Do you ever experience hip pain while walking?
If so, you do you are not alone. In our clinic, reports of hip pain while walking is extremely common. There is a variety of reasons why your hips may be hurting. Problems range from arthritis in the hip joint to referred pain from the spine. Sometimes the solution to your pain is very simple.
Quick Hip tips:
1: Always wear good footwear when going for walks. Turn your walking shoes over and check if there are any obvious wear patterns. If the bottoms of your shoe has an obvious slope or if the tread is no longer visible, it is probably time to replace your shoes.
2: Perform lunging stretch and hip cross body stretching. Remember stretching should not provoke pain and you should not stretch so strongly that you are holding your breath.
3: Be aware of how much you are sitting. Being in a seated position tends to shorten the muscle in the front of the hips. If you have a job where you sit alot, you should walk regularly during the day to loosen up your hips. Additionally doing the lunge stretch above will help.
4: Take care of your back. It is possible that your back is referring pain to your hip. You may notice a correlation between your back pain and hip pain. If so, minimize the activities that provoke your back pain.
5: If you are in 6th decade or older there is a good chance that you may have some level of osteoarthritis in your hip joint. Doing water walking is great way to restore motion and decrease pain without your hips taking a pounding. If you are a teenager one of the best things that you can do for your back and knees is to have strong and stable hips.
If your hip pain doesn’t resolve or is limiting your tolerance to activity, it is time to seek medical help. At Siskiyou Physical Therapy we work with patients of all types. It would be our pleasure to help with your pain and dysfunction.
Jon Hill, DPT, Licensed Physical Therapist with Siskiyou Physical Therapy
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