Best Exercises for Hip Pain

Hip pain can severely restrict your everyday life. Even such routine activities as putting on your shoes, getting out of a chair, and climbing stairs can prove all but impossible. Our chiropractor in Kenosha can recommend some useful exercises for hip pain.

Common Hip Pain Causes and Conditions

Hip joints are more robust than many other joints in the human body, but they can still develop debilitating conditions. If you suffer from chronic hip pain, you may have:

• Osteoarthritis - Osteoarthritis occurs when the cushioning cartilage between bone ends in the joint deteriorates, leading to chronic stiffness.
• A strained hip muscle - If the muscles that support and mobilize your hip grow weak or get pushed beyond their limits, their fibers can stretch or tear.
• Inflammation - Irritation of the hip joint may prompt inflammation, which may then make your hip problem even worse.
• Bursitis - A bursa is a fluid-filled sac that protects joint components against friction. If a hip bursa gets inflamed, you may experience hip pain.
• Poor musculoskeletal alignment - If your body is out of balance, one hip may bear too much of your weight, straining it or encouraging osteoarthritis.
• A fracture - Even if you don't experience an acute fracture injury, stress fractures can develop in the hip joint over time.

Hip Exercises You Can Do At Home

You have more power over your hip pain than you might think. Take a look at the following hip pain relief exercises that you can do in the privacy of your own home.

Stretching exercises loosen and mobilize soft tissues while easing osteoarthritis pain. Examples include:

• Hip flexor stretches - Kneel on one knee with the other knee bent and its foot flat on the ground, flexing your pelvic region to loosen the hip flexor muscles.
• Pigeon pose - Assume an all-fours position with a straight body, then let one knee collapse to the ground next to the wrist on the same side.
• Butterfly stretches - Sit with your thighs angled outward, moving your thighs upward and downward while keeping the soles of your feet touching.
• Leg swings - From a standing position, swing one leg out to the wide repeatedly.
• Yoga squats - From a standing position, bend your knees and then straighten them again to stretch your hip muscles.

Strengthening exercises help your muscles support hip joints more easily, reducing the risk of strains. Do these exercises after warming up with stretches:

• Lateral squats - Unlike yoga squats, you bend one knee as you squat toward one side.
• Donkey kicks - While on all fours, extend one leg backward in a kicking motion.
• Fire hydrants - Fire hydrants resemble donkey kicks except that you kick to one side instead of behind you.
• Glute bridges - While lying on your back with one foot planted, raise your pelvis with the other leg extended.

Let a Hip Pain Chiropractor Help You

Don't try to create your own hip pain exercise routine; you might actually do more damage and suffer more pain if you do the wrong things for your specific condition. Let Dr. Jeranek perform the necessary musculoskeletal exam and prescribe specific exercises for your problem. This approach can help you get the maximum benefit from these exercises instead of possibly hurting yourself.

We Can Handle Hip Pain

If you need more than just exercises for hip pain, Jeranek Chiropractic can provide you with a personalized treatment plan. Contact our hip pain chiropractor in Kenosha.