Health blog Category: joints
Three Common Sources of Hip Pain
Hip pain can present in many ways. In this blog we will discuss some of the common problems we see here at LSTC!
- Osteoarthritis: wearing of the joint surfaces (cartilage) of the hip joint
- Mechanism of Injury:
- Wear and Tear
- Prior trauma
- FAI: see below
- Symptoms:
- Pain worse with prolonged positioning (e.g. sitting for a long period of time
- Pain worse in the morning: typically resolves within 5-10 minutes of movement
- Pain worse with cold weather
- Decreased mobility
- Difficulty walking
- Groin, buttock, or knee pain
- Mechanism of Injury:
- Femoracetabular Impingement (FAI): excess contact between the acetabulum (hip socket) and proximal femur (top of the hip bone) because of how the bones are shaped/sized
- Mechanism of Injury:
- Cam-type impingement: the hip bone is too big near the top (at the femoral neck)
- More common in biological men
- Pincer-type impingement: the socket (acetabulum) is too big
- More common in biological women
- Repetitive stress: certain activities will place increased stress on bones. The way the body responds to increased stress is by laying down more bone in those areas. This extra bone can result in increased contact between the joint surfaces
- Cam-type impingement: the hip bone is too big near the top (at the femoral neck)
- Symptoms:
- Anterior hip/groin pain
- Buttock pain
- Catching, Giving-way sensations, popping, locking
- Pain with sitting, squatting, stair navigation
- Pain with acceleration in sports
- Decreased available motion
- Mechanism of Injury:
- Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome: resultant of gluteal tendon damage or bursa (fluid filled sac) inflammation
- Mechanism of Injury:
- Sedentary Nature
- Improper athletic training: lack of gradual progression
- Repetitive Activity
- Symptoms:
- Lateral hip pain
- Pain lying on the affected side
- Pain with prolonged sitting and/or sitting with legs crossed
- Pain with walking, stair navigation, standing, running
- Mechanism of Injury:
Why Physical Therapy, Why NOW?!
Read full blogWhat is Manual Therapy?
Manual Therapy is made up of many different hands-on techniques that we use in the clinic. Each offer their own benefits and are implemented for many reasons. We use manual therapy to help restore mobility, restore joint movement, decrease nerve tension, and improve nerve mobility and help reduce pain.
There are many different techniques that fall into the category of manual therapy. Some of these categories include but are not limited to:
- Soft Tissue Mobilization
- Joint Mobilizations
- Muscle Energy Techniques
- Passive Range of Motion
- Neural Mobilizations
Soft Tissue Mobilization:
Soft Tissue Mobilization helps to reduce soft tissue adhesions and help promote muscle, ligament, and tendon mobility.
Read full blogTips to Less Arthritis Pain
When it comes to relieving arthritis aches and pains, we may have more options than we realize. There is a lot that can be done to reduce our aches and pains from arthritis while gaining more mobility and function.
Arthritis pain and inflammation is what we help our patients day in and day out with. Patients often experience pain from arthritis because of stiff joints, muscles and other tissues. In addition, muscles become weak, therefore not supporting the arthritic joints.
Key Ways to Relieve Neck & Back Discomfort
There are many common causes of both back pain and neck pain. However, both of these can be treated with physical therapy.
Causes of Back Pain:
- Changes in the spine’s anatomy
- Lumbar disc herniation
- occurs when the gel-like interior of the disc leaks outward and irritates the nerve roots. It typically causes a stabbing pain in the back of the legs and back pain.
- Lumbar degenerative disc disease
- Wear and tear on the spinal discs can lead to lumbar degenerative disc disease.
Creaky and Stiff Joints Got You Down?
As we get older or the more active or reversely inactive we may be we all start to notice; creaky joints, joint pain, and stiffness at some point in our lives. These symptoms affect all joints however most particularly the knees because of their weight bearing function. Maybe you have become more inactive recently just sitting around and you’re noticing joint pain and stiffness. Or maybe you have been doing much of the same activities or exercises in attempts to stay active while we all adjust to a new sense of normalcy.
Read full blogA Sprain or A Strain
I’m sure you’ve heard of someone that has had a sprain or a strain or even experienced one yourself. Sprains and strains are common injuries that affect the soft tissues of your body. You don’t have to be an athlete to experience one of these injuries.
People of all ages and activity levels are susceptible to sprains and strains. Sometimes these injuries can be confusing to keep straight, so what is the difference between a sprain and a strain?
Protecting Our Hips from IT Band Problems
The IT Band and Surrounding Muscles
There are a number of muscles on the outside of our hip that attach to the IT band. The job of all of these muscles is:
- To keep the hip joint structures open
- Help support the joint
- Create the movement of the joint.
Most commonly what happens when we are experiencing some level of IT band problems, is that the muscles on the outside of the hip that are working to hold the hip together while we move the leg, are overworking.
Read full blogStrengthen, Lengthen, and Reduce Pain in Our Joints
Joint health is something that ALL ages need to be concerned about, not just older populations. The more we educate ourselves, the less likely we are to develop joint conditions like arthritis or general joint pain and stiffness. Healthy joints are key to living a pain free life. Unfortunately, nearly half of Americans over the age of 65 are dealing with arthritis somewhere in their bodies, according to the CDC.
Arthritis is a condition in which inflammation has invaded the joint space and is causing joint stiffness and/or pain.
Bursitis Pain and How it Occurs
Let’s Start by Defining Bursitis.
Our bodies are amazing and have been equipped to deal with our bones rubbing or grinding together because we have ‘joint pillows’.
Bursae are thin, lubricated cushions located at points of friction between a bone and the surrounding soft tissue. They are found all over our body including the shoulders, knees, hips, heels and elbows. These sacs cushion and lubricate our bones so they don’t grind away.
The Impact of Knee Pain
Any kind of knee pain or stiffness makes simple daily activities such as walking, going up or down the stairs, squatting, and standing up from a chair, difficult.
The number one complaint from someone experiencing any kind of knee problem is pain under or around the knee cap. This type of pain can greatly limit functional mobility.
Some people also experience stiffness in and around the knee making it difficult to move the joint.