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Hip flexor and groin pain are among the most nagging and persistent issues active people face. It is the sharp pinch in the front of the hip when you squat. It is the deep ache in the groin after a run or a game of football. It is the stiffness that makes standing up after a long car journey an ordeal.
For many sufferers, the instinctive reaction is to stretch. You spend hours doing lunges or butterfly stretches, hoping to lengthen the tight muscles. Yet, the tightness always returns. Often, stretching actually makes the pain worse.
At Breakthrough Pain & Performance, we understand why stretching fails. The tightness in your hip flexors or adductors (groin muscles) is not a structural shortening. It is a Neurological Decision. Your brain is keeping these muscles tight for a reason. Usually, it is using them to create stability that is missing elsewhere in the pelvis.
We do not just treat the pain. We treat the neurological reason for the tension. By identifying the instability that is forcing your hip flexors to overwork, we can release the tightness permanently and restore fluid, powerful movement to your hips.
The Psoas Major is the most important muscle in the body for hip function. It connects your lumbar spine (lower back) to the top of your thigh bone. It is the only muscle connecting the upper body to the lower body.
Because of its attachment to the spine, the Psoas is a major stabiliser. If your deep core muscles are inhibited or lazy, the brain recruits the Psoas to hold the spine upright. It has to do two jobs. It has to flex the hip and stabilise the back. This double workload causes it to become chronically tight and exhausted.
Furthermore, the Psoas is neurologically linked to the Fight or Flight response. When you are stressed, your brain prepares you to run or curl into a ball. Both actions require the Psoas. Therefore, chronic stress leads to chronic Psoas tension.
We treat the Psoas by addressing both its mechanical and emotional roles. We assess your core stability to take the load off the spine. We also look at your breathing mechanics and stress levels. By calming the nervous system, we allow the Psoas to relax, which instantly relieves the pinching sensation in the front of the hip.
Groin pain is an epidemic in field sports like football and rugby. It is often diagnosed as an adductor strain or Osteitis Pubis. The standard approach is to strengthen the adductors.
However, the adductors usually become painful because they are the victims, not the villains. The pelvis is a ring. It needs to be balanced by the abdominals pulling up, the glutes pulling back, and the adductors pulling down and in.
If the glutes or abdominals are inhibited (which is extremely common in modern lifestyles), the pelvis becomes unstable. The brain senses this instability and panics. It commands the adductors to grip the pelvis tight to stop it from shearing. The adductors are overworked and eventually develop tendonitis or tears.
Treating the adductor without fixing the glute is useless. The brain will just tighten the groin again to protect the pelvis. We use Neurological Activation to wake up the glutes and the deep abdominal wall. Once the brain feels that the pelvis is secure, it voluntarily releases the protective spasm in the groin.
The Psoas muscle shares a fascial connection with the Diaphragm (your main breathing muscle). They meet at the solar plexus. This means your breathing directly affects your hips.
If you are a shallow “chest breather,” your diaphragm is not descending fully. This creates tension at the junction with the Psoas. Conversely, a tight Psoas can pull on the diaphragm and restrict your breathing.
We check the breathing of every patient with hip pain. We teach you Diaphragmatic Breathing. This helps to mobilise the Psoas internally with every breath. It acts as a gentle, rhythmic massage for the deep hip flexors. Correcting your breath is often the missing link in resolving chronic hip tightness.
Many patients are told they have FAI. This means the bones of the hip have a shape that causes them to pinch against each other (a CAM or Pincer lesion). They are told surgery is the only option to shave down the bone.
While the bone shape is real, it does not always equal pain. Many people have FAI shapes on X-ray but have zero pain. The pain usually comes from the soft tissues getting pinched because of poor centering of the ball in the socket.
If the glutes are not working to pull the ball back into the socket, the ball slides forward and hits the bone. We improve the centration of the joint. By training the deep rotators of the hip to hold the ball in the centre of the socket, we can often stop the impingement and the pain, even if the bone shape remains the same.
Hip pain makes driving and walking difficult. Our clinic in Shiremoor is designed to be accessible. We offer free parking directly outside the door. You can drive over, park easily, and walk straight into a ground-floor clinic. This ease of access reduces the physical stress on your hip before treatment even begins.
1. The Release: We use P-DTR (Proprioceptive – Deep Tendon Reflex) to release the protective tone in the Psoas and Adductors. This provides immediate relief.
2. The Activation: We wake up the inhibited Glutes and Core muscles. We ensure they fire before the hip flexors take over.
3. The Integration: We teach you how to move. We look at your squat or running technique to ensure you are driving from the hips, not the lower back.
4. The Breath: We integrate breathing drills to keep the Psoas relaxed during daily life.
This clinic is for you if:
We provide a scientific solution to tight hips.
