Dry Needling for Hip Flexor Pain: When Stretching Isn’t Enough
Introduction
The tightness and pain into the front of your hips can be frustrating and stretching doesn’t always seem to cut it. Sometimes tight hip flexors don’t need to be stretched, those muscles are wanting stability and a reset.
Dry needling gets to the deep muscles of the hip flexor and along with exercises can give you more real relief compared to constantly needing to stretch.
This blog post will cover what dry needling is, what hip flexor pain feels like, why stretching isn’t enough, and why dry needling for hip flexor pain and exercise may be the key to relieving your hip flexor pain.
What Does Hip Flexor Pain Feel Like?
The “hip flexors” can actually refer to a group of muscles in the front of your hip whose primary job is to … you guessed it… flex the hip. The specific muscles that could be involved in hip flexion are: iliacus, psoas major, rectus femoris, sartorius, and tensor fasciae latae (TFL).
Hip flexor pain can present in many forms and sometimes only shows up during certain movements. If these symptoms describe your pain, your hip flexors are likely involved:
Tightness in the front of your hips
Aching into the groin area
Pain in the front of your hips with prolonged sitting
Running or walking increases your hip irritation
Pain with deep squatting
A muscle that always feels like it needs to be stretched
Stretching the hips only temporarily relieves your pain
Why Do My Hip Flexors Feel Tight Even Though I Stretch?
It’s best to think of tightness as a symptom rather than the problem itself. Sometimes muscles do need to be stretched, but if the tight feeling quickly returns it’s a sign that there is more going on. Hip flexors are notorious for feeling tight when they need stability. They use stiffness and tightness as a way to keep your hip stable, but the only way to let them relax is to use the other surrounding hip muscles to help with hip stability. These hip muscles don’t work in isolation. The core, gluteal muscles, pelvic floor, and lower back help influence the stability and strength of the hip flexor muscles.
The strength and coordination of the surrounding muscles prevents your hip flexors from becoming the workhorse of your hip. Being hip flexor “dominant” leads to tight and overworked muscles that can’t be stretched back into normalcy.
Clinically, we also see lifestyle factors that cause hip flexor tightness. Postural changes with a new job, more time sitting, or of course pregnancy and postpartum. Finding a new hobby or activity such as running, strength training, or cycling can cause an increase in hip flexor work, which often comes with tightness.
What To Do When Stretching Your Hip Flexors Isn't Enough
Stretching may feel good temporarily, but if you feel the tightness or pain come back in, the root cause of the problem has not been addressed.
For more complicated causes of hip flexor pain and tightness, a full physical therapy evaluation is the best way to diagnose your specific problem. A Revive Rehab PT will go through your history, lifestyle, and activities then perform a full exam over the strength, coordination, and motion of your hips. The treatment plan will address your specific impairments and may include dry needling to help your hip flexors reset and relax while improving the surrounding muscles.
Finding the root cause to your hip pain is what will resolve the pain instead of just temporary relief.
What Is Dry Needling for Hip Flexor Pain?
Dry Needling uses a thin, sterile, single-use needle to penetrate the skin and directly target the muscles and connective tissue underneath for pain relief and improved mobility. Dry needling is a safe and effective treatment often used in conjunction with traditional exercise and manual work.
Revive Rehab PTs all have extra training in the effective use and placement of needles to target specific muscles and painful areas.
Dry needling is a part of the picture. It is not used as a stand alone treatment, but can help you find relief more quickly when used correctly.
How Can Dry Needling Help Hip Flexor Pain?
Dry needling has many benefits. It provides:
A muscle reset to the area that may be creating the pain into the hip flexors
Improved blood flow to the muscles of the hips
Faster healing times
Relaxation to muscles that have been tight and guarded
Improved pain sensitivity in the hips
Improved nerve mobility
This helps improve pain so movement can be done afterward with a strengthening and mobility focus.
What Muscles Can Be Dry Needled for Hip Pain?
After a thorough evaluation from a physical therapist, muscles that may be needled include:
Hip flexors
Quadriceps
Tensor Fascia Latae (TFL)
Gluteal muscles
Adductors
Various surrounding hip or low-back muscules
Often where you feel pain isn’t where the true deficit is. That is why it’s important to have a full evaluation to determine the best plan for YOU.
What Does Dry Needling the Hip Flexors Feel Like?
“Does it hurt?” Not really. Achiness in the painful area is the most common complaint, but the normal progression is:
A quick tap of pressure when the needle is placed
You may feel a twitch of the muscles, which is normal and expected!
We use electrical stimulation, which feels like a pulsing or twitching of the muscle repeatedly.
You may feel sore afterward, as if you just had a good workout.
Dry Needling Works Best When Combined With Exercise
Although we love dry needling for pain control and tissue healing, research shows exercise along with dry needling is best practice for relief from hip flexor pain.
It’s our job at Revive Rehab to use your evaluation and feedback every week to customize your exercises and plan of care to fit your lifestyle. We have all kinds of treatments to help fix your hip flexor pain, but they all work best when you feel confident in the treatment plan and the home exercise program you receive from our team.
Targeted treatment of hip flexor pain includes:
Hip and gluteal strength
Core strength and stability
Hip mobility
Strengthening and coordination of the hip flexor muscles
A graded plan to return to (previously) painful activities
Knowing your plan and why it’s important is what will keep the hip flexor pain from coming back months later.
Should You Try Dry Needling for Hip Flexor Pain?
Dry needling with a physical therapist may be beneficial if:
You struggle with constant hip flexor tension
You prefer holistic management of hip pain
Stretching and mobility exercises only help temporarily
Hip pain is stopping you from running, walking, or an active lifestyle
You’re trying to exercise without pain
An evaluation with a physical therapist can help rule in/out what is driving the hip pain and what exactly will target the pain for long-term relief.
How Physical Therapy Can Help
More stretching of your tight hip muscles may be giving temporary relief, but isn’t targeting the root cause.
Dry needling along with a targeted treatment plan specific to you may be what you need for lasting relief for your hip pain.
A dry needling PT can assess:
True hip flexor length
Hip joint stiffness
Hip muscle mobility and strength
Core strength and coordination
Spine mobility
Nerve movement and sensitivity
Lifestyle factors that may be contributing
Treatment May Include:
Dry needling of the hip flexor muscles
Myofascial release around the painful areas
Muscle relaxation techniques
Nerve mobilization techniques
Deep core strengthening exercises
Hip and core strengthening
A comprehensive exercise program
If you’re wondering if “dry needling for hip flexor pain” is for you, you are not alone!
Dry needling in physical therapy can help you get back to the things you love without hip pain stopping you.
Revive Rehab in Columbia, Missouri, is a physical therapy practice that specializes in dry needling for hip flexor pain.
If you are in the Columbia, Jefferson City, Fulton, Boonville, or mid-Missouri area, we’d love to work with you! Click here to learn more about our in-person services.
We offer hour-long, one-on-one, individualized appointments with a physical therapist to get to the root cause of your concerns. We provide a holistic approach for your care. Click the link below if you’d like to book an appointment with us, we’d love to help you on your healing journey!
