I have a patient at my sports chiropractic Columbia MD office who came to me about 2 months ago. She was a runner, and wasn’t able to run anymore because of right hip pain for the last year. She also could not lift her foot off the ground from a seated position. She was incredibly frustrated with it, because she had been to numerous doctors, only to be told many different things. She was told that she had Avascular Necrosis. Avascular Necrosis, which is a decreased blood supply to the femoral head of the hip bone, leads to degenerative and death of the bone. From emedicine.com, Avascular Necrosis “usually progresses to joint destruction, requiring total hip replacement. In fact, 50% of patients with avascular necrosis experience severe joint destruction as a result of deterioration and undergo a major surgical procedure for treatment within 3 years of diagnosis. Femoral head collapse usually occurs within 2 years after development of hip pain.” Now that doesn’t sound like a diagnosis I would want to hear. Then another doctor told her that she doesn’t have it, but there’s not a lot they can do with her pain. She didn’t know what to do. She was seemingly out of options.
So she was referred to me by a friend of hers. I did an evaluation, and it seemed to me that she had hip dysfunction, both within the femoral-acetabular joint (hip joint) itself, but also in the muscles that connect to the hip. I used Active Release Technique (one of only 3 chiropractors in the area that are certified in the area) at my chiropractic columbia md office, on many of the muscles in the hip region, followed by some mobilization (movement planes) of the hip, and within a few visits, she had regained strength in her hip and decreased pain. She could now lift her foot off the ground and was able to perform her activities of daily living mostly pain free. After several more treatment sessions, she now has full strength and only occasional discomfort in her right hip. Correction of mechanical dysfunction is an incredibly important tool that should be done before deciding on any invasive procedures.
Her quality of life has improved tremendously, and she doesn’t have to have thoughts of getting a hip replacement and being in pain the rest of her life. For more information, go to my website for my sports chiropractor columbia md office.