Hip Pain Treatment in Greenville, SC
Hip Pain Treatment in Greenville, SC. Root-cause acupuncture + functional medicine. Dr. Hendry, DAOM, NCBAHM-certified. Call (864) 365-6156.
"Having Cancer and the side effects of the Medicine has made it difficult with the Joint Pain. However by receiving the treatments it has made my outlook and pain tolerable with the help of Dr. Hendry. Highly recommend this practice."
— Margie Halley · April 2015 · Google Review
Deep buttock pain that refers to the outer thigh when you sit too long — that's typically gluteus minimus trigger points, not hip OA, even if you have arthritis on imaging. I palpate the piriformis and all three gluteals at every initial hip pain assessment because these muscles generate referred patterns that are routinely misattributed to intraarticular pathology. Finding the right target means the treatment actually works. When the actual driver is osteoarthritis, acupuncture reduces synovial inflammation and the periarticular trigger point load that compounds joint pain.
How Hip Pain Treatment Works
Hip pain treatment uses local hip acupoints (GB30, GB29, GB34, BL54) combined with dry needling of the piriformis, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and iliopsoas. These muscles contain trigger points that generate the classic hip pain referral patterns extending to the groin, outer thigh, and knee. Electroacupuncture is added for deep joint inflammation.
Conditions Treated with Hip Pain Treatment
Gluteal Dry Needling vs. Cortisone Injection for Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome
Corticosteroid injection into the greater trochanteric bursa has been a standard treatment for lateral hip pain for decades. Recent evidence, including a randomized controlled trial published in JAMA (Rompe et al., comparable model for tendinopathy), has challenged its effectiveness beyond eight weeks and noted the risk of tendon weakening from repeat injections into the gluteal tendon attachment. The distinction between trochanteric bursitis and gluteal tendinopathy is clinically important: if the pain driver is tendinopathy rather than bursitis, an anti-inflammatory injection suppresses the repair response within the tendon tissue, potentially accelerating degenerative change. Dommerholt and Huijbregts (2011) identify active gluteal trigger points as a primary contributor to lateral hip pain that cortisone does not address. Our dry needling protocols target the gluteus medius and minimus insertions and trigger points directly, stimulating a controlled regenerative response within the tendon and deactivating the myofascial contributors. For patients with confirmed bursitis contributing to an acute inflammatory flare, we may use a single injection alongside needling, but repeated injections without addressing the underlying tendon and myofascial pathology perpetuates the cycle of inflammation and functional loss.
Research & Evidence
Hip pain presenting in clinical practice derives from multiple overlapping sources: hip flexor myofascial trigger points in the iliopsoas and tensor fascia lata, greater trochanteric pain syndrome from gluteal tendinopathy, labral tears producing intraarticular catching and groin pain, and hip osteoarthritis with joint space narrowing. Greater trochanteric pain syndrome is among the most underdiagnosed hip conditions, often presenting as lateral hip pain that is attributed to bursitis but driven primarily by gluteus medius and minimus tendinopathy with associated myofascial trigger points. Dommerholt and Huijbregts (2011) document the gluteal trigger point patterns in detail, noting their contribution to lateral hip, buttock, and referred leg pain. Our hip protocols employ precise palpation-guided dry needling of the gluteal tendon attachment and peritrochanteric trigger points combined with acupuncture at local and distal points along the gallbladder meridian, which anatomically overlies the iliotibial band and lateral hip musculature. Functional medicine assessment addresses metabolic contributors to tendinopathy including insulin resistance and vitamin D deficiency.
Your First Appointment
Bring hip MRI or X-ray if available. Wear loose shorts for access to the hip and gluteal region. Describe pain location (groin, outer hip, buttock, radiating) and what movements aggravate it.
Why Dr. Hendry for Hip Pain Treatment
Dr. Hendry's expertise in hip muscle trigger point anatomy — including the deep gluteal and piriformis muscles that are difficult to treat superficially — is developed through 25 years of hip pain treatment and dry needling specialization.