Do you ever experience groin or hip pain during or after running, deadlifts or squats? Do you feel like you never get a good hip flexor stretch even though to you they feel tight? It might be a hip alignment issue. A hip alignment issue can lead to Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI) which means an impingement of the hip.
FAI can become a problem for active and sedentary people alike. It may be aggravated by activity, sitting for long periods of time, operating the pedals in a car and crossing your legs.
On the other hand, even if you don’t have any symptoms these exercises may improve the quality of your chosen exercise. Check out the video below where I demonstrate 3 simple exercises that are quick and easy to help get your hip alignment improving. Let us know your favourite by leaving a comment!
Think you might have FAI?
There are 3 main types of FAI but often aligning the joint can make a huge difference to pain and function. Often people we treat in the clinic avoid surgery and cortisone injections all together.
Cam – This type of FAI occurs from a bit of extra bone on the head of the femur which then jams on the hip socket (acetabulum) during activity. This type typically occurs in young athletic men.
Pincer – This occurs more often in middle aged women and is the least common type of the 3. This type is caused by extra bone around the lip of the hip socket at the front then as the femoral head rotates it catches or jams against the extra bone.
Mixed – This is a combination of the two previous types; cam and pincer. As described above it causes a catching or jamming in the front of the joint capsule.
These 3 types all describe bone issues however often the pain is from other tissues around the area including ligament, tendon and muscle. Better hip alignment helps reduce the bodies protective mechanism. If movement begins to feel easier and pain begins to reduce, we know we are on the right track!
If these exercises didn’t help your hip alignment or hip and groin pain we have a lot more tricks in our Myotherapy bag. Reach out and we can have a conversation or click here to book. We offer both online and face-to-face consultations.
What to learn more? Check out this other articles.
Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI) also known as hip impingement is a problem among active and sedentary people alike. Symptoms may include pain in the groin or hip area and restricted hip range of motion (ROM). It may be aggravated by activity (both intense and endurance types), sitting for long periods of time, operating the pedals in […]
Just like adults, children and adolescents can also experience musculoskeletal imbalances, conditions and pain. So how do you tell what your child is going through and what health professional to take them to?
If you child has been complaining of severe pain following a fall or injury it may be worth a visit to the doctor to rule out a fracture. If you’re not sure, come to us first to avoid exposing your child unnecessarily to radiation associated with scans. We will be able to assess whether it’s something that needs further investigation.
Other pain in children or adolescent that may be encountered include; growing pains, sprains and strains, muscle cramps, tight muscles from sport, joint alignment issues, scoliosis and other conditions such as childhood forms of arthritis. Some of these conditions we will be able to treat and some we will need to refer to your doctor or a specialist.
So how exactly can a Myotherapist help?
Step 1. Assessment
The first step in treating pain in children is to talking to your child about their pain complaint. Sometimes they need a bit of help from you (parent or guardian) but we try to develop a good relationship with your child by encouraging good communication with us directly. We might ask questions about your child’s pain; how long as the complaint been occurring? How long does the pain typically last when it comes on? Have you had this in the past? What type of pain (or can you think of another time you have had this kind of pain)? When do you notice it the most? Is there anything that relieves the pain?
Once we have an understanding of what has been going on, it gives us ideas of what things to check. This helps us rule out more serious conditions or confirm something that we can treat on the day. The assessment might be getting them to do a specific movement, it might include testing joint, nerve or muscle or getting them to do an exercise to see if it helps.
If we find something we are unsure of we will refer you to the appropriate health care professional such as a GP. If we find something we can help with we will move on to the treatment phase of the consultation.
Step 2. Treatment
With pain in children and adolescents, it’s really important to try to empower them to learn about their bodies and treat themselves. That’s why we try to stay as hands-off as possible. Treatment will usually start with specialised movement therapy or instructing them where to place a spiky ball to help. Upon reassessment if progression is slow then we will become more hands on. This hands on treatment may include joint mobilisation (not cracking), dry needling (if when discussed child and parent is not apprehensive), trigger point therapy and massage/myofascial release techniques.
Sometimes treatment will include a few different approaches but rest assured we will always explain what we’ve found and discuss the treatment plan with you as we go. We then like to retest and make adjustments throughout the treatment to make sure the pain is reducing and the range of movement is increasing. Again always discussing with your child and yourself as we go.
Step 3. Management
Next we will talk about things that are going to be helpful at home for your child’s pain complaint, we like to call this a “Remedy Routine”. This may include applying heat or ice to an affected area. It may include and exercise to stretch or strengthen, mobilise or align. It may include self treatment with a spiky ball or foam roller, it may include a care plan where we check in on their musculoskeletal complaint more regularly (this is ideal for more persistent problems). We will also answer any questions you have and make sure we have set an achievable plan that will fit into their schedule and into your life as a parent/guardian too.
Our Experience
We have built great professional relationships with some local sporting clubs including a gymnastics and acro club, a cricket club and some dance studios.
The clubs find their members are away less from injury when working with us and the parents find they are more confident in the clubs because they know we can offer advice and help out where needed.
We have been treating pain in children and adolescents since starting the Mount Waverley clinic in 2012. Over the years we’ve found the most common issues are posture at school and when doing study at home; not understanding how to control their bodies properly for particular sports or activities; and overuse from having breaks over school holidays, for example, then amping up training regimes when returning from the break. If this sounds like your child then get in contact and find out more about how we can help 🙂
We believe keeping your children active and happy is important to their overall health & development.
Myothrive
Just remember, persistent pain in children is not normal and should always be checked out. Email [email protected] if you have a specific question or click here to make a face to face or virtual booking. Virtual consultations are great for kids because we get to see their environment where they study or play and give them exercises that they can comfortably do at home. Best of all you don’t have to drive them to another appointment!
Why is my ankle stability important? Whether you enjoy running, gymnastics, lifting weights or walking the dogs, ankle stability is important. Even moving from standing to sitting and vice versa requires some ankle mobility and stability. We want your ankles to be strong and flexible. Keep reading to learn how to test your ankles and […]
I’ve labelled this blog Myotherapy & Osteopathy because they work so well together. I personally get a Osteopath treatment every 1-3 months and I get a Myotherapy session every 2-6 weeks depending on how much training I’m doing and if I have any niggles from old injuries. Many of our current patients use both Myotherapy […]
Whether you enjoy running, gymnastics, lifting weights or walking the dogs, ankle stability is important. Even moving from standing to sitting and vice versa requires some ankle mobility and stability. We want your ankles to be strong and flexible. Keep reading to learn how to test your ankles and also watch the video to learn the first steps of getting for stability.
How do I test my ankle stability?
Stand close to a wall or something you can grab onto if you loose your balance. Stand on one leg for 30 seconds. Now try the other side. If that was easy now try with your eyes closed. Be mindful you may loose your balance so make sure you are in a safe environment or we can go through it with you in the clinic. Again aim for 30 seconds each side. If you found you were wobbly on either of these exercises then it’s time to focus on building some ankle stability for yourself. You wouldn’t build a house without a good foundation and we shouldn’t expect our bodies to perform well if we aren’t taking care of our standing foundation, our ankles and feet. Watch the video below to take the next step!
What if I have an injury?
If you are suffering with any sort of pain related to or that may be coming from your feet / ankles. I suggest making a session with us to fully assess how to best remedy your individual situation. We can offer consultations both in the clinic and online for your convenience. Look forward to helping you become pain free and thrive!
Do you ever experience groin or hip pain during or after running, deadlifts or squats? Do you feel like you never get a good hip flexor stretch even though to you they feel tight? It might be a hip alignment issue. A hip alignment issue can lead to Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI) which means an […]
been doing the push-up challenge or would like to? Check out this shoulder stability video to make sure you’re using the right muscles and balance out your strength to prevent injury.
Why is low ab strength important? Lower abdominal (low abs) strength is really important for activities of day to day living and even more important if you’re participating in sport or general exercise. Test if you have weak lower abdominals as it can reflect in poor posture, sore lower back and tight hip flexors, legs […]
Get more compliments and reduce issues with your back, hips and knees. How? Strengthen your glutes! Free video with Myotherapist Sarah at MyoThrive.
This blog is good for dancers, runners, gymnists, acrobats, kids in sport, weight lifters, gardeners, walkers, ballet, basketball players, netball players, soccer players.
Wether you enjoy yoga or climbing mountains, we all need exercise!
Government guidelines for exercise are 150 minutes of moderate cardio per week and 2 strength training sessions per week. These recommendations are based on current research but what does moderate cardio feel like and how hard do the strength sessions have to be?
150 minutes of moderate cardio per week is most achievable when broken up into 30 minute chunks which ends up being 5 cardio sessions per week. Moderate means a perceived exertion level of 7/10. If you were chatting with a friend you would need to pause every 5 words or so to catch you breath. Need something more technical? I love the 180 formula developed by Dr.Phil Maffetone. This formula is designed to keep you in the aerobic zone to avoid poor posture and gait and to decrease incidence of injury. It’s also been shown to give you greater fitness advances.
… the take home? what is moderate for me might be different than what is moderate for you.
Strength training on the other hand is a little more complex. Research tells us to avoid things like osteoporosis and muscle deterioration it’s important to do strength training but do you need a gym membership?
In short no, you don’t.
Some simple squats, push ups and pull ups can do the trick. Exercises like these you can do anywhere. They can be altered to make them easier or harder depending on your fitness levels and they can be altered to allow for any injuries or conditions you may have. We can work out a program for home that it right for you and that will keep you motivated.
The Classic Push Up Exercise can be done in so many different ways, here the medicine ball is designed to be a slight unstable surface to work your muscles in a balancing fashion. We can change to angled push ups, kneeling push ups and supported push ups with a band to make them easier while you learn technique or overcome an injury.
How to get your personalised program.
To get your own personalised program book online or fill out our contact form. We look forward in helping you achieve your health and fitness goals!
Example Program
Pelvic curl x 10
Bridge x 10
Standing crab walk with stretch band x 5 each way
Stretch Band straight arm pull x 10
Stretch Band straight arm row x 10
Bent over row with dumbbells x 10
Band assisted pull ups x 10
Band assisted push ups with hands wide x 10
Band assisted push ups with hands narrow x 10
Stretches
If you want to learn more about how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, please contact us and one of our friendly Clinical Myotherapists will be in touch with you!
The more I read, the more I am convinced that HIIT or High Intensity Internval Training is good for us humans! Granted more research is needed but what the smaller studies are showing, including Australian studies, is that it can reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, increase your VO2max, change your gut bacteria to a more diverse bunch (which is good when it comes to stomach flora), increases number of fat burner gut bacteria and reduces hunger hormones and increases full hormones! What areas you will gain benefit in seems like it depends on your genetics at this point, but they are also showing more and more that genetics are not the be all and end all – so excited about some longer term studies in this area! Chances are you are going to benefit in at least one of these areas so here are a couple of HIT methods for you to try – have fun!
30 second sprint : up to 4 minute recovery
To do this one you warm up for 2-5 minutes then sprint your little heart out for 30 seconds. You recover by going back to a steady pace for 4 minutes and then you sprint your little heart out for another 30 seconds. It’s that simple. You repeat this process 4-6 times, cool down with a light 2-4 minutes and don’t forget to stretch! You can do this on the bike, treadmill or outdoor running.
My 1 month experiment – Day 1
I did the HIT routine above outside this morning which was good because the terrain varied so some sprints were up hill and some were flat. The first 2 sprints I felt I was working at maximum capacity; half way through the 3rd I couldn’t keep up the pace and the last 3 sprints were actually jogs. I was very surprised given you get 4 minutes of recovery that the muscles just wouldn’t go any more! I am going to follow this method 2 times per week for a month and see if I get results. The results I will be tracking are increased maximal effort (i.e. how many sprints can I put maximum effort into before my muscles give in), food and weight including changes in my diet as I’m interested to see if my appetite naturally suppresses as the research suggests. I am going to use my fitness pal to track my calories but I will put the data in after the month so I don’t get swayed to eat more or less depending on what the calorie tracker is showing me, so I will write down what I eat during the actual month. With my weight I am going to close my eyes and get Adam to write down the number and track it for the month so I don’t actually know if my weight is changing or not! Hopefully it doesn’t go up!! I will also include cravings in my food diary – because lately I have been craving sugar at night like crazy! So it will be interesting to see if that goes away or not. I have tried HIT in the past but never measured the results. If you’d like to join me feel free to do the same and post your results here or if you’d like to share them privately email me.
20 second sprint : up to 4 minutes recovery
This HIT workout can be done using the same methods as above. You only need to repeat this one 3 times and again do it 2-3 times per week (in the study they did it 3 times per week).
For the unfit, injured or scared of HIT people
HIT has been tested on the elderly population with great success. The elderly group are more at risk of things like pulling a muscle or heart attack but the studies have shown nothing but positive results however it is advised that you ease yourself into HIT and get clearance from your doctor if you have any kind of medical condition. If you’re prone to injury try choosing a method you know will be safe for you such as the lower impact method of bike riding.
For more information I would recommend reading Dr. Michael Mosley’s book Fast Exercise. It explains the science, explains the workouts and how to measure the impact for yourself. I will give you the results at the end of the month along with any tips or tricks I have picked up along the way.
When I grew up (which wasn’t all that long ago), I played netball in the winter and tennis in the summer combined with swimming all year round. I eventually switched netball for basketball and dropped the tennis and eventually dropped the swimming too. I also tried my hand (or foot) at soccer, aussie rules, badmitton, dancing and volleyball. The downside to jumping around to different activities was I was never amazing at any one sport.
I was good at most of them though. We made finals in just about every team I was on. There were only a few select kids who were amazing that were driven around the country side by their parents to compete at state level and nationally. There was still usually an off season too. I’m not sure if it was a country thing, maybe I would have had a different experience if I’d grown up in the city? Or maybe things have changed that much and kids sport is taken more seriously now days?
I don’t know what’s changed or why things have changed but I am treating more and more kids who are mostly playing just one sport or activity. We have swimmers, dancers, gymnasts, netball players, Aussie rules players, cricketers, tennis players and golfers who are all under 15 years of age and spending the majority of their time on the one activity. Some of them are fantastic, which is great, nothing wrong with developing a talent, but the problem is they’re not getting the balance the mixed sports used to bring which is leading to overuse injuries.
When you have a mixture of sports, your body is always having to use different muscles, but when you are playing and practicing the same sport, dance routine or skill over and over, the same muscles, tendons and joints are being loaded over and over again. Some of my primary and high school buddies have gone on to play at the top level of their field in sport. Walking, diving, AFL and badminton are a few just off the top of my head. I never remembered them training all year round. I remember them keeping fit; seeing them run along the highway, playing other sports and swimming for recovery. Not only are kids seeming to play or train for more of the year, during the season many kids are playing on multiple teams of the same sport which involve double the amount of training as well as multiple game days. Those who are doing dancing and gymnastics are invited to increase their hours to more than 20 hours per week in some cases.
So what am I getting at here? If it’s a well rounded sport, your child is having fun and it is keeping them fit then great! Children need about an hour of vigorous exercise every day for physical and mental health. However if they increases to 2 hours or more of vigorous exercise per day it can become detrimental to their health. Furthermore if it is a repetitive sport where they are practicing the same routines or skills over and over it can lead to overuse injuries.
In the past if a child complained of pain it was simply put down to growing pains, which was correct in most cases. Now days I would be less reliant on a child’s pain being a growing pain. If your child is in a situation where they are practicing skills, routines or sports repetitively and they are complaining of pain it is worth getting it checked out if it lasts more than a couple of days or if it is very intense. It could be a stress fracture, tendinopathy, a strained muscle or an issue with a growth plate just to name a few. I’d love to get a bit of a conversation going on here, if you have a comment to make on this topic, please feel free!
If you’d like some advice before coming in for a session please give us a call on 1300 696 848 or send us an email to [email protected] Alternatively you may like to book online or book a free 15 minute chat with one of our friendly Clinical Myotherapists.
