Pain when externally rotating hip with feet unsupported - JP Fitness Forums

galapogos · 09-02-2007, 12:49 AM

Hi,
As part of my hip injury, one of the pain triggers when I externally rotate my right leg while my foot is unsupported, sorta like a clamshell. It's no problem if I do a regular clamshell where the foot is supported though. For example, if I lie supine on the floor and flex my knees up in a situp position, lift my right foot up then try to rotate it so that my knees tough the ground, the pain will occur when my knee starts coming close to the ground.

I can't pinpoint exactly where the pain is, because it feels rather deep in the right side of the hip, can't even tell if it's anterior or posterior. It doesn't feel like a muscular pain though, more like some joint/ligament/tendon/connecti ve tissue pain. I got some myofascial release from a physical therapist a few days ago...I believe he worked mostly on the iliacus, psoas and QL, and the pain was reduced almost completely(but only temporarily).

My question is, are there any exercises or SMFR that I can perform myself to speed up the recovery?

Ian Kay · 09-06-2007, 11:08 AM

I'm curious: what did the therapist do for your iliacus and psoas? Those can be tough to get at. My massage guy (who's also a good friend) puts his hand in and around my stomach while I sit upright. Lots of fun. Hehe.

I've found (remember, I'm not a therapist myself) that QL tightness and pain is usually just the symptom of the hip problem.

Before anyone can offer exercises for your problem, perhaps it would help to tell us what you have been doing already, which exercises seem to inflame the problem, and if your massage therapist said there was definitely a correlation to the iliopsoas.

One thing that I can offer up - and this certainly won't do any harm, even if it doesn't specifically help - is work on your piriformis. The piriformis is a pretty darn common problem, and can result in that "general nerve pain" feeling when abducting your leg. A sturdy foam roller or a tennis ball can get in there fairly well, and the classic cross-legged stretch right after might do you good.

Other potential areas of concern: glute medius and minimus.

Hope that helps a little.

galapogos · 09-06-2007, 11:18 AM

Well, he just did some myofascial release by pressing down with his fingers. It hurt like sh*t, and hurt like sh*t for about a week after, but it worked temporarily as far as pain goes.

I've been working on my piriformis with a tennis ball for months now, daily. I can usually get a tender spot on my right side, and I just press down on it for about a minute, and it's better right after, but comes back again. Relief is always temporary. I also do piriformis stretches so much that I think my piriformis is super flexible now

Ian Kay · 09-06-2007, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galapogos

Well, he just did some myofascial release by pressing down with his fingers. It hurt like sh*t, and hurt like sh*t for about a week after, but it worked temporarily as far as pain goes.

I've been working on my piriformis with a tennis ball for months now, daily. I can usually get a tender spot on my right side, and I just press down on it for about a minute, and it's better right after, but comes back again. Relief is always temporary. I also do piriformis stretches so much that I think my piriformis is super flexible now

Haha, sweet!

I'll tell you something, though. If he just did the surface with his fingers, then I can assure you he didn't release your psoas (again, I'm not therapist, so Bill can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd bet $100 you can't). Was this the first of several visits? If so, that's great. Sometimes it's best to release that "first layer". But if it's not one of many, I recommend getting another session and having him go deeper. Most hip pain - and certainly psoas - require some more intense work. Otherwise - just like you said - it'll keep coming back.

Has it improved it all since you wrote that first post? Sometimes massage doesn't "work" until a few days after, when things have settled a bit.

UConnJulie · 09-06-2007, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galapogos

My question is, are there any exercises or SMFR that I can perform myself to speed up the recovery?

The best person to answer that question is the therapist who is currently treating you.

galapogos · 09-06-2007, 08:47 PM

I've been going to my therapist, whom I also know personally, several times over the past few months, but this is the first time he's done any release on these muscles. He did also mention that these muscles are hard to get at, so SMFR with a tennis ball there probably won't work. He did say that because of the other rehab stuff that I've been doing(stretching/activation) that it is now easier to get to then before.

I would go see him more often, except he's a very busy man and it's hard to get an appointment with him, so I wanna see if there's anything I can do on my own that would provide some relief.