Hip pain & running

[Howldens]

Hello, inspired by a couple of other threads on this board I wanted to ask your advice.

I am age 45 and have recently started experiencing hip pain that seems to either radiate down my leg or is connected to knee pain.

this pain coincided with being hit like a train by a load of other peri menopause symptoms.

I want to start running again (for mental health reasons primarily) and did a 5k yesterday really easily which did not seem to affect hip. Have also started yoga again. For last 2 yrs have been doing resistance training with a PT but want to give that a break.

do you think it’s very bad to ignore the hip pain & try to push through? I really want to try to keep myself sane (this time of year challenging in that regard for me), or do you think I would be an idiot to do so?

thankyou!!

My sister has this and got it xrayed and it’s arthritis. BUT if it doesn’t hurt or flare up when you run, then I’d not stop running. if it hurts, then it’s a bad idea to keep pushing it.

If it is radiating down your leg then it could be coming from something in your back - some stiffness or imbalance.

I would go and see a sports physio.

I get excruciating pain in hips and knees when my muscles are tight I see a sports therapist

I had/have this. Caused by a nerve that is not quite trapped but is being aggregated in my back. And a dodgy disc. I had a steroid injection which has helped enormously.

So could be cased by lots of things, best thing to do is see a physio - and don’t give up just yet??

thankyou!

edited to correct typo

I had this when I started running and a physio colleague recommended glute activation exercises before each run. You can google them, but they’re basically Pilates type glute exercises - leg raises and fire hydrant type things. The theory is you “wake up” your glutes before a run and then the glute muscles power your legs rather than pulling on weaker muscles.

It worked for me, but note that it was just informal advice and I wasn’t examined or anything. Generally Pilates to strengthen your core would be helpful anyway. You can google strength training for runners and find exercises that will help all the muscles that support you when you run.

When you say hip pain, what do you mean exactly, and where abouts in the hips is it? And when you say it radiates down the legs, do you mean down the side?

Sounds like a classic case of ITB issues caused by underactive and weak glutes to me, but can't be sure without more detail. If it is this, it's fixed easily enough (by strengthening your glutes and getting them firing, as @Hobbes8 said).

Thankyou @FeelinTwentySixPointTwo and @Hobbes8

the pain is in the groin at the front - it’s kind of where you would expect an ovary to be. The knee pain is at the front of the knee in the joint.

the glutes activation sounds sensible and the pain did start after a period of focus at work where I would sit for days.

but I think my glutes are likely strong after two years of weight based training with a PT inc zillions of squats, lunges etc …