With EDS, it’s always something, I’m continually reminded

My hip hasn’t bothered me in a while. I guess that means it was about time for it to flare up and remind me that it’s there!

That’s how it tends to go with me and my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). Some ailments are constant, such as the ones in my shoulder, while others tend to come and go. This time my hip hurt a little bit for several days, but not badly. Then I woke up one morning and from then on, as the hours passed, my hip got more and more sore throughout the day.

Regular readers may remember how I initially injured it, tearing my right hip flexor in high school. I remember that it was pouring rain, yet for some inexplicable reason my varsity soccer team was still practicing. There was so much water on the ground that the ball was even floating on parts of the field, but the coach still had us keep going.

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Is an old hip injury contributing to my current pain?

At one point I planted my foot to send a ball from the outside line toward the center and felt the grass give way beneath my cleats. The resulting slide hyperextended my leg, and I could feel something in my hip give way.

It took months for that injury to heal, and to my surprise, it hasn’t been as constant a problem for me as most of my other major injuries. For once, it seemed like something had healed relatively well. But since then, it’ll sometimes flare back up and remind me that it’s not 100% right.

Caring for my hip, again

I’d been in pain before my last massage, mostly because I’ve been running flat out and feeling completely exhausted; that always exacerbates my pain. I knew then my hip was a little sore, but I wasn’t too bothered by it. After my massage, however, when we focused on my back and shoulder (which were by far in the worst shape), I think I was finally able to notice just how much my hip hurt, now that all my other hurts weren’t competing with it.

When my hip flares up, I tend to get a sharp ache that runs along my hip bone, from the top down toward my thigh and then across the line where my leg meets my torso. The muscles in my upper leg are quite tight, as are my glutes, and I think that those tight muscles are also pulling the ball of my hip joint to the edge of the socket, which creates its own discomfort.

The tough part with my hip is how to handle it. Usually stretching is a good idea for tight muscles, but with my EDS, I have to be careful that I don’t stretch beyond the body’s normal range of motion, which isn’t healthy. I can use my muscle roller on my thigh, but that doesn’t work for the structures along my hip bone. I’m hoping that working on what muscles I can will allow some to release and others to calm down as well, especially those muscles I can’t work on directly.

EDS can sometimes feel as though I’m working on a moving target, but I just have to keep moving. This week it’s my hip. Next week it might be my shoulder. Or maybe, if I’m lucky, nothing. But either way, I just keep pushing forward.

Note: Ehlers-Danlos News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Ehlers-Danlos News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Ehlers-Danlos.