Your hip aches whenever you roll onto it at night. My name is Geri León, and I welcome San Leandro clients to my Castro Valley massage practice to ease the muscles around joints like that one. Hip bursitis pain is worse when you lie on that hip and when you rise from a chair, and it usually spreads down your outer thigh. So I ease the outer thigh and hip muscles to take load off the sore cushion at the point of your hip and leave the swollen spot alone.
Easing The Band That Crosses Your Hip
The IT band is the long strip of tissue that runs from the top of your pelvis to just below your knee. On its way down it crosses the point of your hip, where the trochanteric bursa lies between that band and the bone. When that band is tight, it presses down on the cushion beneath it. That is why your session includes the outside of your thigh, even though the pain seems to sit right at the point of your hip. I work your gluteal muscles and the length of the outer thigh, where the band gets its tension. Tight muscles pull on the joint and make it worse, and as I help them relax, pressure on the swollen bursa eases.
Understanding Why A Small Spot Hurts So Much
A bursa is a small fluid-filled sac that cushions the place where a tendon or muscle slides over bone. Bursitis is that sac inflamed, commonly from repeated motion or pressure on the joint, though a fall or a bump can set it off too. Once it swells, it hurts at rest and hurts more when the joint moves or something presses on it from outside. Lying on a sore hip presses on a cushion that is already swollen, and the ache climbs above its resting level.
Working Slowly Around The Sore Joint
I always start slow and gentle with bursitis, because forcing pressure makes things worse. I build my pressure only as far as feels good to you, and it goes into the muscles, never the swollen bursa. You set how firm my hands feel, and whenever you say so, I change it or stop. As the area softens, I might add light stretching or gentle movement.
Settling In On Your Comfortable Side
With a sore hip you lie on your other side, so the painful point carries no weight. One pillow to hug supports your top arm, and one set between your knees keeps your top hip and knee level, which takes pressure off the sore outer hip. If side-lying feels wrong for you, you can rest face up with a pillow under your thighs to ease the pull on your hips and lower back. We can change position during your session whenever you need to.
Bringing The Same Care To A Shoulder Or Knee
At the shoulder, a bursa sits between the rotator cuff tendons and the bony top of the shoulder blade, which is why lifting your arm overhead can pinch. With your arm resting on a pillow, I work the muscles across your shoulder blade and upper arm. At the knee, prepatellar bursitis sits in front of the kneecap, and chronic cases usually come from frequent kneeling, hence its old name of housemaid's knee. If gardening or floor work keeps you kneeling, I ease the thigh muscles around that joint. An area that is hot, red or very swollen can signal infection and needs a doctor before any massage.
Booking Work for Your Hip, Shoulder or Knee
Phone me, Geri León, at (510) 409-8598 about the joint that is bothering you. Each sore joint has its own set of muscles around it, so a hip that aches when you roll over and a shoulder that pinches overhead start in different places. I look forward to welcoming you from San Leandro to my Castro Valley practice.
