I called a Dr’s office yesterday to make an appointment for myself and the receptionist was really chatty. I didn’t mind, it was my day off so we chatted a little and she happened to mention that she had hip bursitis. I asked her if she ever had acupuncture for it and she said no, that she didn’t know that was something acupuncture could help with. She had only gotten steroid injections and they didn’t do anything to help. She’s been dealing with the pain for 2 years and PT wasn’t helpful either.
Acupuncture can help heal hip bursitis
I’ve treated hip bursitis pain for many years. How quickly recovery is depends on a person’s age, activity level and how they possibly got the hip bursitis pain in the first place.
What is hip bursitis?
Around each of our joints we have these little fluid filled sacs called bursa. When the muscles that are attached to the hip joint, get really tight or have trigger points in them, the bursae get really irritated and inflamed- that’s the pain you feel.
The reason why this happens could mostly be because of prolonged sitting. I get it, you have to sit for work but it would be beneficial for you to do some kind of stretching or just get on the floor and move your body in any other way that doesn’t mimic sitting. Twist, bend, extend, reach and breathe deeply everyday. Your body needs it.
Another way this can happen is to side sleepers. Chronically sleeping on the same side without a pillow to support your hips can lead to hip bursitis pain.
Can acupuncture or dry needling help hip bursitis?
Yes it definitely can. If the bursitis happens in someone with a high level of athleticism, then most likely acupuncture and dry needling will pretty much take care of it by releasing all the tight fascia and triggerpoints.
However, if you are someone who sits a lot and doesn’t strength train, then acupuncture and dry needling are still necessary to restore the easy glide of the tissues again. You will need physical therapy afterwards to help retrain those muscles or else the same thing will happen again. I want to be clear that lack of strength is the problem so if you get acupuncture or dry needling and don’t follow up with strength training, you can’t say that acupuncture didn’t work. Each modality plays a role in healing and acupuncture or dry needling improves circulation, restores fascial glide, can provide huge pain relief (which is why people love dry needling so much) but it can’t strengthen an entire group of muscles.
Hip pain that goes down the side of the leg
One of the muscles involved in hip bursitis pain is the Tensor Fasciae Latae, or TFL for short. TFL trigger points and tightness can cause pain in the hip joint area and front/side portion of the thigh and be felt as far as the knee. This pain can feel like deep hip pain which can be further aggravated by walking or laying down on the affected side.
Another clue is what I call a teeter totter walk. Someone who slightly bends side to side when they walk can have TFL weakness causing bursitis. The TFL isn’t the only muscle involved that needs acupuncture treatment but it’s usually the one causing the most pain.
I recommended the receptionist get acupuncture for her hip and I hope she does because I’ve seen it help so many of my own patients finally resolve this painful issue.
If you’re ready to treat the root cause of your hip bursitis pain click below: