CHARLOTTE – This week I had a client who I’ve been working with on her hips. Originally she came in she was feeling in her hip area. Could it be sciatica?  Remember the sciatic nerve runs from your spine into your glute (or buttocks/hip) area and will radiate pain from the low back down to the knee. When experiencing this type of pain, it’s a common assumption for people to think it’s the sciatic nerve.

Could it be a piriformis issue? Remember, the piriformis, sometimes called the runner’s muscle) can tighten up and cause nerve restriction in between the tailbone and the hip.

But what if it’s not either of these? What if it’s a compression of the vertebrae on a nerve, which then radiates down the hip. My client thought for sure it was a hip issue, and I could definitely feel issues in the hip/gluteal area. Her concern was maybe it was more of a structural issue, as in a hip replacement issue. But her pain eventually was diagnosed as a spinal compression in the lumbar region. Yay for no hip replacement, but the challenge now is how to alleviate the spinal compression.

She’ll go to a physical therapist to help with exercises but what can massage do? We can certainly manipulate the muscles around the spine connecting the lumbar region to the sacram, helping them release and ease any pressure they may be causing. The quadratus lumborum and the erectors are all muscles that can help ease compression.

-Lisa Lane is a licensed massage/bodywork therapist (#13098) in Mint Hill and appointments can be made by visiting her website at www.ncmassagesanctuary.massagetherapy.com.