Hip Flexor - Physio or ART help.

[Christine_Runs]

Hi Everyone,

I am having some hip flexor issues. I have found a clinic locally that does chiro, art, physio and massage therapy but each is provided by a different practitioner and has a different fee structure/initial consult fee. My hip flexor is causing me pain that is focused on the inside near the pelvic bone but if it is used extensively (running or driving) the surrounding muscle groups start to have issues as well.

In my position, would you recommend I see someone who practices ART or a physiotherapist?

Thank you for any suggestions.

Christine

[VeloCarrie]

I went to a RMT for (please correct my term if it is wrong) myofascial release therapy when I had an acute hip flexor injury last summer. It was really, really effective. I also go to my RMT to get it also once every two weeks for a chronic shoulder injury which really keeps it active and functional.

[PinkLady]

I vote for RMT or chiro who does ART.....ART is my treatment of choice for anything soft-tissue/muscular. If you can find someone who's qualified in myofascial release, ART, *and* Graston all the better, odds are one of the three will do the trick!

[fe.RMT]

If you see a chiropractor or a physio they will usually all charge an initial consult fee due to the extra time needed for a proper interview and assessment. Most RMTs do not charge this way. But be advised that the first time you see an RMT they will interview and assess, so if you book for an hour, you will likely get 45-50 minutes hands on as a result of the time needed to assess. So book accordingly.

All three of the practitioners mentioned have a scope of practice related to soft tissue and joint assessment and manipulation. The chiropractor has the additional scope of being licensed to perform high velocity mobilizations. I personally would check to see if the phsyio has taken the additional manipulative training. You can check that out here: http://manippt.org/find_therapist.php. I find physios trained this way tend to work beyond exercise prescription.

[DonnaRigs]

I liked the ART guy since he was really clear and gave me a straight answer "This should work for your injury, and you will know after three treatments." I found my physio much more wishy-washy "This can take a few weeks, we'll try a few different things". that was shin splints and ITB issues.

Graston and RMT worked awesome for my neck, can't say enough good things...I went from not being able to straighten and turn my head, to feeling fine within a week (about four treatments).

[Christine_Runs]

Excuse me for being so clueless but what is RMT (registered massage therapist??? or something else?)

[Christine_Runs]

I also checked - no Graston or Manipulative trained peeps in Pembroke/Petawawa. There is someone trained in ART however. So it sounds like that might be the place to start.

[PinkLady]

Excuse me for being so clueless but what is RMT (registered massage therapist??? or something else?)

Yup!

Your preferences might depend on your insurance coverages too. Mine has pretty lousy RMT coverage ($200 for the year and requires GP referral) but really good chiro coverage ($500/year with no referral required). I'm fortunate to know both a sports oriented RMT and chiro that do ART, so I will use both to maximize my insurance coverage.

Neither my RMT nor chiro required an assessment appt, and they only cost $40/session. Physio gets a whole lot more expensive, does usually require an even more expensive initial assessment, and for the most part I've not found the typical physio effective at all. I did finally find a really good one that specializes in runners, but not before I wasted a whole lot of $$. I only use physio when I have an injury that's beyond the realm of my chiro's expertise, ie. the stress fracture I had at the beginning of the year, because even the good ones are expensive, and I find a lot of what they (physio) do to be rather ineffective, like the TENS machines.

[Christine_Runs]

Hi Everyone,

So I have an appointment booked with a Chiro on Tuesday. Right now I'm not doing anything as my hip flexor isn't too bad but is seems that every muscle in my upper thigh is hurting trying to compensate. I hope this isn't anything too serious!

[Christine_Runs]

My coverage is:

400$/year for Massage Therapy (referral required)
400$/year for Chiro (no referral)
750$/year for Physio (no referral)

Overall pretty good. Talking to others I work with it seems using chiro (and going well beyond the coverage) is common as sometimes the other 2 just don't cut it. So we shall see. I'm thinking about trying MT too because I feel like my entire body is seizing up

[PinkLady]

My coverage is:

400$/year for Massage Therapy (referral required)
400$/year for Chiro (no referral)
750$/year for Physio (no referral)

Overall pretty good. Talking to others I work with it seems using chiro (and going well beyond the coverage) is common as sometimes the other 2 just don't cut it. So we shall see. I'm thinking about trying MT too because I feel like my entire body is seizing up

Wow, I'm impressed by your coverage!! Mine kinda sucks by comparison:

$200 for RMT (referral required)
$500 for chiro (no referral)
First $500 and the portion that exceeds $1000 (so middle $500 is out of pocket always) for physio (referral req'd)

And they calculate based on the submitted amount, not the payout amount, so coverage is even *less* than stated.

[ceileigh]

I'm self employed - 0 coverage for everything! Sure makes you appreciate plans!

My ART did a course and learned some new techniques on hip release. It is amazing. Totally love it. If you can link in with an ART who knows the techniques to do the hip flexor release then I'd go for it!

[Christine_Runs]

I had my first appointment. She seems to know what she is doing. She also seems to think we can sort this out and that it won't be forever (these appointments) so we shall see. She recommended that I not run this week which is driving me a bit batty but thinks we can revisit that next Monday.

As for the coverage, I'll see if everything goes through okay. I never assume everything will be paid but things seem okay thus far. I pay a lot for coverage (and it drives me nuts that there is no couples rate - because my partner and I are not having children I will be stuck paying a family rate forever, but I digress) and the reason our coverage is this good is 2 reasons. First, our coverage is through a non-profit. Second, most people in my plan do not use their coverage to its max regularly so they can keep it high on the basis that we aren't maxing out on a yearly basis.

[Christine_Runs]

I had my 2nd appointment and then had to drive (later in week) 4 hours to a meeting (so 2 hours one evening, 2 the next morning, 4 that afternoon). I had a bit of pain but very minor compared to normal. I'm skipping the 1/2 I was planning on running today and hoping to start running after my next appointment. Overall, this seems to be working.

Christine