Experience Pain in Your Hips? A Guide to Fibromyalgia Pain Relief
Do you suffer from fibromyalgia and experience pain in your hips? Join the club! Unfortunately, hip flexor issues are a fairly common problem with people with fibromyalgia. The good news is there are things you can do to find relief, improve your mobility, and continue to enjoy life.
As any fibromyalgia doctor can attest, the hips, hip flexors and lower back area all correlate with fibromyalgia pain. This is due to trigger points located in the lower back and surrounding areas.
These areas can be problematic because the hip flexor muscles are responsible for a good deal of your daily movement. You engage these muscles whenever you move your legs. You may not realize it, but you continually use your hip flexors, which means if you have afflicted trigger points in this area, you’ll feel a good deal of debilitating pain that can make it difficult to function.
How Hip Flexor Pain Affects Fibromyalgia
Hip flexor pain is known as flexor tendinosis. This pain is associated with either the iliacus and psoas muscles. Psoas muscles in particular are associated with general back and leg pain caused by sitting too long. When you stand and start moving again, this muscle can cause you all kinds of problems, including debilitating pain.
When flexor tendinosis is caused by an injury not related to fibromyalgia, the pain is limited to one particular area. But for those who suffer from fibromyalgia, the pain tends to spread throughout the body. This spreading is generally due to increased inflammation within the fascia and muscle as a result of eating inflammatory “food” ingredients. Please refer to our “do not eat” list. Fibromyalgia is not a disease.
Treating Hip Flexor Pain & Fibromyalgia
One simple way to avoid hip flexor pain associated with fibromyalgia is to avoid sitting for long periods of time. If you work at a desk during the day, make a point of getting up every few minutes, stretching and walking around. You might consider getting a standing desk and vary your working positions between standing and sitting.
You could also invest in an adjustable office chair and change your sitting height frequently throughout the day. Set the chair high so that your hips rest above your knees. This is a healthier position for your hip flexors — it eliminates the pain caused by muscle shortening.
Most fibromyalgia specialists will also recommend consistent exercise to maintain strength and flexibility. These exercises don’t need to be excessive or difficult. A bit of movement and stretching goes a long way.
One exercise we suggest is to bring a chair close to you as you lie on the floor. Cross one over the other, just above the knee, and hold in place. The chair acts as a safe and effective stretching mechanism.
If you learn how to unkink the myofascia causing the pain and stop eating food that is inflammatory to your biology, the pain will mostly go away.
