We have recently had a couple of patient’s come in complaining about hip pain especially with running or HIIT workouts. They describe the pain as deep in the front of the hip and wrapping around to the buttocks. They reported trying

• stretching
• strengthening exercises
• foam rolling
• working with chiropractors and other physical therapists

Despite all this, their symptoms have not gotten better. Thankfully, they ended up here at Legacy Physical Therapy. What we want to highlight today is a common culprit of hip pain that is oftentimes missed. It’s a muscle called the obturator Internus. It is part of a complex of muscles that helps rotate the leg out to the side. The rest of the muscles that do this action are located on the back side of the buttock area, this is the only muscle that dives forward on the inside part of the pelvis. This can put extra strain or stress on the muscle. This muscle is often missed because of its location and how it moves. The obturator internus muscle can frequently get strained into a lengthened or “long” position. This is because of how often people, especially women, tend to sit in a position with their legs crossed or wrapped around each other. The pain may not be focal to the pelvic area, it actually may present closer to the hip socket, so that’s why it often gets confused with hip pain. A test to see if this muscle is a culprit is:

• when you stand up from a chair, do your knees knock together
• when you are doing a squat do your knees dive in together.

These are both signs that your obturator internus muscle is not functioning optimally, it could also mean that some other muscles may have some strength issues going on.