Struggling With Bursitis of The Hip? Treat The Cause.
What is Trochanteric Bursitis?
The trochanteric bursa is a small fluid filled sack that lies between the greater trochanter (the bony knob on the side of your hip) and the iliotibial band (a band of connective tissue that runs along the side of the thigh). Trochanteric bursitis occurs when this fluid filled sack becomes inflamed and painful. The pain from trochanteric bursitis is usually felt along the side of the hip.
What causes Trochanteric Bursitis?
Trochanteric bursitis is most often caused by a mechanical fault at the pelvis and hip. The mechanical fault involves the inability to control the femur (thigh bone) during weight bearing activities such as walking, hiking, running and going up and down stairs. The lack of control of the femur during these activities causes increased friction between the greater trochanter and the iliotibial band resulting in irritation of the bursa.
How Is Trochanteric Bursitis Treated?
Many treatments such as ultrasound, ice, anti-inflamatories and steroid injections can provide short term benefit. However, in order to provide long term relief and prevention one must treat the mechanical cause. The muscles that control the femur must be strengthened in order to eliminate the excessive friction on the bursa. The muscles that help control the femur during weight bearing activities include the gluteus medius and the deep lateral rotators of the hip (the rotator cuff of the hip). Excessive pronation (flattening) of the foot during weight bearing activities may also cause excessive friction on the trochanteric bursa. This excessive pronation of the foot can be reduced by wearing proper footwear or using orthotics.
Here is a video demonstrating some of the hip strengthening exercises we recommend for the treatment of trochanteric bursitis:
If you live near Lakewood, CO and need help finding the cause of your hip pain for successful treatment we are here to help. Contact Belmar Physical Therapy at (303) 274-2404.
Tags: exercises, hip pain, trochanteric bursitis, video, youtube
July 5th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
hi,
im suffering with hip bursitis since 5 yrs..my question is with these exercises will i be ever able to run/walk on treadmill?im desperate to lose weight?
July 21st, 2010 at 6:48 am
The exercises may help you return to walking/running on a treadmill. However, the exercises are meant to be a start in the right direction. I would suggest that you visit a qualified physical therapist in your area to see if you need more than these exercises. I would also suggest that you slowly progress the time and intensity as well as implement recovery days as you return to the treadmill. A physical therapist can help you with this as well.
July 22nd, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Mr. Cherry, recently I have been having pains in my hips and ham string. The pain is more pronounced in my hips at night when I lay down on my sides and get up from sitting down. Lately I have been sleeping my back with a pillow under my calves because the pain gets so intense and then my hips start ache and go numb, my legs also jump at night when I get comfortable all of this is causing me to loose a lot of sleep due to the discomft and trying to find a comfortable position. My question is, what type of doctor should I go to in order to find out if I am suffering from hip bursitus or sciatica? I am a breast cancer survivor and would prefer not to have to take pain medications since I have just come off of all adjuvant meds after 5 years and suffering a DVT 2 years ago.
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Lisa,
Your symptoms do not sound consistent with bursitis. Who you should see depends on the state you live in and your insurance. If you live in a state that allows direct access to physical therapy I would recommend going to a QUALITY (you may need to search around a little for this) physical therapist. If your state requires a physicians referral for physical therapy you may need to go to your primary care physician first.
Jason
August 21st, 2010 at 6:51 pm
This sounds like my story. I have been having extreme pain in my left thight now since November, 2010 to the point where it makes me want to scream. It has been diagnosed as trochanteric bursitis ; I have tried the injections in my hips but nothing is working. I’ve seen my family physician, and orthopedic and the pain center. The injections help for a short period of time but it comes back. I use to run, walk all the time now I can barely make the steps in my home. Pls. somebody tell me how to treat trochanteric bursitis so I can return to some normalcy in life. It’s pretty depressing.