Physical therapy is meant to help the body move and work as healthily as it can. If you are experiencing hip pain, physical therapy treatments can help you work toward less pain and a better quality of life. To learn about what may be causing your hip pain, look into talking with a physical therapist to evaluate where this pain may be stemming from and what its cause may be.

Hip pain treatment options you can get in physical therapy 

Physical therapy treatment options for hip pain are designed to target the source of the pain and help alleviate it. These treatments are also intended to increase mobility. 

Physical therapy goes beyond just treating your pain. A physical therapist will also educate you about your pain and show you movements and exercises designed to enhance hip health and help prevent further pain or even injury. 

Here are a few of the treatment options your physical therapist may use to treat your hip pain:

Therapeutic exercises 

If you experience hip pain after or during certain activities, then you may want to consider a program of therapeutic exercises from a physical therapist. During your physical therapy appointment, your physical therapist may guide you through a series of stretches to help relieve hip pain. Your therapist may also create a separate set of exercises or activities for you to perform at home to complement your in-clinic exercises. Such a program can help you in the moment when you start to feel activity-related pain. 

Manual therapy 

Manual therapy refers to when a physical therapist uses their hands to manipulate or apply pressure to a specific area. By doing this, your therapist can feel for where your hip pain is starting and identify possible causes of your pain. Manual therapy can be soothing because it can release tension or stress in the area. Joint mobilization is another form of manual therapy and can help increase your hip’s mobility.  

Posture and functional movement assessment 

Hip pain can be caused by improper posture or form during an activity. For instance, when you hunch over your computer or cross one leg over the other, your hips may be in a poor position that could cause tension. This tension can happen because your hips may be asymmetric to your chair or can be at a tilt, and these positions cause muscles and other soft tissue around your hip to work to hold them. In turn, this can trigger tension in these hardworking structures. As a result, poor posture combined with long periods of sitting can cause long-term pain in the hips. 

Physical therapy can help you reduce hip pain with a posture and functional movement assessment. This type of assessment looks at your posture during various common activities and can help determine if they may be causing your pain. This information can help to prevent further pain and reduce harmful habits like bad posture that can affect your hips and back.

Therapeutic dry needling

Dry needling is a form of physical therapy that can help relieve hip pain in many different ways. This form of therapy is meant to release tight muscles, stimulate healing and reduce pain

This therapy option can help hip pain because it can relieve pain immediately after the session but also make long-lasting change in your hips. It can also help improve blood flow to the targeted tissue. Dry needling can be used along with other treatment techniques. 

Cupping 

Finally, cupping is an effective physical therapy option for hip pain because it is designed to ease muscle tension. Cupping is a practice in which special cups are placed on the skin to create suction. Physical therapists commonly use a pump to create suction in the specially designed cups. The suction in the cups lifts the skin in those areas, which can help blood flow more freely. Improved blood flow is beneficial because it allows toxins and impurities to be flushed out. 

Cupping can also be used to release tension in soft tissue. Your therapist can move the cup over a tense area of soft tissue to increase blood flow and tissue mobility. This can help with swelling as it promotes lymphatic drainage and helps with taking away impurities and toxins in the nearby tissue. It can also help realign soft tissue fibers and break up tension-causing scar tissue.

Get help with your hip pain at Excel Rehab & Sports 

If you are interested in these treatments or think that they may be helpful for your hip pain, then consider looking into Excel Rehab & Sports. We offer these treatments and more for your hip pain. One of our physical therapists will evaluate the factors that could be triggering your hip pain and create a treatment plan that will best accommodate your needs and recovery goals.

Contact our team today for more information about how we can treat your hip pain or to schedule your initial PT appointment.