Do you find this hip?
For real, what are the hips?
You have two hips on either side of your body.
The hip joint is a bony structure connecting the femur bone to the pelvis. It provides us with upright posture in sitting and standing.
Our hips also empower a great deal of movement. The hip joint design is a ball and socket creating 360 degrees of movement allowing you to push off your legs to move forward, sideways, backwards and twist any way you want!
The strong muscles that make up the hip joint are the three gluteus muscles, psoas, hamstrings and much more. The hips allow you to create a lot of power and strength to perform activities such as walking, running, stair climbing, jumping, dancing…pretty much everything you do in standing :).
The Hips
Power control center: empower you in motion
Foundation: stabilize your torso on your legs
Movement maestro: when flexible, provide you movement in 360 degrees
Why be so hip?
Why should I love my hips?
Due to the nature of the hip joint biomechanics and the large muscles they house, the hips create the majority of your movement from one place to another. When you are sitting still, the hips are at rest, but anytime you need to move from point A to point B, you better believe your hips are generating that movement. Without intact hip joints, your life is majorly altered.
As with anything we use a lot of, it has a greater chance of breaking down and THIS is why you should love on your hips!
The bony surface of the hip joint can wear over time, largely due to genetics and/or the amount of repetitive stress you have put on your hips in your life. The muscles of the hips can be overused or strained causing asymmetrical alignment and compensatory movement patterns that lead to unwanted discomfort in the body over time if not addressed.
Why should I love my hips?
Hips create the majority of our upright movement
Hips are used so much that they have a greater chance of breaking down
Hip alignment can be altered by previous injuries
Sometimes I’m not feeling so hip.
What are signs I should pay attention to my hips?
Common words used by patients to describe hip pain are “pinching” “aching” “burning” and “tightness.” When these symptoms last more than 5 days or come and go frequently throughout a year, it’s a good idea to get a professional’s eyes on it for an assessment. Also, if you notice that you have started to avoid certain positions or activities that you once loved because of hip discomfort you need to pay attention.
Types of hip pain and what they may mean:
Pinching and aching pain can be a result of a shortened hip muscle or joint issue due to overuse or posture alignment.
Hip muscle tendinitis, commonly on the outside of the hip and bottom of the buttock, comes on as an ache or sharp pain with activity.
Tightness and burning could be symptoms of nerve entrapment and could be made worse with too much hip stretching.
4 signs you should pay attention to your hips
Prolonged symptoms described above
You notice yourself avoiding positions or activities that you once did easily
Stretching hurts more or doesn’t help it “go away”
Feeling as if you are “out of alignment”
How can you help me be more hip?
Long term solutions to common hip problems.
Listen to understand your symptoms, watch you move, test your joints and muscles.
Find a Physical Therapist that takes the time to listen and thoroughly examine your body and how it moves as a whole unit.
Guide you towards better mobility.
It’s not a one stretch fits all here. Specify what hip joint motions and muscles your unique body needs and then get you on a hip mobility maintenance plan you will be motivated to stick to! This could be a 15 minute stretch routine to do daily or a short routine to implement when symptoms start coming on.
Help you build strength by making it fun + purposeful.
Do you enjoy gritting out a 15 minute stair workout at the beach? Do you love your Saturday morning hip-hop dance class? Enjoy running or hiking in the great outdoors? Find your peace + clarity during yoga? Want to head to the b-ball courts?
There are hip muscles to build for all of these sports and by incorporating targeted sports specific exercises into these activities you already love, you will begin to move more efficiently with less pain.
Relieve muscle tension through hands on massage.
A lot of the time muscles need soft tissue mobilization, commonly known as massage, to learn how to relax, repair and recover. Getting on a maintenance type of physical therapy program with massage included, is a really good way to stay ahead of unwanted tightness and poor movement patterns that cause hip pain.
Be more hip by having a maintenance plan
Physical Therapy
Mobility
Strength
Massage