Can Tight Hip Flexors Contribute To Lower Back Pain?

Can Tight Hip Flexors Contribute To Lower Back Pain?  

Have you experienced pain in your hips or lower back? Then you may have tight Hip Flexors. Hip Flexors are the muscles at the top of the thighs that connect with the hips. Hip Flexors enable the movements of bending over and raising your leg. As they are directly connected to the Femur and Lumbar Vertebrae, tight Hip Flexors can often be a leading cause of lower back pain. 

Many office workers experience tight Hip Flexors, as sitting for extended periods of time and lack of exercise can contribute to this pain. While you may feel tightness in your hips, tight Hip Flexors can also result in difficulty walking, lower back pain, difficulty lifting legs and sharp pain across the pelvis area.  

Tight Hip Flexors can weaken the hips and can result in a pelvis tilt. The alignment of your pelvis plays a vital role in your spine alignment and can accentuate lower back pain. Furthermore, having weak hips places additional pressure on your surrounding muscles for your everyday movement. As a result, this can make these muscles become imbalanced and increase your risk of injury.  

How can Physiotherapy help? 

Physiotherapy is an effective method to combat tight Hip Flexors and release hip and back pain. As everyone’s injury is unique, our physiotherapists create a personalised treatment program according to their history, injury and movement abilities. During your sessions, our team focus on strengthening the glutes, hamstrings, abductors and surrounding muscles to improve hip mobility. Our physiotherapists use gentle hands-on treatment and exercises to ease tension, strengthen the hips and improve range of motion. 

At Progressive Sports and Spinal Physiotherapy, our physiotherapists are highly educated and experienced to bring you instant relief from pain and improve flexibility in the Hip Flexors. Book a consultation today to start your journey to complete, pain-free movement. 

Elin, is an alumni of St. Edward’s University and holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, furthered her academic journey by attaining a Doctor of Physiotherapy from Macquarie University in 2022.

Her passion for sports, particularly football (soccer), is evident in both her academic pursuits and personal endeavors. Specialising in the comprehensive well-being of athletes, Elin focuses on restoring them to peak performance while actively preventing future injuries.

Elin’s professional expertise is centered on musculoskeletal rehabilitation, with a specific emphasis on addressing and preventing knee injuries. Her approach integrates expert treatment with a commitment to educating and empowering patients, fostering their active involvement in enhancing their health and overall quality of life.

As an active participant in NPL football with SD Raiders, Elin brings firsthand experience and a profound understanding of the sport’s demands. Beyond the field, she extends her influence by contributing sports coverage over the weekends.

Christopher (Chris) Han graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor’s Degree in Occupational Therapy, and then completed the Doctor of Physiotherapy program at Macquarie University in 2018. Chris is currently undertaking his PhD at the University of Sydney and Institute for Musculoskeletal Health in the field of low back pain and is due to complete this in early 2024. 

Chris is currently an assistant Physiotherapist for the NRL Referees. Chris has previous experience as the head Physiotherapist at Panthers Premier League Netball and a number of elite sporting athletes in the private setting.

Through Chris’ experiences, he has a particular interest in all areas of the body and musculoskeletal physiotherapy, sports, vestibular rehabilitation, and Men’s Health (pre and post prostate surgery).

Suzanne graduated from Western Sydney University with a Bachelor of Health Science (Sports and Exercise Science) in 2015. She then went on to continue her studies at Macquarie University graduating from the Doctor of Physiotherapy post-graduate degree in June 2019.

Since graduating, Suzanne has worked in the local Penrith area in both private practice and Sports Physiotherapy. Suzanne has worked with sporting teams including Penrith District Netball Association, Mt Druitt Rangers (NPL), Penrith Valley Figure Skating Club, and local dance and cheer schools. 

Suzanne has a particular interest in working with artistic athletes including cheerleaders and dancers. She has a professional background in both cheer and dance and has previously worked as both a cheer coach and dance teacher. Suzanne’s previous experiences are an invaluable resource to her as a physiotherapist, as she has a thorough understanding of the level of physical fitness and skill acquisition that these athletes must have in order to be successful on stage and in competition.

Suzanne’s other areas of clinical interest reside in lower limb musculoskeletal injuries, spinal pathologies and women’s health.

Nathanial graduated as a physiotherapist in 2012 which saw him work in private practice and hospital settings gaining experience in all areas of physiotherapy including hand therapy, splinting/casting, pre/post-operative care, Men’s Health and general musculoskeletal, occupational and sports physiotherapy. Since then he has gone on to complete further studies in physiotherapy enabling him to be the only dual titled Musculoskeletal, Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist in Penrith.

Nathanial has a strong background in sports physiotherapy achieving accreditation with NSWIS as a service provider and working with many elite sports teams.

Nathanial has a particular interest in working with elite athletes, complex cases and in particular assessment and management of knee, hip and shoulder pain.

Andrea graduated from the Australian Catholic University completing her Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science in 2018 and Master’s of Clinical Exercise Physiology in 2020. After graduating she attained accreditation with ESSA as an Exercise Physiologist.

During her studies she gained clinical experience in both hospital and private practice settings, in cardiac rehabilitation, neurological conditions, cancer and chronic musculoskeletal injuries.

Since working at Progressive, Andrea has a specialist interest in treating musculoskeletal injuries, helping people in the mid-late stage of rehab to get them to return to sport or work. As well as helping people manage chronic conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis and diabetes.