She began to have a familiar hip pain – from the groin to the outside – that had plagued her previously. She had already underwent hip arthroscopy in Dallas and another arthroscopy in Boston, where her labrum (piece of cartilage in the joint) was repaired. She was hurting bad enough that it was impeding on her daily activities and stopping her from working out.
Examination
She had signs of bursitis – inflammation of a fluid-filled sac-like structure, running about the hip, between the various tendons and between the bone and tendons to alleviate friction. She had significant weakness and pain with strength testing, and limited flexibility around the hip and the back.
Treatment
We initially focused on her poor back and hip flexibility, using manual therapy (joint mobilization of the hip and back) to ensure normalized motion, as we moved into light agility (fine motor) training for the hip girdle. We then initiated strength training and moved into sports-specific functional movements.
Outcome
The entire process was 10 visits over the course of 6 weeks, with an easy program for her to utilize while on the road. She went from painful to pain-free and is returning to her regular workouts at the gym, while adding a couple of easy items there to maintain her flexibility.
