Lateral hip pain or pain felt on the outside of the hip has had numerous names of the years. It has been known as Greater trochanter pain, Trochanteric bursitis and gluteal tendinopathy to name just a few. The reason it is now known as Lateral hip pain is because the above point to pain in more specific areas, whereas when there has been further research into this they have realised that there is a lot of crossover of conditions making it more difficult to diagnose the specific area of injury. They also realised there was a larger area that the pain could be felt and therefore lateral hip pain syndrome covers the lateral hip.
Common causes are Tendonitis especially of the gluteal muscles, snapping hip syndrome common in younger dancers, Bursitis and Tensor Fasciae Latae (TFL) over activity.
Common treatments that people focus on are general stretching (more on this later) around the hip, the dreaded foam roller to “lengthen” the Iliotibial band (more on this later too), generic strengthening, NSAIDS such as Ibuprofen. As a Physiotherapist we will also look at the wider picture, are there any biomechanical symptoms, we will try to isolate the weaker muscles and strengthen them, we will also assess for short muscles and work to lengthen them whilst maintaining or building their strength.
Misconceptions
I have heard numerous times, by gym goes, sports players and the general public. I was told My ITB was tight and I need to stretch it. Before I start talking about the ITB there is now more evidence in lengthening your muscles in other ways rather than stretching, this is due to increased weakness caused by stretching alone increase risk of secondary injuries. For those of you who may be unaware your ITB is a ligament like structure that runs down the outside of your leg, it attaches at 2 bony prominent points, one is in the lateral hip region the other just below the knee joint. The job for this structure is to help stabilise the knee with tension translated into the structure from muscles around the lateral hip. This is a non-contractile structure with a very high tensile strength. It is the muscles of the hip that have an effect on it as well as other biomechanical pressures. So be aware if you get told you need to stretch this structure you need to be working on the muscles that attach to the greater trochanter and predominantly the TFL.
If you are suffering with Hip Pain click.
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