View More Conditions: (Click below)
Hip
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Hip Pain and Thigh Pain
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Sciatica
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Trochanteric Bursitis
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Piriformis Syndrome
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Total Hip Replacement / Partial Hip Replacement
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Sprain, Strain
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Osteoarthritis of the Hip
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Post Surgery Rehab
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Difficulty Walking
About Hip Pain and Thigh Pain
Hip pain is typically felt in 3 places, the groin, outer hip or deep buttock. Depending on where the pain is located relates to the dysfunction around that area. Being a true ball and socket joint, the hip joint is incredible as it moves through a large range of motion, while bearing the weight of the body and providing stability. Most hip pain stems from limited motion of the joint causing abnormal pressures to different muscles, tendons or ligaments around the area. With acute pain, it can be felt deep in the groin or outer hip. However, with more severe irritation, radiating pain can even be felt into the thigh or knee. Having flexible hip joints with strong muscular support is key to a healthy back. When the hips don't move like they should, the normal forces of walking, bending and squatting are transferred to the spine instead of the hips which can lead to dysfunction and pain in other areas of the body.
How Physical Therapy Helps
Physical therapy can quickly relieve hip and thigh pain. We will perform a thorough evaluation to determine exactly where your pain is coming from. After assessing your hip range of motion, strength and joint mobility, we determine your limitations and formulate a treatment plan that will take care of the root cause. The use of Manual Therapy combined with the Gyrotonic Method are extremely effective in creating balance, strength, and stability of the hips and pelvis allowing for a quick resolution to the issue. By improving your joint mobility, strength and range of motion, we help you restore normal pain free walking and activities. Give us a call today to discover how we can help you quickly relieve hip pain and thigh pain.
What is Sciatica?
Sciatica is a term used to describe radiating pain into the buttock that may travel down the back of the thigh. Often this pain is achy and spread out along the buttock and back of the thigh. Sciatica typically comes from irritation to the sciatic nerve, which travels deep in the buttock and down the back of the leg. In about 20% of people, the sciatic nerve pierces through the piriformis muscle deep in the buttock, instead of underneath it. This muscle helps guide hip movement, but can become very tight with prolonged sitting. This tightens causes pressure and irritation to the sciatic nerve causing pain. Radiating pain to the leg doesn't necessarily mean you have sciatica, but it does tell you that something is wrong. Irritated muscles and tissue often can radiate pain. Spread-out, achy pain is often indicative of this type of problem. Sharp, stabbing pain with numbness or tingling is more nerve irritation or compression occurring in the back or leg. This typically occurs more to specific parts of the leg.
How Physical Therapy Helps
Physical therapy is one of the best treatments for sciatica and radiating pain into the leg. We first perform a thorough evaluation to determine where your problem is stemming from. We will take time to examine the movement of your spine, hips and legs. Range of motion, strength, joint mobility and muscle condition are assessed. After we determine the root cause of your problem, we generate a comprehensive treatment plan to quickly relieve your pain, radiating symptoms, improve range of motion, improve strength and help you to prevent future episodes. With gentle, specialized hands-on Manual Therapy along with the Gyrotonic Method we improve your spinal and hip mobility, reducing pressure on your sciatic nerve, create balance, strength, and stability. In addition, modalities such as heat, ice, electrical stimulation and ultrasound may be used to reduce inflammation and resolve your pain quickly. You will also be given home exercises including gentle stretching and strengthening exercises to restore your normal motion and strength, resulting in lasting effects that will stop your pain from returning. Call us today to find out how we can help relieve your sciatica and leg pain, returning you to the activities you love.
What is Trochanteric Bursitis?
Any word with "itis" at the end is defined as inflammation. Therefore, bursitis is inflammation of a bursa and tendonitis is inflammation of a tendon. A bursa is a fluid filled sac that sits between muscles or soft tissues (tendons/ligaments) to cushion and reduce friction. In the hip there is a rather large bursa on the outside between the bony area (trochanter) and the thick band of tissue stretching from your hip to your knee (iliotibial band). This is called the trochanteric bursa. This bursa can often become inflamed due to abnormal joint movements, poor posture and weakness of the surrounding musculature. This causes strain to the tissues and excessive friction on the bursa. People tend to feel pain with prolonged walking or standing. It is often, very tender to touch on the outer hip and thigh, and will be problematic when trying to sleep on the affected side.
How Physical Therapy Helps
Physical Therapy should be the first line in conservative treatment for trochanteric bursitis. Since most bursitis is due to underlying abnormal movement and weakness, we at WAV PT will evaluate your movement to pinpoint the source of the trouble. The combination of Manual Therapy and the Gyrotonic Method will quickly relieve symptoms of pain, while improving joint mechanics and range of motion. We will also focus on strength, flexibility, restoring stability overall, and any dysfunctional movement patterns to prevent any recurrence. To find out more on how we can help your hip bursitis call today!
About Total Hip Replacement / Partial Hip Replacement
over the last 10 years joint replacement surgeries have become much more common. When the hip has suffered a significant trauma such as a fracture or with long-term arthritis that is affecting your ability to move and walk, a total hip replacement surgery may be needed. In a total hip replacement surgery, the socket of the hip joint and head of the femur are replaced. With a partial hip replacement either the head of the femur is replaced or the socket of the hip. There have been many advances in the technology of the total hip replacement prosthesis and procedures allowing for less invasive surgery and faster recovery times. Typically people have suffered for a while before having surgery, leading to changes in walking, muscle strength and function. Physical therapy before surgery in general has shown to help the speed and quality of recovery after surgery.
How Physical Therapy Helps
Working with your physician's protocols, we coordinate a thorough rehabilitation program to get you back to normal walking as soon as possible with as little pain. Typically, you may start physical therapy in the hospital the day after your procedure. In the hospital, basic movements and function such as getting up and down out of chairs, basic walking and strength are addressed. After discharge from the hospital it is very important to continue with outpatient physical therapy at our practice. We complete the rehabilitation cycle, further restoring your range of motion via your physician's protocols, restoring normal walking, balance, hip coordination and alleviating pain. We continue to reinforce safety precautions with your hip movement while you heal. The end result of Physical Therapy is being able to return to most normal activities pain-free. The Gyrotonic Method of exercise and rehabilitation offers a ground breaking approach to regaining optimal function of the hip post surgery. Call us today to learn more about our post-surgery rehabilitation program.
What is Piriformis Syndrome?
The piriformis muscle is deep in the buttocks and is one of the main hip rotators. The sciatic nerve typically dives underneath the piriformis muscle as it makes it way down to the leg. With excessive sitting, loss of movement in the hips or trauma, or increased chronic tightness, the piriformis muscle can press down onto the sciatic nerve. Typically, mild symptoms cause aching deep into the buttock and often radiating pain to the outer thigh. With more severe cases, tingling, numbness or severe pain can radiate down the thigh to the knee.
How Physical Therapy Helps
Physical therapy is very effective in treating piriformis syndrome. By analyzing your hip range of motion, muscle function, walking and posture we can determine the right approach to treating the affected area. With specialized Manual Therapy techniques and specific exercises using the Gyrotonic Method we help regain lost range of motion, reduce pain quickly, improve joint mechanics of the lower extremity and overall mobility. We also teach you easy to do exercises and modified activities you can do at home to prevent the recurrence of the symptoms. Call us today to learn more how we can help you relieve the pain and symptoms from piriformis syndrome.
About Post-surgery Rehab
Other types of surgeries for the hip might be fracture repairs using pinning or repair from trauma or hip resurfacing. The amount of force it takes to break bone means that the soft tissues around the hip are most likely significantly injured as well. After surgery, due to limited movement, range of motion is lost as well as strength, rather quickly. Since walking is a very complex action of different muscles moving in a coordinated action, it can be painful and difficult to walk after a hip surgery.
How Physical Therapy Helps
Physical therapy is a very important part of the rehabilitative process after a hip surgery. Depending on your surgery and your physician’s protocols, we will gently progress you through a structured rehabilitation program. The goal is to restore pain-free range of motion in the hip while maintaining surgery recovery protocols. Finally, walking coordination, balance and strength are improved so you can return to normal pain-free walking and eventually recreational activities as quickly as possible. Call us today to learn more about our post-surgery rehabilitation program.
Hip Sprain / Strain
Sprains refer to injuries of the ligaments (connect bone to bone) and strains refer to injuries of the muscles or tendons (connect muscle to bone). Sprains and strains occur from quick overstretching of the tissues causing micro-tearing and subsequent injury. Swelling begins as part of the inflammation process, causing pain and difficulty with movement. The first step in treating sprains or strains in the hip is to rest, ice, compress, and elevate it. With severe limitations in movement you should see us right away. There are different levels of sprain or strain from mild to severe. In some cases, the tearing can be complete and even be in need of surgical repair.
How Physical Therapy Helps
In most cases, Physical Therapy can effectively help you recover from a sprain or strain. We first evaluate the injured area to determine the extent of the injury and ensure that the ligaments or tendons are still intact. After we pinpoint the injured area, we formulate a treatment plan that will quickly relieve your swelling, pain and begin restoring range of motion. The goal of physical therapy is to restore your normal range of motion and restore normal strength, stability, and mobility. If you participate in sports or are very active, we work closely with you to make sure you fully recover and can participate in those activities you love to do. Call us today to discover how we can effectively treat your sprains or strains.
Difficulty Walking
Walking is very complex and requires good balance, the ability to know where your joints are in space (proprioception), the ability to know how your joints are moving (kinesthesia), good range of motion and strength. As we age, with declining activity or after an injury, walking can become difficult. With pain in the knee or hip, our walking pattern can change, leaving us with a limp and possibly back pain. Changes in posture can also be responsible for changes in walking patterns. When walking patterns change, abnormal stresses and strains with everyday activities can be transmitted to areas it shouldn't. For example, if you have knee pain and you begin to limp, the other hip and your spine now have to take double the weight. This can lead to pain and dysfunction in those areas also. If you are experiencing issues with walking, you can be helped because here at WAV PT we are experts in movement patterns and uniquely trained to do so.
How Physical Therapy Helps
One of the main specialties of physical therapy is helping people to walk normally. This takes a thorough evaluation of your range of motion, strength, walking patterns, balance and coordination. By discovering in what area you have difficulties we can paint a picture of why your walking is not as it should be. We then coordinate an extensive, but easy to do treatment plan that will address your range of motion, pain, coordination, balance and strength. The end result is the ability to walk without the need of an assistive device such as a cane or walker, safely and smoothly. Call us today to discover how we can help you walk better!
About Osteoarthritis of the hip
Osteoarthritis of the hip can be painful as the hip joints support a fair amount of our weight and are needed to move in a variety of motions during sitting, standing, walking, squatting and bending. The hips take a lot of wear and tear over the years leading to a degeneration of the cartilage that lines the joint giving it cushion. As the cartilage wears over time, the joint becomes stiffer and the muscles of the buttocks generally weaken. This compounds the effects on the hip causing grinding and wearing down of the cartilage cushion. In advanced stages, bony spurs can form around the joint and even change the shape of the joint. Most minor to moderate cases of hip osteoarthritis can highly benefit from physical therapy. In advanced stages a total or partial hip replacement may be needed to repair the damaged joint. Physical Therapy in the hospital and outpatient facilities is highly important in the recovery from a hip replacement surgery. How Physical Therapy Helps The pain associated with osteoarthritis of the hip comes from inflammation in and around the joint from wear and tear. Tight muscles, tendons, ligaments occur with osteoarthritis further limiting joint movement. In addition, weakness of the buttock muscles and hip rotators generally follow because of the loss of movement. Physical therapy can improve joint mobility, range of motion and muscle strength. Manual Therapy and specialized exercises via the Gyrotonic Method normally achieve a marked improvement in your hip range of motion. First we thoroughly evaluate the mechanics of your hip joint, walking and hip muscle coordination. By pinpointing the specific areas that need attention, we formulate a plan to quickly relieve your pain, improve your motion and walking. Call us today to find out more how we can help your osteoarthritis hip pain and walking.
How Physical Therapy Helps
Physical Therapy is the optimal treatment for poor balance and reducing the risk of falls. It begins with a thorough evaluation of your walking, balance, coordination, joint movement, range of motion and strength. In the case of neurological conditions, more testing is done to determine visual tracking and your vestibular system function, which contributes to your balance. After discovering the root cause of your balance difficulties, we program a treatment plan that will improve your ability to balance, walk and negotiate many different uneven terrains such as grass, sand, stairs and more. In addition, if you use a cane or walker, we can instruct you in the proper use of that adaptive equipment. Physical Therapy goes a long way to improving your balance and setting you on the safe path to enjoying activities you love. Call us today to learn more how we can improve your balance and walking!
About Post-surgery Rehab
Other types of surgeries for the hip might be fracture repairs using pinning or repair from trauma or hip resurfacing. The amount of force it takes to break bone means that the soft tissues around the hip are most likely significantly injured as well. After surgery, due to limited movement, range of motion is lost as well as strength, rather quickly. Since walking is a very complex action of different muscles moving in a coordinated action, it can be painful and difficult to walk after a hip surgery.
How Physical Therapy Helps
Physical therapy is a very important part of the rehabilitative process after a hip surgery. Depending on your surgery and your physician’s protocols, we will gently progress you through a structured rehabilitation program. The goal is to restore pain-free range of motion in the hip while maintaining surgery recovery protocols. Finally, walking coordination, balance and strength are improved so you can return to normal pain-free walking and eventually recreational activities as quickly as possible. Call us today to learn more about our post-surgery rehabilitation program.