[Zirbelkiefer]

Hi everyone,

Before I am looking for a doctor/physiotherapist I thought I will try this forum section and maybe you guys can help me because this thing is bothering for a couple of months now: I have a constant „pull“ / “pain” in my quadriceps/hip area. It feels its the hip flexor or musculus sartorious but I am not quite sure. It hurts or lets say its a „uncomfortable“ feeling when I raise my leg.

It appears to get worse from running or leg raises in the gym. Stretching and rolling helped a little bit but not much. Do you have any ideas what else to do? The „pain“ is not severe but its really annoying … The muscle feels like it wants to get stretched but stretching does not bring any release or at least not much. Maybe I am missing a muscle group in my training?

Thank you!

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on July 27, 2019 at 10:37 pm #25573

Is it medial to your ilia (front hip bone)? If so, it could be your psoas muscle, which initiates flexion of the femur (lifting your leg). If you sit at a desk, the psoas is often in a shortened position which also doesn’t help. Often core strength helps, as it sometimes gets overworked if it’s trying to stabilize your trunk while also acting as a prime mover. It could be taking over in running if your hip abductors (outside of the hip) and TFL (a hip flexor that also stabilizes the top of the femur and keeps it from internally rotating) are weak. Two stretches I like for psoas are: low lunge yoga stretch, or lie on your back with your hips at the end of a table or bed and bring the non-symptomatic knee to your chest, letting the weight of your symptomatic leg and gravity provide a stretch to the muscle. While you do those, make sure you’re engaging the deeper core muscles, as any arching of the back will exacerbate it. And a tight psoas can also pull on your spine to arch your back, further reason to keep up with the core workouts.

[Pete Dickinson MS,PT]

Pete Dickinson MS,PT on August 6, 2019 at 9:35 am #26298

Another cause of hard to resolve muscle tightness in the anterior thigh is femoral nerve irritation, especially with impact activities. Some questions would be if your back is tight as well, do you have a history of a back condition. Its unusual for tight muscles to bother you for months on end without some additional causes. Early treatment for back mobility can be helpful, in addition to rolling of the hip and quad to relieve peripheral neural restrictions. Just some additional food for thought in addition to Alison’s excellent comments.
Cheers,
Pete

[Zirbelkiefer]

Zirbelkiefer on August 10, 2019 at 7:15 am #26598

Thank you all for your input. My doc is currently on vacation so I will use this time to try some of your tipps. I will focus within the next two weeks on:
-) suggested stretches
-) back mobilization
-) abductor strengthening
-) foam rolling

Wish me luck
Cheers
Thomas

[Pete Dickinson MS,PT]

Pete Dickinson MS,PT on August 10, 2019 at 11:02 pm #26622

Keep us posted Thomas!
Pete

[jliambrooks]

jliambrooks on August 14, 2019 at 9:44 am #26786

Hi Thomas – I recently ran into a similar sensation, especially when I would extend the pained leg for a reach or a very high step. I asked some peers and they suggested it might actually be a strength issue, in which case I should do fire-hydrant excercises before climbing and on off days to strengthen the hip flexor. After two weeks of doing these excercises 10-20 times on both sides before climbing and on off days, I noticed the pain has subsided and I have a full range of motion. Hope this helps!

LB