Hip Pain
Hip pain is most often caused by chronic
stiffness of the hip joint(s). This always leads to
osteoarthritis, and this causes damage to the joint
cartilage and eventually the underlying bone.
Rotation Restriction
The most common restriction is in
rotation of the hip joint. It can also
be restricted bending forward or backward or moving out
to the side. In my experience rotation restriction is almost
always present and must be
addressed.
Chronic Stiffness
Hip joint stiffness is caused by
chronic imbalance of the muscles that control the hip - leg,
pelvic and lower back muscles, and the consequent imbalance
of the bones of the leg, pelvis and lower back.
Long Term
Hip pain usually occurs long after the
stiffness and imbalance has set in.
Stiffness and imbalance are caused by
previous trauma - often so minor, or happened so long
ago, you can't remember it - or long term postural
strain.
Unaware
Your body is so good at adapting
to low grade, chronic problems that you are usually
completely unaware of them for years or even decades.
It's like the clothes on your body, they
are there for so much of the time that you don't even feel
them. Your brain just filters that information
out. That's normal and how it should be, otherwise it
would be a constant source of irritation. Our brains look
after us better than we realize.
Osteoarthritis
The downside of this for us is that
chronic joint stiffness is the forerunner of osteoarthritis,
and that is the cause of most hip pain and degeneration.
Osteoarthritis is a progressive and
irreversible condition. When the damage is done, it is done.
It can't be fixed but it can be managed.
Arthritis is not the only cause of hip
pain. Others include conditions such as Perthes disease,
Pagets disease, bursitis, other types of arthritis, gout,
bone cancer, osteoporosis and fractures. These problems
need appropriate medical treatment.
The Rest of Your Life
If you have arthritic hip pain you MUST
get as much flexibility back into your hip joints as you
can. A few minutes a day, starting today and continuing
every day for the rest of your life.
The Alternative
Sounds like a hassle? Maybe, but consider
your alternative. Increasing hip pain, increasing stiffness,
increasing debility, decreasing mobility, decreasing comfort
levels and a decreasing quality of life. You will hurt
more and sleep less as time goes by. You will do less
of the things that you enjoy and the things you still have
to do will become more and more irksome and painful. You
will become grumpier and grumpier.
Alarmist but
True
Hoping the hip pain and stiffness will
just go away does not work. It never, ever works. Drugs can
help in the short term but they are simply delaying the
inevitable. They do not address the cause, they merely mask
the symptom and let the problem get worse. Use them as you
need to but do the stretching too.
'Great' plan
If you have osteoarthritis in your hip,
your doctor will most likely say to you "Just take more
and more painkillers or antiinflammatories and when you
can't stand the pain any more, come back and we'll cut that
one out and put a nice new hip joint in." The only problems
with that is the years of pain
(often agony) and debility (often crippling), before
you 'qualify' for a replacement, the expense, and the
possible post operative complications!
Stretch
The only way to
effectively deal with chronic joint
stiffness is to get into a habit of regular stretching.
Doing stretches that address your particular restrictions.
Simple, easy and effective.
Ball and Socket
Our
hips are a 'ball and socket' joint. The ball is the top
of your thigh bone or femur and the socket is in your
pelvis. They are hard working weight bearing joints designed
more for stability than mobility.
Rotation is Important
Your
leg can move forwards and backwards and out to the
side. What is not so obvious is rotation. This ability to
rotate is very important.
Rotation is REALLY
Important
When I
treat someone with hip pain they almost invariably have
restriction in rotation. When I correct this restriction the
pain usually decreases and often disappears.
Try This
Stand up. Hang on to something solid. With
both your legs straight, lift one leg just off the floor.
Turn your whole leg in and out a few times. Your foot should
be able to turn in 45 degrees and turn out 45 degrees.
45 degrees each way
If you can see and maybe feel that you
don't have 45 degrees of rotation each way, or that one leg
is tighter in rotation than the other, that is a
problem.
Or This
Lie down on your back on your bed or
the floor. Bend your knees up so your heels are 1-2 feet,
30-60 cm, from your backside and about 2 feet, 60 cm apart.
Let your knees drop as far as they'll go to the left. Let
your right hip lift up as your knees go down, so your spine
twists. See how far your knees go down. Then straighten
back up, then drop them over to the right. Repeat this a few
times.
Ideally, when you go to the left, your
left knee will drop down to the floor and your right knee
will get down as far as your left foot. And visa versa the
other way. If your thighs cant tilt down past 45
degrees, you really need to get those hip joints
moving.
Pain now or pain
later
If you have a sore hip, the chances are
that is the tighter one. Am I right?
If you don't have a sore hip but one is
still tighter than the other, don't be getting cocky because
I can all but guarantee you that it will get painful down
the track. Maybe months, maybe years, but it will become a
problem.
Pay Attention
Noticed a bit of a stiff hip, but followed
up with, "Yeah, but it's not too bad, I can live with
that"? Look out, you'll soon be in big trouble.
Do Something Useful
A really, really useful exercise you can
do is the lying down test I suggested you try just up the
page. Dropping your knees from side to side for a few
minutes before you get out of bed in the mornings - or after
a nice hot shower, and for a few minutes every evening
before you sleep.
The Further Apart the Better the
Stretch
When you do this stretch, the further you
have your feet apart, the more it will work your hip
joints. Breathe out as you drop your knees to the
side, breathe in as you bring them back to the middle and
out again as you drop them to the other side.
Check out my DVD
and video download of how to
do this and many other stretches that can help you have a
much nicer life.
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