves that allow the muscles of the hips to activate upon the joints. All of these nerves originate at the spine. The nerves of hip flexion exit between the L2 - L4 vertebrae. The nerves for extension, external rotation, and adduction, exit the spine at levels L5 - S2 and the muscles of internal rotation exit between L4 - S1. Lastly, the muscles of adduction exit the spine between L3 - L5.

This is why chiropractic is super important to overall hip health and function. The brain must be able to clearly communicate through the nerve pathways to the hips.

Hip Injuries/Disorders: Because hips are the primary weight bearers of the body, they are prone to acute and chronic consequences. Here is a list of common hip conditions:

Subluxation: Misalignments in the joints of the spine and pelvis that put pressure on the surrounding nerves. Subluxations are exactly what Cypress Chiropractic adjustments eliminate. Chronic subluxations can increase the likelihood of hip arthritis, degeneration, injuries and other hip disorders. Lumbar subluxations can often cause a referral of pain to the hips, and so can SI subluxations. It’s important to get regularly checked and adjusted at Cypress Chiropractic to eliminate subluxations and allow your hips to function optimally.

Facet Syndrome: This is actually a condition of the spine, however the symptoms of pain can sometimes occur in the hips and buttocks. The facet joints are capsular joints of the vertebrae that allow for rotation, flexion and extension. If these joints wear down, then inflammation accumulates. This can create pressure and pain. Chiropractic, stretching, and strengthening can help to restore proper facet motion and stabilize the lumbar spine.

Piriformis Syndrome: Piriformis Syndrome is when the sciatic nerve is compressed by the piriformis muscle causing pain in the distribution of the sciatica nerve. Pain along the sciatic nerve usually occurs in the buttocks and/or down the back of the leg. Usually there is a history of a low back or hip injury. Chiropractic, massage, myofascial release, stretching, and correction of bio-mechanical issues can help the prognosis of this syndrome and eliminate that.

Hip Bursitis: Hip bursitis is inflammation of one or multiple bursa around the hips. It is the most common cause of hip pain, and it is usually secondary to an acute or repetitive trauma. Examples of acute causes could be a fall, contact sports, direct impact, or a surgical complication. Examples of a repetitive trauma include abnormal rubbing of tissue like the TFL over the greater trochanter of the femur, leg-length inequality, fibrosis in one or more of the hip muscles, and/or SI dysfunction. Conservative treatment includes chiropractic to address the repetitive alignment traumas, massage of the surrounding tissues, anti-inflammatory diet, and avoidance of aggravating activities.

Congenital Hip Dysplasia: This is a condition found in babies or toddlers. It occurs when the ball and socket joint forms abnormally, so that the joint is unstable. Often times the child will avoid walking or crawling, or they may just walk or crawl abnormally to protect the unstable side. While this condition can be tested for by Dr. Sarah at Cypress Chiropractic, this is a condition that should ultimately be referred to their pediatrician to determine if physical therapy and/or a brace is necessary.

With all this information on the hips it’s important to listen and feel the signs they give. Hip health is super important to overall health because the hips allow you to walk and move through life and when a hip is injured, it often hurts in all positions.

If you ever need some professional care and advice on your hips, Dr. Sarah K. Wharton at Cypress Chiropractic is here to help. Thanks for reading downtown Charleston’s Cypress Chiropractic Health Blog. Until next time, stay healthy!