Hip pain is frustrating because we need to use our hips to move and when it hurts it prevents us from doing a lot of things such as exercising. When you have Spina Bifida and live with hip dysplasia hip pain can be a sign that you need a hip replacement but not everyone with hip pain will require surgery and sometimes you can make significant progress by making a few lifestyle changes. When I started experiencing hip pain before I had hip replacement surgery, I was not able to cure my pain by exercising more and avoid surgery altogether because there are not a lot of exercises you can do when your hips are completely dislocated. Hip replacement surgery can help a lot of people improve pain but is not something you want to do unnecessarily because it’s a painful surgery. I only had one hip replaced and one of my biggest fears is needing a second hip replacement because that is not an experience I want to put myself through again if I don’t have to. What can you do if you start to experience hip pain? In this post, I am sharing what I would if I started experiencing hip pain.
Dial down the high-impact exercise- Pain is usually a sign that your body is trying to tell you that something is wrong because pain is not normal. If I were experiencing hip pain, I would not add resistance to my walks and would dial down my high-impact workouts because although high-impact exercise can help improve strength it’s not something you want to if you have pain. You want to try and stick to low-impact movements because high-impact exercise can put a lot of stress on your hip that can cause pain which can lead to needing surgery that may have been avoidable. If you are experiencing hip pain decrease the amount of high-impact exercise you are doing or stop it entirely because high-impact movement will do more harm than good. You can exercise when you have mild hip pain and a lot of the time exercise can improve it but be smart about it and don’t do exercises that have a lot of explosive jumps that could increase pain.
See an orthopedist- My orthopedist has told me that it is very hard to break a hip and you really have to be doing something crazy for that to happen but it’s not impossible. If you have been experiencing hip pain for a while that doesn’t seem to be getting better it might be a good idea to make an appointment with an orthopedist to make sure nothing is broken or fractured. If there is a problem it’s not going to get better until you know what the problem is and fix it. If I start to experience hip pain, and don’t usually have pain I always make an appointment with my orthopedist because my disability sometimes makes me not get strong pain signals in certain areas of my body and when I do it’s not usually good. It may be nothing and your orthopedist might tell you are just overstressing it and to dial down your exercise but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Do some hip stretches- Hip pain can be a sign that something major is wrong but sometimes you experience pain because you aren’t active enough and aren’t doing the right kind of exercise. There are not a whole lot of hip stretches you can do when you have hip dysplasia because you are limited to the types of stretches that are physically possible. When I experience hip pain, I don’t necessarily do hip stretches like someone without my disability would because most standard stretches are impossible, but depending on my level of pain, sometimes I do isolated hip exercises. I wouldn’t recommend high-impact movements for people experiencing hip pain because that could make it worse, but doing a couple of light stretches or leg lifts won’t hurt. Joint pain can be a sign that something is weak and all you have to do is a little exercise to improve your pain. Hip stretches do not always cure your hip pain, and you should always listen to your body and stop if you are experiencing more pain. You will never know if your pain is because you aren’t active enough until you try hip strengthening exercises and if you don’t know what to do, you might want to consider physical therapy to learn how to exercise safely.
Try using a heating pad to help relax your muscles– If you have gotten an injury and have swelling I would not use a heating pad and would ice it instead, because heat will make it worse. If you overworked your hip muscles, sometimes applying heat can help relax your muscles and improve pain. When I have hip pain, heat does not necessarily make a whole lot of difference because usually when I have pain, it’s a bigger issue but for most people, it can help.
Stop exercising for a short period– When you start to experience hip pain, people will usually either do more exercise or none at all. Hip pain can be a sign you aren’t moving enough but it can also be a sign that you are doing too much and need to take a couple of rest days. If you are exercising consistently and exercising doesn’t seem to be helping your pain, it might be a good idea to take a rest day and see if your pain improves. Rest days can be hard for some people because it is often viewed as laziness but sometimes it’s necessary if you have pain. Exercising more is not always the smartest choice when you have pain and sometimes your exercise routine is the problem. Take a couple of rest days and see if you get improvement, because sometimes that is all it takes.
Hip pain is frustrating because it doesn’t make you want to move and decreases your quality of life. Surgery sometimes is the only way to improve your hip pain, but most times, surgery is not required, and you can make improvements by tweaking your exercise routine or taking a couple of rest days. Healthy hips are so important because we use them for everything we do, and you don’t want to completely wear them out and cause unbearable pain for yourself. When I exercise, I try not to choose exercises that are going to put a lot of strain on my hips because I have only had one hip replacement and don’t want to wear out my new hip quickly or cause damage to the other one. Hip pain is not fun but for a vast majority of people, it can be managed and sometimes may even go away when you take care of yourself. What would you do if you had hip pain? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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