A late response here - I missed your last update when it was posted.

That's GREAT news about the football match! Congrats for making it through in one piece. How are you feeling about the movement in the joint? Do you think it's something you can live with, or are you going to consider the surgical strengthening option?

With regard to the hip pain, it might be worth having an ergonomic assessment of your work area done. My physio suggested this when I was having shoulder issues last summer, and some of the adjustments were very minor (not sitting with my legs crossed; putting in a keyboard tray) but made a big difference.

The climbing sounds really fun.

Snowy,

Thanks for the congrats on the returning to football, and likewise congrats to you on returning to skiing although you made your return about 2 years ago (so I'm a tad late)  ! 

I think I'll live with the instability. I don't think I could go through another rehab - 2 was enough for me.

I think you may on to something with the ergonomic assessment. I know how I'm supposed to sit, but it's hard to maintain good posture for 8+ hours a day. I've been putting it off, but I think I do need to go back to see a physio for my hip.

The climbing is fun (although also scary), but the main reason I'm doing it is because it is strenthening my leg muscles more than the gym does. It's also for the same reason helping with my shoulder.

Nick,

Good to hear from you too, and that you're progressing well with the running. I know what you mean about trying to re organise your life. I've also been spending less time on KG.

Since I've been doing my glute exercises, I've achieved an awareness of how weak my gluteus medius is and the effect this has on my gait when walking.

My left hip often "gives way" (as in my torso will bend to the left and my hip will move to the right) when I step with my left foot.

Imagine what my gait is like when running ... ! 

No wonder I've been getting a painful hip !

I'm a bit late with my update, but a week ago I saw a podiatrist, and asked her if getting a shoe wedge to correct the leg-length difference would help with the hip pain.

Interestingly, she didn't think there was any signifianct difference in leg length.

She had a look at my orthotics, and suggested that the orthotics may be the source of the hip pain (!) so I should try taking them out of my shoes, and see if my hip pain gets any better.

I've yet to try removing the orthotics, so can't report on whether it's made any difference.

I'll try this weekend, and report back after a week or so.

Well, it seems that the podiatrist was right, and that if I remove my orthotic and replace it with the original insole, the hip pain disappears ! 

The only problem is that because the orthotic is no longer correcting my over-pronation (http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/foot-heel-pain/overpronation) I get pain in my heels - it seems a lot of weight is being transferred to my heels, rather than being evenly distributed throughout the foot.

One massive advantage of not wearing the orthotic in the gym, is that I don't get hip pain while using the leg press.

This suggests that the biomechanics of my leg were being changed by the orthotic to push my femur up into the hip joint causing irritation of the joint capsule. Well that's my guess anyway ...  I suppose I should submit another paper to the Knee Geek Journal of Orthopaedics. 

Hi Deepak,

Glad to see a member with some positive news to post for a change, pleased for you that the orthotics are helping to ease the pain for you and hope you carry on feeling the benefits.

nickwclarke2013@BhamUK