Hip Pain Care in Amherst
Hip pain can gradually make everyday activities feel more difficult. You might find yourself cutting a golf round short, adjusting your workouts, or thinking twice about a walk that used to feel easy. Over time, those small changes can start to affect how active you feel able to be.
When the Hip Isn’t the Whole Story
Many people with hip pain assume the joint is the problem. Then X-rays or an MRI come back without a clear explanation for what they’re feeling.
At Spurback Family Chiropractic, evaluation considers the pelvis and lower spine along with the cervical and thoracic spine. Pelvic rotation, muscle imbalance, changes in spinal curves, or scoliosis may influence how forces travel through the body and contribute to discomfort around the hip.
How One Imbalance Can Change the Way You Move
Your hip doesn’t function independently from the rest of you. When something changes how you stand or walk, the body compensates.
Possible factors to consider include:
- Pelvic rotation or unevenness that changes weight distribution
- Changes in the curves or alignment of the spine
- Old injuries and compensation patterns
- Tight hip flexors and surrounding muscle imbalance
- Long periods of sitting
- Repetitive loading from sports and exercise
Over time, an altered gait may affect more than the hip. Changes can be felt through the knee, ankle, foot, lower back, or elsewhere as the body adapts.
Seeing What Standard Imaging Doesn’t Measure
Structural imaging is valuable, but it doesn’t measure every aspect of function. INSiGHT™ scanning adds information about nervous system and muscular patterns.
Surface EMG assesses muscle activity along the spine, while thermal scanning identifies temperature differences that may accompany changes in nervous system function. HRV provides another look at the body’s ability to regulate and adapt.
These findings, combined with examination and imaging when appropriate, help build a more complete picture.
Care Based on Your Individual Findings
The evaluation also considers everyday factors such as footwear, sleep position, sitting habits, and hip flexor tightness.
Those findings can influence how chiropractic care is provided. For example, if evaluation identifies significant pelvic rotation, your chiropractor may select an approach that avoids adding unnecessary rotational forces. The goal is to choose techniques based on the individual rather than applying the same adjustment to everyone.
When Cortisone Relief Keeps Getting Shorter
If an injection once provided relief for several weeks but the benefit keeps getting shorter, it may be worth looking at other factors.
Rather than assuming the hip joint itself explains everything, a broader assessment can consider how the pelvis, spine, muscles, movement patterns, and nervous system may be influencing what you’re feeling.
What About Hip Discomfort in Children?
Recurring hip or leg discomfort in children also deserves attention rather than automatically being dismissed as “growing pains.”
Dr. Spurback‘s pediatric evaluation considers the child’s broader history, including birth history, spinal and pelvic function, and other patterns that may be relevant. Earlier concerns such as colic, reflux, or bowel difficulties may also be discussed as part of that history.
The goal isn’t to assume one symptom caused another, but to understand the child’s development and function as completely as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
My hip X-rays and MRI came back normal, but I’m still in pain. What does that mean?
Could my child’s hip or leg pain be something other than growing pains?
My cortisone injections aren’t lasting as long as they used to. Is that a bad sign?
Get Back to More of What You Enjoy
Patients often arrive after months or years of changing workouts, skipping golf, or avoiding activities they used to enjoy. A thorough evaluation can help identify factors that may have been overlooked and determine an appropriate approach to care.
Contact Spurback Family Chiropractic today to schedule your evaluation.
