Your right hip hurts.
You don’t remember doing anything that caused the pain. There was no distinct injury or accident.
Maybe you have looked up stretches or exercises and nothing has made a difference.
Pain is just a message your body is sending. The trick is learning to read what the messages say. Thanks to observations and techniques from the Postural Restoration Institute as well as myofascial hands on work, many people in my practice have been able to get to the cause of their right hip pain.
The Right and Left are Connected
It only makes sense to treat the right hip when that is where the issue is felt. However, if the pain in the right hip is due to a compensation for another part of the body, treating the right hip will never solve the problem. If the right hip is out of alignment so is the left hip, typically, and vice versa.
The body is all interconnected. If you hurt your right hand your left hand will pick up the slack and be used more.
Similarly, I have seen many patients with pain in the right hip caused by an issue in the left hip. They are connected afterall.
The importance of this observation is that it is often missed. If your right hip hasn’t improved in spite of the stretches, exercises, and therapies, perhaps it’s time to look at the left side.
The Cause
When the left hip is at the root of the issue, I see people with a right femur (thigh bone) turned slightly inward (internal rotation). This internal rotation can be the body’s way of compensating for tightness in the left hip.
When the left hip capsule becomes tight, it is common to see the right femur turn in just a little. Over time the body’s natural compensations may show up as pain in several areas:
- Right hip
- Right knee
- Left ankle
- Low back
As the left hip tightens up, your other leg (the right side) and other tissues bear more of your weight in less than optimal ways and weakness around the hip joints ensue.
Postural Restoration
There are many reasons for hip pain, but this article describes a commonly overlooked cause.
In my practice, I use techniques from the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) and structurally corrective bodywork to help people ease their bodies back into their proper positions. We relax the tissues of the left hip in order to allow the body space for the right femur to go back to neutral.
As your postural alignment improves, your body begins to bear its weight in ideal positions and the pain syndromes dissipate.
If this article describes your experience, call me at 541-535-7019 to set up an appointment. You can get back to living your life with more ease of movement!
