Chiropractic Care for Hip Pain

Having Hip Pain?

Do you experience pain in one or both hips whenever you twist them or when you cross your legs? Does the pain wake you up in the night and make it hard to get a good night’s rest? When you arise in the morning, or when you get out of your car, are you stiff and do you find it an effort, initially, to move your legs? If you answered "yes" to any or all of these questions it is likely that you have imbalances and alignment problems in your lower extremities that, in addition to creating hip pain, can over time lead to degenerative joint disease in your hips if not addressed.

Though hip pain and related problems regularly point to age-related degenerative conditions, particularly osteoarthritis of the hip joint, osteoarthritis isn’t always the perpetrator. In fact, rather than being the original source of the problem, osteoarthritis of the hip joint can be the ultimate result of damage to your hips at a previous time.

Gait changes as the result of biomechanical problems such as an ankle sprain or knee strain, can cause hip pain. Also, if you change jobs, alter the way you sit, take on a new sport or activity, or start driving for long periods of a regular basis, your gait may shift to compensate for these new changes.

In addition, gait imbalances can occur from leg length dissimilarities, foot pronation conditions, even carrying a baby or small child on your hip. Strictly speaking, anything that generates an asymmetry or imbalance when you are in motion can cause painful hip problems.

As part of the chiropractic management of your hip problem, along with adjustments, your chiropractor may suggest that you wear orthotics. Your chiropractor will also offer suitable progressive rehabilitative exercises that include muscle stretching and strengthening.

Hip pain won’t disappear on its own. Hip pain indicates that something needs to be remedied. Your chiropractor can help to get you out of pain, get back into balance, and get your life back!

Here at Rosa Family Chiropractic of Alexandria, we use various techniques to treat hip pain, no matter the condition. Treating muscles, tendons, ligaments, and the joint itself will get you back on your feet and allow you to live a much more comfortable life.

Improve Flexibility (and Cool Off) by Stretching in the Pool

Improve Flexibility (and Cool Off) by Stretching in the Pool

After a long run on a hot day, few things feel better than diving into a pool. But why stop at cooling off? By taking your stretching routine underwater, you'll be able to move your joints and limbs through a wider range of motion—and with greater control—compared to stretching on land, says Scott Riewald, Ph.D., a biomechanics expert who works with Olympic athletes. "It's easier to reach and hold the point of optimal stretch, with less strain," he says. Do this routine in the pool after a run. Hold each stretch for 20 to 30 seconds, repeating twice on both legs.

Hip Flexors

Start in a lunge position with the left leg on a low step. Bend the right knee and shift your body weight forward so your hips drop down. You'll feel this in the front of the left hip.

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Hamstrings

In waist-deep water, place one foot, heel down, on a low step. Looking straight ahead, flex at the hips to bring the torso forward until you feel a stretch in the back of the thigh.

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Calves

Stand in chest-deep water and hold the wall. Step back with the right leg and press the heel down. Hold for 20 seconds, then bend the right knee slightly for a deeper stretch.

Quadriceps and Hip Flexors

Stand on your left leg. Grasp the right foot behind you. For a deeper stretch, press the hips forward and allow the right knee to move back slightly.

Hip and Lower Back

Stand on your left leg in chest-deep water. Grab your right knee with both arms and pull it tightly to the chest while maintaining good posture.

IT Band

Position yourself so your left side is close to a wall. Cross the left foot in front of the right. Lean to the left with your torso while pushing the right hip away from the wall.

Chiropractic Care for Neck Pain Relief

Neck Pain

Neck pain can occur as a result of a car accident—such as from whiplash, for example. Or, it can happen as a result of holding the head in the same position for too long, day after day. For instance, many computer users experience neck pain. Some people have neck pain from sports injuries as well. Regardless, whatever the reason, chiropractors can help people with neck pain.

How Can Popping My Neck Help?

Chiropractors don’t really "pop" a person’s neck. What a chiropractor will do is examine your neck and back, doing a thorough analysis of your entire spine. Then, he will figure out which of your vertebrae is out of line. Spinal misalignment is the true underlying cause of your neck pain, and your chiropractor will determine a method for putting your spine back into alignment. This will provide neck pain relief.

It Sounds Painful…

It isn’t painful. Chiropractic treatments are designed to relieve pain, not cause pain. The chiropractic doctor will not twist your neck, bend it back, or "pop" it. In fact, the treatment he does may not even seem as if it involves your neck—it may center on your back. However, it will still provide the neck pain relief that you need.

Back Treatment for Neck Pain Relief?

Think about it like this—your neck is connected to your back. Your spine runs from your tailbone all the way up to your neck. Since it is all connected, it makes sense that treating one part of it may affect another part, doesn’t it?

What your chiropractor will likely do is to have you lay on the examination table, face down. You will need to relax so that the treatment can work. Your muscles cannot be tense or clenched. Once you are relaxed, the chiropractor will thrust a force of energy at a specific point in your spine very quickly. This quick thrust is done in order to put your spine back into alignment.

You may hear some popping noises when the thrust is done—this is just oxygen and other gases being released by the joint. You will not feel any pain, other than the push from the thrust. This isn’t forceful enough to be like a punch—it is more like a shove.

Afterwards, you may experience immediate neck pain relief. Or, it may take a day or so to have relief from your neck pain. You may need to return for more treatments, too. This will depend upon your specific condition.