Case study – Online Physiotherapy and Chronic Hip Pain
A 52-year-old female patient was very excited to try online physiotherapy for her chronic neck, shoulder and hip pain of 20 years. She was what you would call an early adopter, someone keen to try the next new thing.
She had been to numerous practitioners and explored different theories including rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain syndrome and diet-related pain, but no treatment gave her lasting relief.
The pain in her left hip (which was her greatest concern) was worse after long hours of sitting, stress and excessive exercise. It was stiff in the morning and she always felt out of alignment. She attributed the pain to years of intense volleyball training and competitions, in particular, a gruelling 12-hour tournament that led to both shoulders becoming inflamed.
Observing her standing posture and mini squats, her shoulders appeared forward and compressed inwards, her pelvis was twisted and the shape of her face and skull appeared asymmetrical. I taught her to correct each area with enough precision to make a hypothesis. The biggest positive impact on the pain, mobility and overall alignment came from correcting her skull and shoulders.
Initial self management and home exercises focused on simple techniques to release deep dural (connective tissue) restrictions in her skull, followed my massage and stretching to ease the compression of her shoulder joints and better align the ball in the socket.
After the very first session, she reported feeling 70% better. Her body felt amazing, increasingly more in alignment, greater mobility of every joint in her body, less pain and greater ability to do sit ups and push ups with more ease that she has had in years. She was able to start cycling for longer periods of time.
On the third session,she was taught stretches to her left hip and thigh muscles. After only 3 sessions, her comment was “no problem at all! Feeling great, I put myself into alignment each day. After this morning’s stretching, I easily did 10 deep squats. I’ve also begun doing push-ups more easily.”
