Is Walking Good for Hip Pain?
When you struggle with pain in your hips, it can affect your movement capabilities and disrupt your everyday life. It’s important to identify the condition or cause behind your pain first so you can determine what your next steps are.
Depending on the cause of your hip pain, walking might be a great way to help. If this is the case for you, there are several tips you can master to get the most out of your walking sessions on the road toward feeling your best.
What Causes Hip Pain?
It might take some time to figure out why your hips hurt, whether from injuries, arthritis, stiffness, or a different factor.
Several common causes of hip pain are as follows:
- Acute injury: If you suffer an acute injury from falling, twisting, or receiving a blow, hip pain might result.
- Arthritis: Hip arthritis can affect people of all ages, although it is seen most commonly in older individuals. This frequently leads to pain in the upper buttocks, groin, and outer thigh areas.
- Bursitis: Bursitis is a condition that describes inflammation of the bursae, which are small fluid-filled sacs that are meant to cushion your joints.
- Infection: While not a common cause, infection can occur when bacteria or other organisms penetrate your hip bone or joint. This is a serious condition that must be addressed right away.
- Sitting for long periods of time: When you sit for an extended period of time, whether because of your job or lifestyle, it can contribute to tightness, weakness, disc problems, circulation issues, stiffness, and other problems.
- Tears: In the case of a hip labral tear, deep pain will be felt in the affected areas, including the hip and groin.
- Tightness/stiffness: If your body is stiff or tight, it can lead to hip pain. This might happen from a lack of movement, intense exercise, bad posture, aging, and even stress.
Can Walking Help with Hip Pain?
For select conditions, walking can relieve hip pain. It’s important to note that every case has exceptions, and it’s always best to seek professional guidance to make sure that walking is a productive solution for you.
Arthritis
If you are experiencing pain from hip arthritis, walking can be a great way to help. It can help to reduce inflammation and stiffness, improve your range of motion and strength, and keep your joints lubricated.
However, if you have severe arthritis or symptoms that have become debilitating, treatment is required before you can reach this step.
Sitting for extended periods
Walking might be exactly what you need for hip pain relief when you regularly sit for long stretches of time.
The best part is that you don’t have to take extremely long walks. Even short walking breaks at work or quick sessions before or after can make a difference in how you feel even on the busiest days.
Tightness/stiffness
General tightness and stiffness in your hips can be combatted with lots of different movements, and walking is an easy one you can incorporate into your daily routine.
This also helps with joint lubrication, strength building, and increasing blood flow.
Proceeding with Caution and Important Exceptions
Some conditions that affect your hips require caution with movement, and some will actually worsen from walking.
Acute injury
If you have an acute hip injury, resting first is imperative. A professional might also recommend ice, medication, injections, and other treatment options.
They may also suggest physical therapy for a safe, supervised transition back to movement once you start to find relief. Thus, walking might not be the first course of action, but it might come into play in the future.
Bursitis
Similarly, bursitis is often treated with rest, medication, ice, injections, and other methods as recommended by a specialist.
Short walking distances might be okay, but longer distances may lead to exacerbated symptoms. If you experience worsened pain after walking, it’s best to stop for the time being.
Infection
In the case of an infection, the first course of action is to promptly seek professional care to prevent the infection from spreading and causing permanent joint damage.
This is one instance where walking would not be an immediate solution. After infection treatment, a physical therapist can determine next steps for moving safely again.
Tears
Walking can make hip labral tears worse, especially when the walk is too long or intense and depending on the severity of the tear.
Taking short walks with caution might be safe as instructed by your doctor, but you should stop if you feel sharp pain at any point.
Walking Tips
Once you’ve been cleared by a professional, try implementing these walking tips:
- Improve your posture: Standing tall, relaxing your shoulders, engaging your core, and gently swinging your arms can improve your walking posture.
- Start slow: From walking at a slower pace to taking shorter walks, it’s wise to start slow and build from there.
- Stretch: Dynamic hip stretches can help with flexibility, blood flow, and injury prevention.
- Take short steps: Try to keep your strides short to avoid placing excessive strain on your hips.
Local Hip Treatment
We are dedicated to providing high-quality care at Orthopedic Specialists of Idaho.
We understand how taxing hip pain can be, and we’d love to help you find real relief and get back to moving in the ways you love. Our team can help you determine the cause of your pain and the course of treatment, as well as offer guidance on when walking is beneficial.
To find out more, connect with us, and we can determine the right solutions for you.