Managing Hip Pain
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Articles
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I've written some blog posts chronicling my journey to better hip health:
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Success and (finally) a diagnosis
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Why yoga didn't work
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How the medical system fell short
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Why strength training is key
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Why static stretching doesn't work, and what you should do instead
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Some basic principles
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Making progress
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My Routine
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I keep updating my daily routine. These are exercises I do each morning to improve mobility and train supporting muscles that help my posture. I keep updating it based on both changes to my training needs as well as my evolving understanding of what is needed. The current routine takes about 30 min and has helped move me from 80% hip mobility to between 95 and 98 percent when walking.
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Shoes
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I bought a pair of wide-toe-box, zero-drop shoes when I was in NY and love them. Instantly improved my walking, and I was especially happy to learn one can buy shoes like this which aren't "barefoot" shoes, but actually have some cushioning. If I had already improved my walking by 80% through physical therapy, switching shoes improved things by another 15% the second I started using them. I went back the next week and bought a second pair.
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Diagnosis, Causes, and Quick Relief
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Here are some notes and videos that I kept over the course of my journey. I don't recommend everything here, but it is useful to begin your own research.
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It is very hard to identify the true cause of your problem. This is why the adage “listen to your body” is useless. A pain in your knee might originate in your hip, and vice-versa. (Hip pain can show up in the lower back, shoulders, groin, etc.) Also, it is not uncommon for stiffness or weakness in one area to be masking stiffness and weakness in another, so as you improve one area the other might initially get worse. To get to the bottom of it you need to test and re-test regularly! Ideally you should work with a trained therapist, but if that isn’t an option, these videos show you some of the tests that a therapist might do when evaluating you.
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Even if you manage to find exercises and stretches that relieve your symptoms, it is not unlikely that aspects of your lifestyle could continue to re-injure you if you don’t make changes. In this section I try to sort out some of the latest advice about things like standing vs. sitting, types of beds, etc.
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These are some exercises you can do to quickly get some release for a good night’s sleep.
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Additional Research
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Below are some additional exercises that I found useful while I was trying to figure out my own routine. They might be useful for you as well? Everyone’s problems are going to be different...
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