Help hip tendonitis and physical therapy

Triathlon Forum
1

I’ve been having pain in my right hip for a long time. I thought the off season rest would fix it right up, but it didn’t. I went to a sports med Dr. and he diagnosed it as hip tendonitis. I’ve stopped all exercise for 2 weeks and been going to physical therapy twice a week for 2 weeks. I’m also finishing up a dose of steriods to get the inflamation down.

So far, there is no improvement whatsoever. Is it too soon to notice improvement? The PT consists of stretching the hamstrings and core exercises with a swiss ball. WTF? I’m going to have to sit down with them today and try and understand how stretching/strengthening my hamstrings is helping hip tendonitis.

Does anyone have experience with hip tendonitis? Can anyone help me understand why I’m wasting all this money on PT? Do you have any suggestions for a good PT place in Houston?

2

I also suffer from hip pain. It seems to have started when I increased my weekly running milage last season. My PT thinks that the pain is due to weak Gluteus. He also discovered that I have shortened iliopsoas and that my pelvis is tilted. I’m doing core work and building myself a better butt.

I’m slowly seeing improvement but clearly not at the rate I expected.

Good luck. I know how frustrating getting a proper diagnosis can be.

3

Tom, This may seem far out to you, but there’s a great MD and Accupunturist in Houston that runs an integrated eastern/western medicine practice in Houston. Dr. Stemmler helped me heal from hip/back pain that I had for almost 2 years.

I think the website is www.integratedmedicine.com. It’s Dr. Christina Stemmler who is an MD, but primarily practices in accupuncture, now. On the Southwest Frwy near Shepherd.

I never found a good PT practice that was outstanding in Houston. However, Dr. Terry Smedstad has a great Chiropractic practice and has PT. He’s at Woodway just outside the loop, Galleria Area.

4

I had this injury a few years ago. Basically from racing a lot in a much too light racing flat. I iced, stretched and took ibuprofen for 2 mos. until it finally came around. My workouts during this time period were reduced to easy spinning on the bike, aquajogging and weights. No problems since then but I gave in to denial and now race in more substantial shoes.

Good luck!

“It is never too late to fix your childhood!” Tom Robbins

5

first of all…you need to relax, and trust what these people are telling you to do. Most runners have tight hamstrings/hips/quads and everything esle, which is probably the reason why you’ve got the condition in the first place. Inflexability and muscle imbalance are the number one and two reasons runners get hurt.

So, sure, have them explain why the treatment will work–or why they are prescribing it. But, I can tell you that impatience is going to get you nowhere quickly. 2 weeks in rehab for a condition like you’ve got is only the start. I don’t say this to discourage you…but you should know–what you’ve got is repairable, but it will require time and dedication to therapy.

I was in therapy for 3 months before I could run 5 minutes on my own again (not on the underwater treadmill). So, hopefully this won’t be you…but if it is, so what. Recovering is the key. Over the long haul, your time out is irrelevant…it’s hard to cope with at times, but the main thing is the process of recovery, not a tight timeline you think you should be on to get there.

So here’s my advice: Breathe. Do your program to the letter. Be patient. Before you know it you’ll be running again. It takes time.

Most people cannot afford the patience to completely recover, thus taking them out of their sport unnecessarily. This doesn’t have to be you.

kittycat

6

Yeah, yeah, I know. I need to get mentally set for a long road. One thing I really want is to understand what needs to be done to make this better, and I don’t feel that I have a firm grasp on that.

So far, PT consists of people helping me stretch, and then talk on their cell phones while I do squats on a wobble board and lunges down the hall. For this, I pay $75 per visit. From research (see below) it seems that this is about all a PT is going to be able to do for me. I don’t see why my wife can’t do this and save us $75 a visit. Especially since this may last for more than a month at $600/month.

I did some internet research and found something others may be interested in, this is specifically addressing hip tendinitis, but some of the information seems to apply to other forms as well

http://www.emedicine.com/sports/topic49.htm

Here are some key passages:

Tendons around the hip are deep, and although cold therapy may be perceived as beneficial, cold does not penetrate more than a few inches. Therefore, do not depend on modalities as a cure-all for acute hip pain. Heat or ultrasound application has a limited role in treating acute hip pain and may aggravate the condition.

In a clinical setting, the physical therapist should help the athlete maintain as much hip range of motion (ROM) as possible with hands-on passive and active-assistive intervention.

The athlete should have full painless passive and active ROM before controlled supervised resistive exercises are begun.

Any return of stiffness and/or pain should signal a retrenching and a cutback in activity.

Most hip overuse syndromes occur not at the beginning of the athletic event but after considerable time;

Aggressive athletes in their 20s or 30s may need ongoing physical therapy so that they can ascend the ladder of progressive exercise and return to their sports. Recurrence in this group is high, given the innate desire to return too quickly.

8

isbr - might want to post this in the thread about changing from stability shoes to flats - I’ll bet that will get a great response
.

9

Tom–these PT people don’t seem to fit the bill. If this is how you’re being treated, then please do research to get someone better. I swear the only reason why I’m running again (and literally walking more than 10 minutes without pain) is because of the excellent Physical Therapy people I go to.

Ask around…get a great referral. Otherwise, you’re going to drop alot of dough, and not get the results you should get. Don’t settle for anything other than undivided attention.

If you PM me, and tell me where you are I can call my PT and ask if they know of anyone good in your area. I really hate that you’ve gone through this.

Also, ask about a TENS unit. If you could find a PT that has an underwater treadmill (along with some “laser” therapy treament–it’s not really a laser, but it is a red light that increases circulation and promotes healing…it’s a miracle tool I swear) that would be ideal.

You should be at the best PT you can find. That’s ridiculous. No wonder you feel unhappy about it–I would too!

kittycat