I’ve been having consistent pain in my right hip while running, usually after about 6 or 7 miles. It doesn’t seem to matter how fast I run, but of course the faster I go the harder the pounding, etc. I initially had this kind of pain near the end of a marathon last year, but it went away and didn’t come back until a few weeks ago.
Here’s the symptoms:
Pain is near the bony protrusion top of the thigh bone, typically it seems like it’s in the muscles right in front and right behind that bone. I have had mild ITB problems for at least a year now, and it usually shows up while my IT bands are slightly sore at the front of my hip. I can also feel it if I sit down on a hard chair with my wallet in my back pocket, and if I stand up in just the wrong way.
Here’s two possibilities that I have come up with:
I’ve developed a habit of sitting with one leg normal and one foot on the seat of the chair, with my knee up at my chin. I’m thinking I might be excessively stretching/straining the muscles or pulling the joint too far out. I remember from ITBS descriptions that sitting with your feet crossed aggravates the IT Bands, so maybe?
The gluteus medius and minimus are supposed to be the muscles that control hip rotation, and it’s possible that these muscles are not strong enough compared to my hip flexors and IT Bands. It seems like the pain could be in those two muscles, but I can’t say for certain.
Any suggestions on the cause or cures for this problem? It’s stopping me cold on my long runs, and I haven’t really increased in speed, distances or frequency. Right now I am doing a lot of biking to make up for the reduced running schedule. My next race is IMFL so I have some time to make sure I don’t permanently hurt myself. Thanks for any suggestions!
Here is a hint. Go to a specialist and get it checked out before you do severe damage & need a hip replacement. These people on here aren’t doctors. You need to be seen by someone who knows something.
ditch the shoes that are making you run a way that your body wasn’t meant to and start running barefoot. it ended all my joint pain, and it used to be BAD. besides, you’ll most likely like it.
What are you thinking about. He isn’t squirting blood from every body orifice. He just asked a simple question & you respond with a wise crack. Also, ebola is only in the remote regions of Africa where they eat dead monkeys they find laying on the jungle floor.
its called sarcasm Smitty…and by using the genre I’m actually agreeing with you. He’s as likely to get an accurate diagnosis from an anonymous internet chat forum as he is to have a rare African haemorraghic fever.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Where’s the CDC when I need them…
Seriously though, it isn’t a pain inside the joint, it is pain in the side muscles next to the joint. The description that I found that seemed to fit it the best is: http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=677
The general description was that the ITB dominates the control of the hip and the other muscles are weakened and unable to control everything properly. It apparently is part of the cause of ITBS…maybe the root cause of my nagging ITB problems.
Hard to diagnose on the net. IT band or piriformis/sacro-iliac joint problems come to mind as having similiar symptoms. Might want to have a chiropractor or PT have a look at it.
The internet with self diagnosis is great for reference but can lead you into big trouble. What you will need is for starters an X-ray…next an MRI…then a bone scan. The specialist will lead you in the right direction. Rest will be like 10 weeks…then slowly start working out again. You can continue to swim but don’t kick. My brother had a condition like this. He also started stretching out his hips before & after cycling / running. Hopefully this will help. No one likes to hear that you have to stiop your conditioning for such a long period. But, remember if you don’t take the Doc’s advice…you may pay later on in a big way. Good luck & I hope you get better soon.
I think I might have made my description a little tough to understand. If you are wearing jeans it’ll be a little easier to describe. It’s basically right at the seam between the front and back of the leg, and forward to where the little change pocket is…back to about the middle of the “wallet pocket.” I’ve noticed that it is very difficult for me to do side leg lifts…and I mean very difficult. When I am running and it starts to bug me if I concentrate on tensing my butt muscles etc the feeling of the joint flexing around goes away. Back when I played soccer all the time those muscles were incredibly strong…but not anymore.
Actually another good clue might be…when I stop and walk near my scheduled waterfountain break and my favorite stretching lightpost, the last two steps as I transition from running to walking give me a twinge in those areas. If I concentrate on holding those muscles strong as I slow down it doesn’t do this.
Thanks for all the responses BTW, even if the end result is an MRI etc. I’d rather have a better idea of what the possible problems are rather than going in blind. As the joke goes…“How do you address the person who graduated last in their medical class?..DOCTOR!”
I will wager that you have strained your TFL (tensor facia laita (misspelled for sure)). I did the same a few months ago.
For me it is obviously caused by tight hamstrings for sure and maybe a tight ITB. I couldn’t fix this on my own so I got about 4 weeks of physical therapy that got me back in shape. I still haven’t fixed the hamstring/ITB problem though, so it could easily reoccur.
I got relief from lying on a tennis ball when it starts to hurt. It is painful for a few moments, but it seems to relieve the pain.
Regardless, go to a doctor. Hip injuries are a bitch.