Managing Hip Pain through Modifications and Exercise

Modify Recreational and Daily Activity:

• Avoid exercises involving repetitive hip flexion, the motion involving bringing your hip or leg up toward your chest.
• If doing squats, keep them shallow and hold off on lunges entirely, until you receive a diagnosis from your doctor.
• Do not work through pain.
• When walking or running, pay attention to pain. If the discomfort accompanies running, then stop. If it occurs with walking, lessen your stride length by taking smaller steps.
• To minimize pain while sitting, open the seat angle so that your knees are below your hips while maintaining good upright posture.

Core Strength Exercise for Hip Pain:

Because of the complex nature of a hip injury, a proper diagnosis is required before proper strengthening exercises can be recommended. In fact, with some hip injuries, routine strengthening and stretching might complicate the problem. However, a core strength exercise won't harm and can actually help to “re-educate” the lower abdominals so that they provide the best support.

• Lie with knee bent up.
• Maintain a neutral/comfortable spine position.
• Gently tighten your lower abdominals initiating from the pelvic floor. If you are familiar with a Kegel exercise, perform a Kegel.
• Tighten up the lower abdominals by gently pulling “up and in” without moving your trunk.
• Hold 5 seconds without changing your breathing pattern.
• Complete 3 sets of 10 repetitions, 5 times a week.

 

Back to Hip Preservation Service