Hip bursitis ...any advice?

[Inominate]

Hi guys. I am fairly certain I have hip bursitis, although will not see my gp until late in the month. the pain has been mild for a couple of months . I took a week off running in early January and am not running as far but the pain is getting much worse. After a 2mile run yesterday I am in a lot of pain this morning. It is obvious I need to treat this . If you have had this can you advise. I would rather use a topical cream that non steroidal tablets but this may not be effective enough. Also, how long did you rest from running? Did you do other exercise in the rest period which will not aggregate ? Any advice will be very gratefully received. Thanks.

[misswobble Graduate]

It might not be that. You will not know for sure til you see your doctor. I don't think creams are effective, but I know some here use them. Anti inflams like neurofen, taken only when your muscles are at rest, are good but take a while for the anti inflammatory element to kick in. Ice is great! Ice as and when you possibly can. I like a 20 min soak in an Epsom salts bath, which I do after all of my runs. Two cups per bath

The ice helps with the inflammation which will be causing the pain. I would not run til it's better. If you can walk then I would do that so you keep moving. Not sure about swimming or cycling, but someone here might know more about that 🙂

I hope you get it sorted soon 🙂

[runswithdogs Graduate]

I had knee bursitis two years ago. I think it was a month off running and then easing gently back in, back to short run-walks again. And my physio pushed up the timelines a bit because I had a race that was important to me. Treatment for me was ice, cupping, stretches, massage. It was painful but it worked.

[Inominate]

Thank you both. Yes, ice is a good idea. Might chat to a pharmacist in the interim regarding anti-inflammatories.

[poppypug Graduate]

Hi, I was diagnosed with this 2 years ago. I had a terrible pain in my right hip and it was just too painful to run with. My first port of call was the doctors and he sent me for an X ray to rule out any stress fractures. That came back clear , so I went to see a sports physio who diagnosed it as " trochanteric bursitis "

He also said that my glutes were weak and this was causing the strain on my hip. I was given some exercises to do , eg The Bridge and Clams, lunges and squats and was told not to run for 2 weeks and he suggested Neurofen or Ibuprorfen for the pain.

I went back 2 weeks later and I had a massage ( which was really painful ) but really helped and given more exercises to do. I was told to try a gentle run and at the first sign of pain, stop. I think it took 4-6 weeks to recover from it and Ive never had it since .

I would suggest seeing your GP first , as it may not be this, so best get checked out .

Good Luck and I really hope you get it sorted xxx

[Inominate in reply to poppypug]

Thank you poppypug thats really helpful and informative . For a while I have been cross-training to try to increase core and hip strength as I know I am stronger on one side than the other . Thanks for including the exercises; I do not do the bridge and clams so will look into these .

[poppypug Graduate in reply to Inominate]

No problem If you search for those exercises on You Tube , there's lots of videos on there xxx

[TurboTortoise Graduate]

Like Poppypug I also had a touch of right hip bursitis a couple of years ago. I saw my GP who referred me to a physio who "diagnosed" weak glute/quads on the right - she got me to bend my knees into a squat and lo - my right knee sagged inwards very slightly, which demonstrated that I tended to twist on that side when I ran. Strengthening exercises were the key for me - bridges, squats, single-leg squats (those are hard and took me a while to get the hang of) - and I was able run again pain-free in about a month. I would definitely see your GP to check it out, but no harm in trying out some exercises asap, though make sure you do them correctly with the proper form. I am also a massive fan of Pilates - if you can find a good instructor.

[Inominate in reply to TurboTortoise]

Thanks for sharing turbo tortoise . I have an occasional personal trainer and so may book a session with her in the interim as I can't see my Gp now until Feb.