We had the pleasure of meeting a 67-year-old gentleman who has been suffering with left groin pain. The problem came on slowly buy itself with no injury. He is otherwise fit and active.
He initially went to see a Chiropractor who worked on his spinal alignment for several months. They diagnosed him with a hip flexor tightness/groin strain. This treatment did not help. He was then recommended by his friend to come see us here at Rugby Physio.
Our assessment:
- The duration of the pain
- When it started
- What activities were making the pain worse
- How it effected his sleep
- If he had back pain
- Sporting and activity levels
- How it impacted his life
- Medical history
What we found:
Based on his history of the problem and how it was affecting him, we concluded that this gentleman is suffering with hip osteoarthritis.
A 67-year-old does not often present with hip flexor pain/groin strain.
Groin pain in this age group is linked to either hip osteoarthritis or lower spinal osteoarthritis.
As per evidence based, a letter to his GP was written for further diagnostic work up. This would include a pelvis X-ray and an Oxford Hip Score. In the meantime, we treated him in our clinic.
What our treatment included:
- Hip Mobilisations with Movement glides (manual therapy)
- Taught how to use a stick to take the pressure of the left hip
- Strength and conditioning exercises to focus on muscles around the pelvis, hips and core area which can help take pressure of the hip.
Outcomes:
- Hip X-ray showed Osteoarthritis
- They wanted to continue with physio as the exercises and manual therapy was helping.
- We saw them for 4 sessions, and they were discharged from our clinic with very mild pain. They could manage with exercises to maintain hip mobility and strength.