
Increased your walking recently and experiencing hip pain?
Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome:
Symptoms:
- Pain on the outside of the hip, on or close to the bone.
- Pain lying on affected side
- Pain may refer down the outside of the thigh
- Pain walking up stairs, uphill or getting in and out of a car.
- Pain on getting up from sitting and crossing legs.
- Difficulty getting dressed when needing to stand on one leg or crossing leg over.
Causes:
- Increased compression of gluteal muscles that attach onto the bone on the side of your hip.
- Repetitive movements or positions where compression of tendons and bursae leads to pain.
- Poor pelvic control when walking, squatting or climbing stairs.
- Posture and stance habits:
- Standing with hip hanging to side (as if holding a baby on one hip.)
- Sitting with legs crossed
- Sudden increase in activity or starting a new activity (new exercise class, walking more whilst on holidays, change in walking routes with more uphill walking or returning too quickly after an injury).
- Other factors:
- Changes in medication, weight & hormones can often play a role.
- More common in women either during or after menopause.
Treatment & Management:
- Physiotherapist assessment to accurately diagnose your pain.
- Exercise program targeted at surrounding muscles and specific exercises for local muscles around the area of pain.
- Corticosteriod injections can often help to decrease pain and provide a time frame for appropriate strengthening.
Tips:
- Advice and education on daily habits and activities has been found to improve symptoms.
- Resting from aggravating activities, whilst targeting to strengthen local muscles helps to decrease symptoms.
- Gradual walking and exercise program outlined by your physiotherapist is important to reduce the likleyhood of pain returning.