Anyone else experiencing hip pain (only on hills)

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 Osiris 15 Jan 2020

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced front aspect hip pain during mountain walking? I've had this for 6 months. No pain day to day, but walking uphill for hours gradually builds up the pain worse and worse, then it's gone after a few days. I'm only 25. According to my GP, I don't qualify for an x ray unless I have constant pain. Any similar experiences/solutions out there?

MrToffee 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

I’m by no means an expert on the human body but have you tried workouts to add strength to your hips? Also daily stretching is a great way to prevent injury and pain (focus on the area of pain but all over the body can only be a benefit)  

 girlymonkey 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

I would go and see a physio. It's likely a weakness or something out of alignment. I never take aches and pains to GP, it's not really their thing. A good sports physio will have a much better idea of the issue

 subtle 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

As Shakira says, hips dont lie!

As others have advised perhaps go see a sports physio, may be muscles that need building up

Rigid Raider 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

Take up road cycling, it will get you much, much CV fitter and build muscle in the area around the hips and glutes and take the strain off that joint. It will also cure lower back pain if you happen to suffer from that as well. As an extra benefit you will have fantastic fun and get to explore your area and can do it on days or even at night when you can't go walking.

Edit: why on Earth would anybody give that a dislike?

Anyway I wanted to add, that as a youth I also used to get a sharp pain in one hip when walking. Mentioned it to my Dad who told me he got the same and...  lo and behold.... my son aged 21 is also complaining about a sharp but mild hip pain.

Post edited at 10:54
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 GringoStarr 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

Used to get this myself as well, though seems to have disappeared in the past year or so (I'm 27). As has been suggested above I did some work to strengthen the whole area and did some stretching exercises focusing on my hip flexors. Seems to keep it under control.

 krikoman 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

> I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced front aspect hip pain during mountain walking? I've had this for 6 months. No pain day to day, but walking uphill for hours gradually builds up the pain worse and worse

Mine feel like they get hot, but only if I have the rucksack on, otherwise I'm fine. The "heat" builds up, I have to stop for a few minutes, then I'm OK again for a while. There's a particular incline which is worse, flat and downhill is no bother, really steep stuff is OK, but my lungs take the beating then, but there's something in between that really sets them off.

I've not found out why or what it is, just assumed it's something I have to deal / put up, with.

 Andy Hardy 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Rigid Raider:

> Take up road cycling, [...] It will also cure lower back pain

Will it bollocks.

 stevevans5 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Rigid Raider:

I wasn't the dislike but as a regular road cyclist I feel it gives me back pain rather than helping, and the riding position being similar to sitting could probably lead to shortened hip flexors which would not particularly help this pain...

Rigid Raider 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Andy Hardy:

Well I'll disagree equally robustly. As a teenager and yoof I suffered from permanent lower back pain but when I moved back to the UK in 1987 and took up the then new sport of mountain biking my back pain disappeared for ever. Nowadays approaching retirement I still don't suffer back pain except when I lay off cycling for a month or two, when it begins to reassert itself as discomfort and mild sciatica. I also get a clonky left knee, which I blame on years of pushing clutch pedals on top of an old climbing injury. Yet as soon as I get back into cycling once or more a week the symptoms disappear. After a lifetime of thinking about this miracle I reckon that as a cyclist you depend on the muscles of the back to stabilise your pelvis against pedalling forces while perched on a narrow saddle so cycling is the ideal low-impact and enjoyable way to maintain the tone and balance of those muscle groups, preventing bad posture and neural pain. 

 Andy Hardy 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Rigid Raider:

I know for a fact that bending over and pedalling are a guaranteed way to crease my back, mainly because it replicates the position I was in when I got the injury to my L4/5. So whilst cycling might have cured your back, it will always be bad for mine.

(Doesn't stop me doing it every now and then though)

OP Osiris 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

Thanks folks. It's reassuring to know others have tackled similar problems successfully. I shall check in with the physio and begin a yoga regime. Shall up date this in a few months to let you know the results.

 pass and peak 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

Yes. When I was in my late 20's I kept getting a clicky right hip that was sending a parallising shock down my leg that would take several minutes/hrs to go away. Although an outdoor person, I wasn't all that active at the time and had back issues. I went to see my physio at the time and they said my hip joint was moving about and pinching a nerve and that I should concentrate on strengthening the muscles around my hip joints. It was then that I first started to get into hill walking as an activity in its own right. At first I had the same pain as you describe in that hip, especially at the front and with a rucksack but after 6 months it got much better and a year later it was fine! That was 25 year ago, I now have a career (very meager!) in the outdoors and the hip is only now after 25 years become noticeable again after a big day. Yoga, stretching and build up those muscles did wonders, hope your physio says the same!

 yorkshire_lad2 16 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

Get some decent insoles in your boots (not just the meagre pieces of cardboard that come with the boots in the box): everyone is different.  If you can stretch to it, get some moulded ones, or some custom made ones (they're not cheap, but think of it like you pay for decent insoles now or you pay for lots of physio later to address the issue!).

Try Pilates (regularly, not just to address the pain): builds up strength, and stretches (bear in mind that the default action of a muscle is to contract, so everything gets tighter, especially during exercise).  Also bear in mind that hillwalking (where you're strapped into a rucksack) and cycling (where your upper body is in a fairly fixed position) both involve you in doing lots of exercise with parts of your body, but not others....

(Written as someone who is getting older and stiffer, and suffering the consequences, and has been walking for 30+ years, and latterly doing some cycling).

 99ster 16 Jan 2020
In reply to Rigid Raider:

> Edit: why on Earth would anybody give that a dislike?

Why?
Because you stated:  "It will also cure lower back pain if you happen to suffer from that as well."

Which is frankly - total rubbish.

Post edited at 11:59
 lpretro1 16 Jan 2020
In reply to stevevans5:

If you are getting pain riding a bike then it isn't set up properly - go get a bike fit

 nikoid 17 Jan 2020
In reply to girlymonkey:

I'm amused by aches and pains not being GP's "thing"!

 stevevans5 17 Jan 2020
In reply to nikoid:

It seems sports/activity related stuff in general isn't, reading Dave MacLeod's book (and most anecdotes about sports related injuries). How many times have you heard the story of "doctor said I would never climb/run/etc again" from someone operating at a high level in that sport? It seems generally their goal relates more to average levels of health, whereas someone specialising in sports injuries is more likely to focus on getting you to where you want to be strength/fitness wise. I don't mean this to be derogatory to GPs or doctors, more just commenting that it's not really their area of focus!

Post edited at 09:51
 lorentz 17 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

This  sounds similar to the hip pain I suffer from. Had it since my early 20s (mid 40s now.) Recently had a cortisone injection administered by my GP as the first step on a pathway to getting further investigation done.The cortisone helped for a week or two and then the pain returned. I was given similarly short shrift by the doc at your age. 

As others said it's likely down to a muscle & posture related imbalance. Mine probably bought on by cycling overstrengthening and shortening quads and adducters causing tightening  at front of the hip.  Your pain may be similarly exacerbated by the leg lifting action  at the knee and hip when walking up hill as opposed to flat or downhill.

I bought a foam roller and stretched and rolled affected area yesterday and felt a difference almost immediately. I'd get to a physio though. Well worth an initial outlay to get professional opinion and advice on remedial stretching and strengthening.

It may also of course be down to genetic factors. My mum had hip pain and eventually a replacement, hence my visit to GP just to get the ball rolling on further investigation.

Good luck with it. 

 girlymonkey 17 Jan 2020
In reply to nikoid:

> I'm amused by aches and pains not being GP's "thing"!

Why? They just tell you to rest it. Aches and pains need stretches or manipulation or strengthening exersizes. None of these are a GP's speciality, they are for a physio. 

 colinakmc 17 Jan 2020
In reply to Osiris:

I get specific pain but it’s round the top of my thigh and it makes my leg go numb. However it doesn’t happen with running, mountain biking or hill walking, it comes with walking slowly (starting/stopping) round the shops. I’ve explained to Mrs Colin that it’s a message that shopping is really, really bad for you but for some reason she thinks I’m at it.

Removing tongue from cheek, - was  my pain is an evolution of one that I used to think was hip pain (I’m the right age) but I’m now sure it’s pressure on sciatic nerve and that it originates in my lower back. I’m currently becoming less lazy about simple core exercise and that seems to help. So a couple of trips to a physio would probly put you on the road to sorting it.

Edit - just noticed you’re local, the National Sports Injuries Clinic at Hampden is excellent and they’ve got state of the art facilities. Also fractionally cheaper than the going rate, last time I looked.

Post edited at 13:51
 kathrync 17 Jan 2020
In reply to girlymonkey:

> Why? They just tell you to rest it. Aches and pains need stretches or manipulation or strengthening exersizes. None of these are a GP's speciality, they are for a physio. 

Yes, I would agree. I also find physios more helpful also more helpful regarding my own aspirations for recovery.  For example, when I was having trouble with pain when skiing after breaking my ankle, my GP's attitude was "don't ski then" whereas my physio's attitude was "well, let's see what we can do about that".

OP Osiris 16 Feb 2020
In reply to Osiris:

In case anyone is interested, I went to my GP - recommended I see the physio at the practice which I did and she said straight away, I have a weak hip right hip flexor. So there we have it. I'd guess it's because I've been sitting more in recent times (more sedentary job and started driving a lot more). I'm doing some basic strengthening exercises regularly and have already started to notice less pain when out in the hills

 lorentz 16 Feb 2020
In reply to Osiris:

Glad to hear you got a diagnosis and a plan of action in place ... Keep up with the exercises! 😊

Funny as mine (right hip) always gets worse after long journeys too. Holding the accelerator down for long periods possibly?

In reply to Osiris:

After 25 years of practice, off and on, I have found the various forms of yoga, Ashtanga, Yin, Vinyasa etc., to be the best panacea. It won't do everything, nothing will, but it does act as a very useful counterbalance to the repetitive strain we put on parts of our body. Especially the strain from climbing,  mountaineering and road cycling. 

 Darron 16 Feb 2020
In reply to Osiris:

I don't think anyone has mentioned Bursitis as a possibilty yet so I will. Check it out.

 Alan Pierce 28 Mar 2020
In reply to Osiris:

If you strap a 5kg ankle weight on the ankle under the side your hip pain is and then stand on a block about 8 inches high and just gently swing the leg with the ankle weight on this will help.

Add another 5kg if you want , also you can put your foot into a handle on the cables then lean over to the other side of the cable platform and perform a knee raise. When i had your problem i felt instantly better although on top of what you described i found it painful to lean forward and touch my toes on the side where my pain was .........I did have an xray and the doctor told me that i had very mild degeneration which i think was BS because its fine now. Hope this helps and good luck on finding a solution.

Post edited at 05:52

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