Archive for the ‘hip pain’ Category
Your Corona Chiropractor provides a valuable non-invasive, drug-free approach to relieving hip pain and often eliminating it altogether. Whenever possible, surgery should be seen as a final option. Therefore, before you schedule a surgery to replace that hip, consider the following questions: Does hip pain wake you up in the night and make a good night’s sleep unattainable? When you arise in the morning, and/or when you step out of your car, are you stiff and do you find it difficult at first to move your legs? Do you feel pain whenever you rotate or twist them or when you cross your legs? If you’ve answered “yes” to any or all of these questions you probably have asymmetries and alignment problems in your lower extremities that are not only causing your hip pain, but can lead to osteoarthritis in your hips in the future if not treated. The good news is that whether or not degenerative changes have already taken place, chiropractic treatment can help!
You may be getting older and it may be true that your hip joints aren’t what they used to be. Even so, are you aware that your hip pain (and related problems), which normally are thought to be age-related degenerative conditions, may not actually be produced by osteoarthritis? That’s right. In the majority of cases, as opposed to being the original source of your pain, osteoarthritis of the hip joint is frequently the outcome of a previous injury (or injuries) to your hips.
Hip problems frequently have to do with asymmetry or imbalance when you are in motion, like walking for example. If you tend to walk “pronated” like a duck, with your toes pointing away from your body, sooner or later you will experience pain in your hips as a result of the asymmetrical pressure on your hip joints as your body attempts to compensate. Fortunately, you can make changes in your gait pattern at any age, and your chiropractor in Corona can show you how to do it.
Furthermore, you may have developed gait changes as the result of an ankle sprain or knee strain, and since “the knee bone’s connected to the hip bone,” these biomechanical changes create hip pain. Of course, if not remedied, your hip joints will suffer further consequences, namely, the wear and tear that leads to degenerative changes.
Other circumstances that can occasionally injure the hip joints are starting a new job or beginning a new sport that makes it necessary for you to move your body in unfamiliar ways. Also, carrying a child (or grandchild) on one hip can cause hip pain. Even your sitting position or driving for prolonged periods of time on a regular basis can cause hip injury and pain.
Isn’t it good to know that not every pain is caused by “old age,” even though we may suffer from more pain due to the progressive activity of untreated injuries.
And important aspect of the chiropractic management of your hip problem, in addition to your adjustments, your Corona Chiropractor will recommend special rehabilitative exercises that include gentle muscle stretching and strengthening, and will also study your gait and may offer simple pattern changes.
Your hip pain won’t disappear on its own. Hip pain means that there’s an injury that needs treatment. If put off, there is a good possibility that you will eventually require that hip replacement surgery. So, don’t put off until tomorrow, what truly needs to be done today. Your chiropractor in Corona can get you out of pain, get your body back into balance, and help you get to back to enjoying your life again!
Your back, just like the rest of your body, needs regular exercise to be healthy and strong. It needs a regular fitness regimen to keep it performing at peak efficiency.
Back pain exercise involves exercise of not only your back muscles, but also of those that support your back. The abdomen and thigh muscles are in the second group. You will want to exercise both groups to avoid or alleviate back pain. You may also want to add healthful fish oils to your daily diet to lubricate your joints. This is especially important as you age, since aging joints become more susceptible to painful problems.
Back Pain Exercise You Can Do At Home
A good physiotherapist or chiropractor will be able to teach you many useful exercises for reducing back pain, but these five will get you started.
1. Back, hip, and leg muscles. Stand with your back against a wall. Place your feet shoulder-width apart, your hands on your hips. Inhale and exhale deeply and evenly as you gently slide your back down the wall until your knees are at an angle of about 90 degrees. Count to five, and then gently and slowly slide back to your original position. Repeat five times. This will stretch and strengthen important back, hip, and leg muscles.
2. Abdomen muscles. Lie on your back on the floor. Firmly place your feet flat on the floor. Your knees should be bent and raised toward the ceiling. Lean forward until your head and shoulders leave the floor, trying to touch your knees with both hands. Hold the position as you count to 10. Relax and repeat 5 times. This will strengthen the abdominal muscles that help support your back.
3. Back muscles. Stand with hands on hips, feet slightly apart. Move your hand backward onto the small of your back. Keep your knees straight. Gently bend backwards at the waist as far as you can. Be careful not to bend so far that you increase your back pain. Hold the bend for 2 to 3 seconds. Return to your normal position. This back pain exercise will strengthen the muscles in your back itself. It will also loosen tight back muscles.
4. Hip and back muscles. Use a straight back kitchen or dining chair for this exercise. Stand behind the chair, holding the chair back with both hands. Lift one leg up and back, keeping its knee straight. Return it slowly to position, and lift the other leg up and back in the same way. Repeat 5 times with each leg. This exercise will strengthen hip muscles that support your back, as well as the back muscles themselves.
5. Back and hip muscles. You may want a mat under you for this one. Lying face down on the floor, tighten the muscles in one leg and raise it from the floor. Hold the leg up while you count to ten, and then lower it slowly to the floor. Lift the other leg, count to 10, and lower it slowly to the floor. Repeat 5 times with each leg to give added strength to your back muscles and the hip muscles that support them.
CAUTION: Back Pain Exercise Demands Warm-up!
You’ve heard it before, but this word of caution is important. Before beginning your back pain exercise, talk to your physician about what you plan to do. You may want to show these exercises to him or her and get advice. Then set aside time to exercise regularly, at least every other day.
Back pain exercise demands warm-up, so schedule at least five minutes at the start of your exercise period for that. Warming up lowers blood pressure, improves blood flow to the heart, increases muscle temperature and makes muscles more pliable. Warm up with some type of slow, rhythmic movement. Walking is a good warm-up for your back pain exercises. Use an easy walking pace, inhaling and exhaling evenly and deeply to send oxygen to your muscles.
Back pain exercise has benefits for the rest of your body also. Think of your back as the main core of a healthy body. By giving it simple, low impact exercise each day or every other day, you will strengthen your muscles, preparing them to protect and support the painful area throughout the day.
Get Even More Help for Back Pain
While back pain exercise is a long-term solution to your back pain, you want to reduce your pain right now. You don’t want to wait. You want treatments that will give relief while you make muscles stronger.
Anna Hart
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/back-pain-exercise-natural-pain-relief-104719.html
Despite many years of selective breeding, hip dysplasia remains one of the commonest orthopaedic diseases of dogs. It is often confused with osteoarthritis of the hips in older dogs which is incorrect; hip dysplasia is a developmental disease that can start within the first few weeks of life, whereas osteoarthritis is the consequence. Dogs with hip dysplasia usually fall into two categories when first being presented to the veterinarian for this condition:
1. When they are less than 12 months old, and pain arises due to the joint laxity, the key initiating factor in hip dysplasia.
2. When they are over 2 years old, and pain is due to osteoarthritis caused by the hip dysplasia.
Between these two stages, symptoms often decrease. This is because the joint laxity causes thickening of the joint capsule and surrounding tissues, thereby restricting movement. Increased muscular support also helps to mask the symptoms by providing external support.
It is well documented that developmental skeletal problems tend to occur in larger breeds of dogs, with force through the joint directly proportional to bodyweight. However, genes are not the only cause. Factors such as diet, bodyweight and exercise play a crucial role. It has been suggested that as few as 24% of young dogs with severe signs of hip dysplasia on xrays will actually develop symptoms of the disease if managed appropriately with regard to the factors mentioned above.
So, what are the signs to look out for?
Symptoms may range from mild stiffness on getting up, or a reluctance to jump, to the classic wiggle seen as the dog rotates its pelvis as it is walking, to reduce the extension of the hip which is painful.
On examination by a veterinarian, younger animals may show increased joint laxity, essentially looseness of the ball (femoral head) in the socket (acetabulum). Older animals typically show reduced flexibility of the hip joints, with a grating sound produced on manipulation of the joint (crepitus) and muscle wastage of the hindlimbs.
One must also bear in mind that there are other diseases that can affect dogs of this age, such as diseases of the nervous system (e.g. lumbosacral stenosis, degenerative myelopathy). Though rarer than hip dysplasia, they must be considered before making a diagnosis.
How is diagnosis confirmed by the veterinarian?
1. Clinical examination. Though joint laxity in the hips can often be felt with the dog conscious, it can be painful and therefore is best performed with the dog under general anesthetic or heavy sedation. This will also reduce the effects of muscle tension. There are 3 tests that vets can perform on the anesthetized dog to diagnose hip dysplasia: the Barlow test, the Bardens test and the Ortolani test. These tests invariably involve applying pressure and manipulating the hip in a certain direction to cause partial of full dislocation of the femoral head.
2. Xrays. Good quality, well positioned radiographs are required to assess hips for dysplasia and general anesthesia is a necessity to achieve this. If a dog is to be used for breeding, it is often hip scored prior to doing so. This is often done in the absence of any symptoms at all, in perfectly healthy dogs. The radiographs are then sent off to the national Hip Dysplasia Scheme assessors for examination, where the hip joints are scrutinized to predict the likelihood of the disease occurring.
My dog has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia. What are the management options?
This is relatively straight forward. Dogs can either be treated conservatively (without surgery) or surgically. Conservative management is NOT doing nothing, it should be a PROACTIVE option. A programme should be designed for the individual dog to address weight control, exercise management, physiotherapy and pain control.
CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT
1. Weight Control
Excessive weight should be prevented in puppies, and adults should be maintained at or below normal adult bodyweight. Simple weight reduction has been shown to result in a significant improvement in lameness in adult dogs with osteoarthritis secondary to hip dysplasia.
2. Exercise Management
A suitable level of exercise should be determined for each individual dog to maintain muscle development and fitness without exacerbating the clinical signs. Obviously this must be integrated with the owners lifestyle expectations. Regular, low impact exercise is preferable to intermittent, vigorous exercise. Several short walks a day is better than a huge walk every other day!
3. Physiotherapy
The benefits of physiotherapy in the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases of animals have only recently been recognized. Hydrotherapy is an excellent form of exercise for obese, unfit and disabled animals. This is because the buoyancy the water provides helps overcome the effects of gravity, and muscles are worked out without placing too much force through the joints.
4. Pain Control
Non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) are a key component of conservative management. They work by blocking the formation of inflammatory mediators which cause pain, specifically by blocking the cyclooxygenase enzymes COX 1 and COX 2. The modern NSAID drugs preferentially inhibit COX 2 enzymes, which reduces the side effects associated with them, such as stomach ulceration and kidney damage. The most commonly used NSAIDs are carprofen and meloxicam.
5. Nutraceuticals and cartilage protecting drugs
These are slow acting, disease modifying drugs that may help to control osteoarthritis. Orally administered forms of glucosamine sulphate and chondroitin sulphate have been shown to improve joint function in humans. Whilst the exact mechanisms of osteoarthritis may differ between dogs and humans, anecdotal evidence suggests they are beneficial and they have become popular with many veterinarians. Above all, they cannot do harm so are often prescribed, despite the absence of hard scientific evidence in their favor.
SURGICAL MANAGEMENT
Surgical treatment can be divided into preventative or salvage. Preventative treatments include the following:
1. Triple Pelvic Osteotomy (TPO)
This is indicated in young animals with painful hips that have failed to improve with conservative treatment. The operation provides stabilization of the hip, which reduces the progression of osteoarthritis. It can be performed on any age of dog, but dogs have to show minimal remodeling of the hip joint on xrays and so most that meet the criteria are less than 8 months old.
2. Perineal myectomy
This involves removing part or all of the pectineus muscle, the spasm of which is thought to cause pain in the growing dog with hip dysplasia. However, whilst this procedure does tend to produce some pain relief, it is now considered outdated by many.
3. Intertrochanteric osteotomy
Although effective in decreasing pain and reducing secondary osteoarthritis, it is less effective than TPO and there is a risk of fracturing the femur during the operation, meaning it is no longer recommended.
4. Pubic symphysiodesis
A new technique for young dogs considered to be at risk of developing hip dysplasia. The procedure is most effective in very young animals, which are usually not showing any symptoms at all, making it a controversial treatment option and not recommended at present.
Salvage options include:
1. Femoral Head & Neck Excision
This involves surgically removing the head and neck of the femur. Heavier dogs have a much poorer outcome than lighter dogs. It tends to give positive results in dogs less than 17kg in bodyweight. Obese dogs fare poorly. Younger, more active dogs can respond very well to this procedure.
2. Total Hip Replacement
This is not the solution for every dog with a painful hip. Owners must be aware that while the outcome is usually very good, complications can rarely occur and when they do they are disastrous.
The ideal candidate for a hip replacement is a well trained, sensible, medium to large breed dog, which was previously active, and has a painful hip that is unresponsive to medication. The owners should be sensible and compliant, with funds to spend not only on the surgery (which is expensive), but also on dealing with potential complications that may occur, which can be equally costly. If these criteria are not all met, it may be more appropriate to perform a femoral head and neck excision.
Matthew Homfray
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/hip-dysplasia-in-dogs-110668.html
What is hip joint pain and how can it be avoided? Hip joint pain is another common form of arthritis. This happens when the hip joint has been under a lot of stress due to a past sports related injury or even wear and tear over the years. Being overweight can cause hip joint pain because of the added stress of the weight. Most elderly people experience hip joint pain because their bones are so fragile and most of the cartilage has worn away. The cartilage around the hip joint slowly wears away causing the bones to rub together with no cushion or lubrication.
When there is no cushion to absorb the impact from walking the hip slowly deteriorates causing more and more pain. Sometimes the hip is so severely damaged that it will restrict movement and might have to be replaced with an artificial hip.
Many people experience hip joint pain . This is a very painful injury which most of the time ends up with surgery replacement of the hip if conservative action does not cure the problem. Most athletes experience this pain from past injuries such as muscle strains.
Muscle strains around the hip and groin are very common in athletes due to the pressure being placed on the hips from jumping, and running. This is even more common among football and basketball athletes because of all the contraction these muscles do in order to give the athlete more power and speed.
Most athletes often experience hip contusions better known as hip pointers. This is very painful because the outside of the hip takes a direct hit or blow causing the inner hip to bruise and restrict movement.
Sometimes the pain is so severe that they will have to relate to some form of arthritis pain treatment . Such treatment involves physical therapy and also rehabilitation depending on the seriousness of the injury. Another more conventional form is arthritis creams or even arthritis pain relief medication. This could eventually develop into a common form of Osteoarthritis.
There are many different types of treatment for arthritis available that one can purchase at a local drugstore or even online. Some are arthritis creams and others are medication you can take orally such as pills. Some creams when applied to the infected area can provide a hot yet cooling feeling on the joint. Arthritis pain treat can also be taken in pills.
The pills focus on soothing the joint itself and the muscles around it to promote healing around the joint. The more relaxed the joint is the better chance it has to heal which in turn lowers the pain.
Hip joint pain is a very painful form of arthritis and for the time being cannot be cured. Scientists are still looking for a cure and also trying to find a way to prevent arthritis from happening to patients in the future.
There are many different arthritis pain treatment and medication to temporarily cure the pain. The unfortunate problem is arthritis will affect everyone in some way or another. The best way to avoid arthritis and hip joint pain is to stay active with exercise and take care of yourselves.
Markus Skupeika
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/hip-joint-pain-and-athletes-139407.html
A description of hip joint pain and how to avoid it? Hip joint pain is another common form of arthritis. This occurs from wear and tear of the hip joint due to a sports related injury which has placed a lot of pressure on the joint. Being overweight adds even more stress and pressure on the joint wearing it down even faster. Older people have a greater chance to recieve hip joint painbecause their bones are so fragile and most of the cartilage has worn away. The bones begin to rub together causing friction because the cartilage around the joint is so worn that it cannot provide any lubrication for the join
When there is no cushion to absorb the impact from walking the hip slowly deteriorates causing more and more pain. Some hip joints are so worn that they cannot move and have to eventually be replaced with an artificial hip.
Many people experience hip joint pain . The last option is hip replacement is you are experience so much pain and your movement is restricted. Most athletes experience this pain from past injuries such as muscle strains.
many athletes experience muscle strains around the groin and hip areas due to running, squating, and jumping which causes extreme stress on the hip jo. football and basketball players are more succeptable to this pain due to the explsoion their hips need to perform in order for them to jump, tackle an.
Most athletes often experience hip contusions better known as hip pointers. This occurs when the outer area of the hip is bumped or hit with extreme force causing the inner hip to bruise and swell up restricitng movement of th. On most occasions the pain is so brutal that the athlete may want to take some arthritis pain treatment .
Depending on how bad the injury is the athlete may want to take part in physical therapy or rehabilitation. Others take the more conventional route and purchase some arthritis creams and even arthritis pain relief medications. This could eventually develop into a common form of osteoarthritis.
There are many different types of treatment for arthritis can be found at a local pharmacy or an online drugstore. There are many arthritis pills and creams that you can take yourself without a prescription. Some creams when applied to the infected area can provide a hot yet cooling feeling on the joint. Arthritis pills are another option to git rid of arthritis pain.
The pills focus on soothing the joint itself and the muscles around it to promote healing around the joint. The less stress the joint is put through and the more rest it has will greatly increase the healing effect.
Unfortunatley there is no cure for this hip joint pain at this time.
Scientists are still trying to find a cure for this form of arthritis and are looking for a way to prevent patients from getting it in the future. There are many different arthritis pain treatment and medication to temporarily cure the pain. Unfortunately this arthritis pain problem will eventually effect everyone no matter if they are young or old. Exercising and taking care of your body is the best way to avoid arthritis and hip joint pain.
Markus Skupeika
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/the-negatives-about-hip-joint-pain-138086.html