Oh, my aching hips

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hello all,

My name is Katie. I am 23 and have been practicing yoga for a good two years now. The wonders it has done for me are endless. I have a very stable home practice (I shoot to practice at least 30 minutes a day) and make it out to the studio at most once a week - I am starting a new weekly series this Monday, however. I eat a mainly vegetarian diet with eggs, cheese, little milk and rarely poultry.

The reason I write is because I have been suffering from a dull ache in my hips, right at my hip flexors. The pain wakes me up in the morning (especially if I am lying on my sides) and I find it very difficult to walk first thing.

I practice many hip openers in my asanas which help to alleviate the pain and stretch it out some, but I feel it is not getting to the root of the problem.

I should let you know that my body is very hypermobile and my hip joints pop.

I have talked with my yoga instructor about the problem and she showed me some of the hip openers I now practice. She also said it might be an internal problem that is showing up in my hips.

Also, could it have something to do with a lack of nutrients? I did a blood screening a few months ago which showed my iron levels are low. Everyday I take a multi, B-12, and fish oil.

Please give me some insight on this issue. I aspire to teach in the near future and I would really like to overcome this small hurdle. Thank you for taking the time to help.

Best,

Katie

#2

Hello Katie,

So the pain you are referencing is between the hip bone (anterior superior iliac spine) and the navel in the front body?

Please outline the asana practice you mention including the style in which you practice and the sequencing and duration of the poses. “Hip openers” can mean many things and it’s difficult to discern what you are doing from such a vague statement.

Looking forward to more on this.

gordon

#3

Thanks for the reply, Gordon. The pain is not between my hip bones and navel… it is more so between my hip bones and upper thighs. From wikipedia, what I believe to be my tensor fasciae latae and surrounding areas. Sometimes massaging the muscle directly helps. I know sitting for long periods disturbs it because I awoke this morning in a large amount of discomfort. (I have been traveling for the past week.) I bartend, so I really do not spend much time in a seated position - yet I encounter the pain often.

My legs are also very restless at times, specifically morning and night. I often combat this with a deep, slow butterfly. Some other favorites of mine which isolate the stretch are ankle to knee, swan bow, knee-to-floor lunge, and sitting forward bends. I apologize for my informal vocabulary… still learning:D

My daily practices are facilitated with the use of dvds and cds. I practice Kate Potter’s Namaste series, some of Ana and Ravi’s Kundalini Yoga dvds, and Amrit Yoga developed by Yogi Amrit Desai. The practice I do most often is the Namaste series. It is a Vinyasa Flow series that moves rather quickly at times. I am seeking more of a yin yoga with which to practice a deeper experience.

Thank you again for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it.

Much light and love,

Katie

#4

[QUOTE=Rainbow Grace;19840]Thanks for the reply, Gordon. The pain is not between my hip bones and navel… it is more so between my hip bones and upper thighs. From wikipedia, what I believe to be my tensor fasciae latae and surrounding areas…[/QUOTE]
Could be TFL. Could also be the insertion of the iliopsoas at the lesser trochanter. It’s impossible to tell without assessment.

My legs are also very restless at times, specifically morning and night. I often combat this with a deep, slow butterfly. Some other favorites of mine which isolate the stretch are ankle to knee, swan bow, knee-to-floor lunge, and sitting forward bends. I apologize for my informal vocabulary… still learning.

While I’m not a medical doctor I don’t particularly by in to “restless legs” even though it’s now advertised as a “syndrome” on the telly. That manifestation is usually disruption of the nervous system. It is remedied in a variety of ways but not the point of this post:-)

My daily practices are facilitated with the use of dvds and cds. I practice Kate Potter’s Namaste series, some of Ana and Ravi’s Kundalini Yoga dvds, and Amrit Yoga developed by Yogi Amrit Desai. The practice I do most often is the Namaste series. It is a Vinyasa Flow series that moves rather quickly at times. I am seeking more of a yin yoga with which to practice a deeper experience.

Understood. It is a very diverse amalgamation you’ve got there. I’ve not seen any but am familiar with the three you’ve mentioned.

#5

It’s great you specified hypermobilty. A lot of ballerinas (not assuming your a ballerina its more a matter of how we typically carry ourselves) have issues with tight external hip rotators mainly due to an imbalance of the muscle groups which sounds like what it may be.

  1. Have you had any children?
    2)Did you have issues with feet placement as a child? (I.E internally rotated feet, outwardly rotated feet)
    3)Standing normally, do you notice your knees rotating outward or inwardly?
  2. Laying in savasana, take note of your feet, what angle are they from the ground? (I.E Flat (outer edges on the ground) 25 degrees, 90 degrees ect. Is one further towards the ground than the other.)
  3. Lying flat on the back, raise the legs directly up as in a leg lift without bending the knees. What is the highest you can bring the legs (45 degrees, 90 degrees ect.)

Depending on the foreword or backwards rotation of the pelvis it can effect the hips a great deal. Seated foreword bends can cause issues for a pelvis rotated foreword or backwards and may require work with a cushion or a block. depending. Yin yoga is great choice to lean too as well as viniyoga.

#6

Hello Rainbow Grace,

I am suffering from a light pain in my left hip, more when I walk for hours…I have always enjoyed running and swimming and, as Bridgette says, I have made a lot of question to myself in relation to the way my whole structure is been allowed to lean when I remain stand and stopped for a long time and things so… I am absolutely convinced that my hip ache is a consequence of a ‘minimal’ descompensation in length between my right leg and the left one. It is my particular matter.

Structural problems are often revealing that, perhaps, we [U]did not learn [/U]how to use our bodies in the best way in our infancy, so I modestly recommend you, and me, that if you don’t have got a solution yet, you could invest any of your time in checking the way you stand, walk, run and such physical activities. It could give you any answer to your problem.

Have you practiced the warrior III pose? I had found it is a very great relief for my poor weak hip mainly because I feel that the pose is allowing [B]my body [/B]to learn the best way to stand over my soles. Warrior poses, in general, seem to stregthen feet, ankles, knees and hips.

#7

Hi Rainbow Grace,

I think you are getting some good feedback here. I will add that being hypermobile, especially to the point where your hips pop (those joints are usually quite stable) you are probably a little prone to having joint problems. More stretching/opening is often not the answer. In your practice you will need to be especially interested in great alignment, and balanced muscular action to help build stability in your poses.

The pelvic girdle and hips do a lot of work to stabilize the torso on top of the legs, and there are a lot of muscular groups involved that need to be working together. Especially for those who have fairly lax joints, it’s easy to have one set of muscles overworking while another is underworking.

I’m not sure from your description if it’s truly the hip flexors at the root of the problem. Even if they are sore, the root can be from other stuctural issues such as poor sacroiliac function, or gait problems related to how your feet and knees track when walking/standing, if there is good articulation in the feet/ankle/knee joints, etc. There could even be an inflamed bursa. It might be worth having somebody make an evaluation of those things.

But for all that, it may be as “simple” as getting more strength and stability in the hips. Standing poses in general should be good, with focus on integration/engagement vs. stretching further. Single leg balancing poses can be all right, if you can actually hold good alignment without your hip popping out to the side. You can also do range of motion/resistance exercises, for example, lying on your side and lifting your top leg up skyward, away from the other leg. You can use stretchy bands for similar effect.

Meanwhile for the sore muscles, try to see if you can find hard, knotted tender spots. Direct pressure for 30-60 seconds on those points can bring a lot of relief. Rolling over a tennis ball or foam “noodle” is a pretty good way to massage that area, too. Stretching the outer hip might feel good too, but I prefer a rather gentle contract-relax approach, rather than seeing how far you can go - chances are you don’t need More mobility in that area.

#8

I am feeling like shit at ma mum n dads wi bri in Edin, we walked from winch !! Bad idea lol. Yeah jonny gave me a lift wi Malcolm *I think he felt bad coz I didn’t know where I was lol I went to see Keira and she was just sitting in her cot smiling at me so cute ! :slight_smile: xxx

Hi Katie, I’m 20 and for the past 2 years iv been getting hip pain when I wake up every morning and it eases through the day, sometimes still having discomfort at night. I also work in a bar so I’m always on my feet. I went to the doctors and found out it was because I have flat feet. Maybe that’s what u have since ur always on ur feet too. The doctor gave me foot exercises and insoles to wear in my shoes. When I wake up I go for a hot bath and lie on my back and bounce my bum up and down in the water which helps the pain a lot ! Lol :slight_smile: hope u find this helpful?*
Cerri.

#9

Hard to tell without seeing you, but I’d suggest exploring stabilization of the hip and pelvis, as opposed to opening.

With some flexible people, they might be hyper flexible in some areas of the body, but tense and ‘closed’ in others. This will give rise to issues such as you are experiencing. As your mental awareness gos deeper into an asana, you will with time most probably discover the physical (and corresponding mental!) areas which are closed to the movement of prana.

In the meantime, do be careful with your hip, if you’re waking up sore from a previous night’s practice, then work on catering your practice to the point where there is less discomfort the next day.

It is sometimes the case that students feel that they are doing more by physically stretching as much as possible. This is in fact not the case, as one of the principle purposes of asana is to bring the body to a state of healthy balance, which is not necessarily synonymous with extreme flexibility and acrobatic skill. If that were the case, gymnasts would be enlightened.

Not suggesting you are doing this, but work more on alignment of the body to facilitate healing, as opposed to maximum flexibility.

#10

[QUOTE=Rainbow Grace;19790]Hello all,

My name is Katie. I am 23 and have been practicing yoga for a good two years now.
[/quote]
Is this two years of daily practice?

The wonders it has done for me are endless. I have a very stable home practice (I shoot to practice at least 30 minutes a day) and make it out to the studio at most once a week - I am starting a new weekly series this Monday, however.

Does this daily series of yours include exercises that stretch the probelm area?

The reason I write is because I have been suffering from a dull ache in my hips, right at my hip flexors.

What problem area of the hip flexors? There’s lots of muscles in this group?

The pain wakes me up in the morning (especially if I am lying on my sides) and I find it very difficult to walk first thing.

sounds like your body is trying to tell you to not lay on your sides or get out of bed…

I practice many hip openers in my asanas which help to alleviate the pain and stretch it out some, but I feel it is not getting to the root of the problem.

Your hip openers could very well be the root of your problem.

I should let you know that my body is very hypermobile and my hip joints pop.

How long have you been hypermobile?

I have talked with my yoga instructor about the problem and she showed me some of the hip openers I now practice. She also said it might be an internal problem that is showing up in my hips.

Is your yoga instructor a doctor as well?

Also, could it have something to do with a lack of nutrients? I did a blood screening a few months ago which showed my iron levels are low. Everyday I take a multi, B-12, and fish oil.

Most women have low iron levels. Its not much of a concern unless you’re at aenemic levels.

Please give me some insight on this issue. I aspire to teach in the near future and I would really like to overcome this small hurdle. Thank you for taking the time to help.

My insight tells me that you’re impatient and overzealous and have not considered taking a few weeks off from your practice to allow your muscles to heal.

#11

Hi there my names laura and im 22. I 2 am very hypermobile and have hip pain in both hips and now my right knee. I have labral tears in both hips and am waiting surgical repair. My hips also pop and this is a sign of labral tears .

#12

If you have flat feet and are on a rubber mat behind the bar this could make your pes planus even worse. I agree with taking a couple weeks off and seeing how that feels.

I am also not a doctor nor did I sleep at a Holiday Inn last night but I love learning from all of you. This forum is a fantastic resource !