Hip Pain Treatment in Asheville
Hip pain has a way of shrinking your world. Maybe you’ve cut back on walks, sleep only on one side, or wince every time you climb out of the car. If you’ve been told it’s “bone on bone” and surgery is next, there may be more to the story.
Why Stiff Joints Hurt Long Before Arthritis Shows Up
Every step creates a little friction inside this ball-and-socket joint. Over the years, that wear can leave scar tissue behind, which acts like a cobweb and makes everything stiffer and stiffer. A joint that can’t move freely is more likely to develop arthritis and pinch nearby nerves.
Arthritis takes years to form, so if your pain started a few weeks ago and it is being blamed on arthritis, there may be something else going on. If your hip pain began a week ago and you’ve been told that arthritis is the cause, why was it not hurting prior to a week ago? Does that mean that you didn’t have arthritis before you began to hurt?
If you do have arthritis, then it is likely that the arthritis is a contributing factor to your pain, however, it is a guarantee that arthritis is not the only cause. This means that although you may not be able to get rid of the arthritis, you may be able to decrease or get rid of your pain by treating the other factors.
How Everyday Wear Turns Into a Stubborn Problem
This kind of trouble usually builds from a mix of small stresses, such as:
- Years of friction and wear inside the joint
- Scar tissue that limits how freely you move
- Tight flexor muscles from long hours of sitting
- Old injuries to the low back or pelvis
- Changes in how you walk to avoid discomfort
- Fallen arches in your feet that change how you walk
Pain in the Front, the Side, or the Back Pocket
The classic spot for hip pain is the crease where your leg meets your pelvis. Soreness may also travel down the front, inside or outside of the thigh.
Many people point to their back pocket when they describe it. Pain there often starts in the low back or sciatic nerve instead. However, your hip joint, pelvis and low back work together when you move, so having pain in one area will commonly affect the surrounding areas. So when you have hip pain, it is common that it will also affect your lower back and pelvis and this may result in pain in areas that are not always in the typical hip areas where we would expect hip pain to present.
When Ignoring the Ache Starts Costing You
If the ache or pain has lasted more than a few days, your pain level is significant, or you’ve started skipping things you enjoy, it’s time to get it checked. When it comes to pain in the body, putting it off getting evaluated is almost never effective. Taking pain medication is like putting a piece of duct tape over over a check engine light, you are not addressing the underlying cause.
An Exam That Looks Beyond the Sore Spot
Dr. Jarod Doster starts by listening to you to try and understand as much as possible about why you are here and how we can help. Next comes a 40-60 point exam, which includes orthopedic, neurological and chiropractic exam tests. All of this is to be as thorough as possible and to not only focus on the pain area but any surrounding areas that may also be involved.
Care focuses on gently decreasing your pain,restoring your flexibility, addressing muscle and soft tissue injury/involvement and strengthening the supporting muscles. Improvement are typical seen withing the first 2 weeks and are commonly seen in the first 1-2 treatments. Furthermore, if your problem is not a chiropractic problem and you will be best served by seeing another specialist, like an orthopedist etc., Dr. Doster will refer you to whomever is right for you..
From Shuffling Through the Day to Moving Freely Again
Progress starts with less pain, then better flexibility and a stronger joint that can handle stairs, gardening, and longer walks.
Care won’t give you brand new parts. The goal is a body that works as well as it can, so ten years from now your joints feel ten years older, not thirty.
Get Back to Walking Without a Second Thought
A thorough exam can show whether conservative care is right for you before you make bigger decisions about your hip. Call Doster Chiropractic at (828) 236-2200 to book your free consultation.
