The hip joints are structures of the body that no one usually talks about. You often hear, "I have good knees" or "I have good feet" or even "I have a healthy back," but no one talks about their hips. That is until one or both of them are hurting. A person's pain can range from a throbbing dull tooth ache quality of pain to a sharp severe pain that can come on in an instant "stopping you in your tracks". Hip pain is a common complaint, particularly in the older populations, that can be caused by a wide variety of problems involving the joints and their surfaces, the muscles, the tendons, the fascia and even the bursa. The precise location of your hip pain can provide valuable clues about the underlying cause. Problems within the hip joint itself tend to result in pain on the inside of your hip or your groin area. Hip pain on the outside of your hip, upper thigh or outer buttock is usually caused by problems with muscles, ligaments, tendons and other soft tissues that surround your hip joint.

The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint. The ball portion of the hip joint (femoral head) fits into the socket (acetabulum) of the hip bone (pelvis). The bone of the femoral head and acetabulum of the pelvis are separated by very strong material (cartilage) contained within a semi viscous liquid called synovial fluid, both of which serve to keep friction coefficients to near zero which acts as a lubricant to the joint. A properly functioning hip joint is critical for normal everyday activities such as walking, running and climbing.

Hip pain can sometimes be caused by diseases and conditions in other areas of your body, such as your lower back. This type of pain is called referred pain so it is important that you do not self diagnose and get it checked out. Examination usually entails neurologic and orthopedic testing, muscle testing to evaluate flexibility and relative imbalances regarding agonist and antagonist muscle groups, analysis of your gait (walking) and posture. X-rays are often taken to assess possible joint damage or degenerative changes and also to evaluate weight bearing forces and displacement of weight distribution. Loss of flexibility can change friction coefficients acting upon the joint due to muscular imbalance.


Increased production of synovial fluid is due to an increase of body temperature as we begin to perform our exercises. As the temperature rises it causes reduction of viscosity within the synovial fluid, meaning that the synovial fluid which is like a thick gel or paste during rest becomes thinner, and more watery like acting as a better lubricant within the joints so that they can move more freely, which reduces friction between the articular cartilages. At a higher intensity of exercise, our body temperature rises even further, so there is a greater increase in synovial fluid production. As synovial fluid production increases, so does the range of movement available at your joints as they become better lubricated and less restricted by friction at the joints.

Also, keep in mind that you are what you eat and drink and chronic dehydration contributes to a decrease of synovial fluid and an increase in viscosity in the joints causing an increase in joint friction coefficients which can accelerate degenerative joint disease over time.

Before you opt in for more medications, a second round of corticosteroids (oral or injections) or even surgery, explore the possibility of conservative hip treatment. Every person who is interested in energy medicine will be evaluated to see if he or she would benefit greatly from it. I pride myself on results. If I can help you I will tell you and if I can't I will at least explain what you have and point you in the right direction. Life is entirely too short for me to be wasting my time and your time. So there is no sales pitch, I frankly don't have time for it. I am a former Assistant Professor and I do get a little long winded so you must bring all of your diagnostic x-ray, CT and/or MRI information with you. There is never a cost to speak with me about your condition, no charge to you and no billing to your insurance company. If I determine that I can help you we will schedule an appointment for an evaluation. Is that fair enough? Schedule an appointment for a Case Review to see if you are a candidate for care. Give us a call.