Living with hip pain can be frustrating and debilitating, especially when it has an effect on how you go about your daily routine. You may find it difficult to simply walk upstairs or get adequate sleep. Dealing with this type of discomfort can even put a strain on relationships with the people who care for you every day. Whether the cause of your pain is due to an injury or a medical condition, your doctor may recommend hip replacement surgery if all other options have been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, pain after hip replacement surgery can occur as well.

As with any surgery, it’s normal to have concerns before you undergo any procedure. It’s important to know, though, that the benefits often outweigh the possibility of complications and pain after hip replacement surgery. This post covers the information you need to know regarding pain after hip replacement surgery. We also discuss ways to cope with it and things to be aware of during your recovery.

What are normal amounts of pain after hip replacement surgery?

During a hip replacement, your surgeon will remove damaged sections of your hip joint and replace them with artificial parts made of metal, ceramic, or plastic. In the long run, these parts should improve your range of motion and reduce any pain you currently experience. However, like any surgical procedure, a hip replacement can cause short-term pain.

It is difficult to determine how much discomfort you will experience after surgery because every person and case is unique. Always talk with your doctor about the type and severity of pain you’re experiencing during your recovery and follow their directions for pain management.

Typically, many patients may find relief from over-the-counter medications, such as Tylenol (acetaminophen). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers 2,000-3,000 milligrams per day to be safe, but you should consult with your doctor regarding an appropriate regimen for your specific needs. For example, if you are elderly or have a history of liver problems, you will need a smaller dose.

Many patients won’t find relief from over-the-counter medications and will need a prescription for something stronger. Your doctor will determine if a prescription pain killer is appropriate for your pain management and will provide a schedule of how much you should take and how often.

Recovery restrictions after hip replacement surgery

You can expect to spend about three days in the hospital following surgery, though you may need to stay longer if your doctor recommends it. Your doctor or a physical therapist will discuss precautions you should be aware of for the weeks after your surgery. During this time, you will usually need to use crutches or a cane to stabilize your movements to prevent further injury.

Your physical therapist will also help you learn how to use a shower bench and raised toilet seat to make daily functions easier during your recovery.

Patients with a desk job can usually return to work within a month, but physicians don’t recommend driving for several months. If your job requires more extensive physical activity, you will have to plan on staying home a number of months.

In terms of an overall recovery, you can expect to feel mostly back to normal within three months, but a full recovery can take approximately one year. Your doctor will be able to anticipate specific restrictions you may face due to your current condition and medical history.

Additional challenges for men

Recent studies show that women often have better outcomes than men following hip replacement surgery. Researchers looked at 97,000 cases of hip and knee replacements at an Ontario hospital and found that men:

• Were more likely to make a trip to the emergency room within 30 days
• Suffered from more heart attacks
• Needed revision surgery more often
• Were more likely to suffer a serious infection after surgery

If you’re at a higher risk for complications, make sure to talk to your doctor about all of your concerns.

Where will I feel pain after hip replacement surgery?

You can expect to experience some discomfort in the hip region itself, as well as groin pain and thigh pain. This is normal as your body adjusts to changes made to joints in that area.

There can also be pain in the thigh and knee that is typically associated with a change in the length of your leg. This is one of the many reasons why it’s important to closely follow a physical therapy routine following your surgery. You will be asked to do various exercises during the day. Some patients continue to work with a physical therapist at home to learn how to correctly sit, stand, get out of bed, and walk. This process can be invaluable to get your mobility and strength back.

While it is common to experience some pain at the site of your incisions, new advances in technology have made this aspect of the procedure much easier. Smaller instruments allow for incisions of just three inches, rather than the larger incisions that were necessary in the past. This improved technique allows for less damage to the muscle and soft tissue. This can reduce the level of pain you can expect to experience after surgery.

How long does hip replacement pain last?

Every patient’s recovery time is unique based on several personal factors. Most people, though, experience surgical pain for approximately two to four weeks following hip replacement surgery.

Your activity level, medical history, and any pain you’re dealing with before surgery have an effect on how long it will take you to make a full recovery. If you don’t have other health issues, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, you can expect to recover faster.

Most people report feeling better every week as they continue to do physical therapy stretches and exercises. You may still need to adhere to a continuous schedule of pain medications after surgery. Doctors also recommend sleeping with a foam wedge between your legs for about three months. This can help stabilize your hip at night.

Why am I still experiencing pain?

Nearly 200,000 people in the U.S. undergo hip replacement surgery every year, making it one of the safest surgeries to perform. In fact, the success rate is incredibly high with only 2% of patients reporting surgical complications like joint infection.

However, if you are still experiencing significant pain after surgery, you should contact your surgeon as soon as possible to find out what is causing the pain to persist. This will ensure that treatment is given in a timely manner to prevent further damage. If pain persists beyond what is considered to be normal, it could be due to one of several risk factors.

Hip replacement surgery pain causes may include:

• Infection
• Fracture
• Dislocation
• Change in leg length
• Loosening
• Aging prosthetic hip joints

Let’s look at these in more detail.

Infection

An infection most often occurs at the incision site, but is easily treated with antibiotics. A more serious internal infection may require another surgery to remove the artificial parts that were put into place.

Fracture

Unfortunately, it is possible for the healthy parts of your hip joint to fracture during surgery. While these will often heal on their own, larger fractures may need to be corrected with additional parts, such as pins or metal plates.

Dislocation

Certain positions can cause your hip to dislocate when the ball of your new joint becomes dislodged. In that case, your doctor will give you a brace to keep your hip in place. Some cases may require additional surgery for stabilization.

Change in leg length

While your surgeon will do several things to avoid this problem, sometimes a new hip can cause one leg to be longer or shorter than the other. Muscles surrounding the hip can be the culprit of this condition, but strengthening and stretching may help.

Loosening

It is considered rare because of medical advancements and the prosthetic parts used today, but it is possible for your new joint to have issues becoming fixed to the bone. In other cases, they simply loosen over extended periods of time. Surgery is needed to fix this type of complication.

Aging prosthetic hip joints

For patients who have undergone a hip replacement at a young age and remained relatively active, it is possible for the parts to wear out over time. New implants are making this increasingly rare, but a second hip replacement may be necessary in some cases.

What treatments can help chronic hip pain?

It’s important to talk to your doctor if you are still experiencing pain that affects your day-to-day life months after surgery.

Once the cause of your pain is established, there are a range of options available to help you get the relief you need. It is best to try non-invasive treatment options before turning to revision surgery or more invasive forms of pain management.

Physical therapy and rehabilitation

Exercises, stretches, training, and conditioning can help ease pain and improve your range of motion. Many patients recovering from hip replacement surgery tend to limit normal movement and activity due to pain, but this can increase your risk of further disability.

Working with an experienced physical therapist will guarantee that you have a routine designed specifically with your personal recovery in mind.

Transcutaneous electrical nervous system (TENS)

This non-invasive treatment option involves the placement of pads containing electrodes on your skin above nerves. These electrodes then emit electrical impulses that can block pain signals.

Only mild side effects from this treatment have been reported. This may include redness, burning, or stinging of the skin under the pads and temporary muscular discomfort. Because of this, this treatment can be used on older patients suffering from osteoarthritis and osteoporosis as well as others who are trying to avoid medications.

Medications

Whether you’re experiencing mild or severe pain, your doctor can help you devise a medication plan. NSAIDs like aspirin can manage acute cases of pain by inhibiting inflammation in joints and other tissues. However, NSAIDs can be harmful if taken long term. Side effects include gastric ulcers, acid reflux, and kidney damage.

If all other therapy options have failed, your doctor may consider opioid painkillers, such as morphine or oxycodone. Due to the highly addictive nature of these drugs, a pain specialist will assess your situation and any risks before prescribing this type of medication.

Nerve blocks and radiofrequency ablation

Pain-blocking injections can inhibit the pain signals of spinal nerves that serve the hip region. When a nerve block is administered, you will be numbed to reduce discomfort before the specialist uses imaging techniques to ensure an accurate injection. This will directly target the hip joint to reduce pain and inflammation.

Radiofrequency ablation is another procedure in which nerves are prevented from sending painful signals. This method may provide pain relief for a number of months by using thermoelectric energy to disrupt parts of the nerve responsible for pain signals.

Spinal cord stimulation

If the previous methods discussed are not successful, your doctor may recommend spinal cord stimulation.

This procedure involves the placement of a device within a targeted area of the spine. The implant includes electrodes that emit an electrical signal that overrides pain signals of the nerves responsible for a certain area, such as the hip joint. This is often connected to a control device outside the body. There, the patient can manage pain-correcting signals as needed.

Surgery

For most people, hip replacement surgery successfully improves hip pain and their overall quality of life. However, additional surgery may be needed if the pain persists and all other methods of pain management have proven to be unsuccessful.

This is often considered a last resort due to the invasive nature and additional recovery time. Your doctor will decide if this is necessary in your specific case.

Get help with your pain

At Arizona Pain, we are proud to offer a team approach for pain management. We offer on-site chiropractic care, behavioral therapy, a procedure center, and more.

If you are experiencing pain due to hip replacement surgery, make an appointment with our award-winning physicians to learn more about your treatment options. We are eager to help you find the relief you need so you can get back to living your life.

Hip bursitis is a painful, inflammatory condition of the largest weight-bearing joint in your body: the hip. Hip bursitis can have a dramatic impact on how you move about your day – literally. This is what you need to know about this condition.

What is hip bursitis?

Hip bursitis is a condition that causes hip pain ranging from moderate, occasional twinges to a nearly-constant, searing ache. Confusingly it is often caused be either too much activity or not enough. The reason for that comes down to the anatomy of the hips.

Your hip joint is large and weight-bearing, allowing you to move fluidly through your days at a variety of paces. Your pelvis, on the other hand, is the large, bony structure that connects the top of your skeleton through the spine with the bottom of it at the femur bone.

At the top of your femur bone, two rounded protruding bones—the femoral head and the greater trochanter—connect with the pelvis via the acetabulum. The femoral head nestles into the bowl of the acetabulum (the ball into the socket, respectively), with the greater trochanter sitting outside of that space.

Muscles on the outside of this ball-and-socket joint stabilize these structures, as well as ligaments and tendons inside and around the joint itself. One of these muscle groups, the iliopsoas, connects to the head of the femur bone and inserts into your lumbar spine. Ligaments that attach bone-to-bone further stabilize the joint. Lining the acetabulum is the synovium, a thin, lubricated membrane that helps your femur to glide smoothly in the socket.

Finally, fluid-filled sacs—bursa—provide further cushioning and help ensure comfortable movement in this area. These bursae are the key to hip bursitis. When these bursae become irritated or inflamed, hip bursitis symptoms can flare up. Bursa may also lose fluid over time, allowing bone to rub painfully on bone.

Types of hip bursitis

There are two types of hip bursitis, both named for the location of the irritated bursa:

1. Trochanteric bursitis: Occurs when the greater trochanteric bursa are inflamed
2. Iliopsoas bursitis: Occurs when bursa tucked under the iliopsoas become irritated and painful

With over 150 bursae throughout the body, most people experience bursitis at some point in their lives. But, because the hip a highly mobile and weight-bearing joint, hip bursitis is the most common type of bursitis that people experience.

Trochanteric hip bursitis is more common in older adults, but iliopsoas bursitis is seen more often in adolescents and young adults.

What causes hip bursitis?

Hip bursitis can occur naturally as we age due to wear and tear in the hip joint over time. Beyond this, there are six other common causes of hip bursitis, including:

1. Repetitive motion
2. Overtraining
3. Abnormal gait
4. Sedentary lifestyle
5. Injury due to lack of warmup before physical activity
6. Accidents
7. Related conditions

Let’s look at these in more detail.

Repetitive motion

Hip bursitis due to repetitive motion is most common in professional athletes, like marathon runners or long-distance hikers.

High-impact exercise that is repeated frequently is tough on your hip joints. Bursitis may occur in the hip and knee joints simultaneously in the case of these repetitive motion injuries.

Overtraining

Overtraining could be considered a repetitive motion injury as well.

Weight-lifters that perform hundreds of squats with extra weight place tremendous stress on their hips and the muscles, ligaments, and tendons of the hip joint. When done incorrectly or without scaling up slowly, this could lead to bursae issues.

Abnormal gait

Many of us are born with one leg slightly longer than the other. In more severe cases, though, we grow into an abnormal gait. This might occur if we have an injury in another part of the body and adjust our weight slightly to accommodate it, becoming a habit over time. Or maybe the shoes we wear alter our walk enough to unevenly distribute the pressure in our hip joint.

Whatever the reason, when we make allowances for injury or pain in the lower body, the hip joint often bears the brunt of the imbalance over time. The result is an abnormal gait that may be nearly imperceptible but just enough to lead to hip bursitis.

Sedentary lifestyle

If hip bursitis is a wear-and-tear condition that can be caused by excessive activity, how is it possible that a sedentary, inactive lifestyle can also cause hip bursitis symptoms?

The average person in the U.S. sits an average of ten hours a day. In a seated position, your hip flexors become shorter while your glutes and hip rotators become longer. With these structures so dramatically altered by a sedentary lifestyle, the tissues in the hips can become rigid, inflexible, and susceptible to tears or injury. Even minor tears can result in inflammation in the hip bursae, causing hip bursitis that is painful and made worse by more sitting.

Injury due to lack of warmup before physical activity

Injury due to lack of a warmup is an especially big risk for weekend warriors who come off the couch for an occasional game of tennis or touch football.

People who exercise regularly are often used to making a warmup part of their exercise time. Those who do too much action too quickly may not. This can lead to irritation and pain in the hips.

Accidents

Accidents of all kinds, including falls, car crashes, and work-related injuries, are another common cause of hip bursitis (and disability).

Many people ignore minor aches that occur after a fall or other type of accident, only to find themselves with hip bursitis symptoms a few days later.

Related conditions

Certain conditions can also increase your risk of bursitis. These include:

• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Diabetes
• Thyroid disease
• Bacterial or viral infection
• Tuberculosis
• Gout

What are common hip bursitis symptoms?

Hip bursitis symptoms have one thing in common—hip pain—but the quality of the pain and where it occurs depends on the type of bursitis, as do other symptoms.

Trochanteric hip bursitis symptoms

The pain of trochanteric hip bursitis is felt primarily on the outside of your hip. It can also move to the thigh and wrap around to the buttocks.

Pain may be searing and sharp, or it may be a constant dull ache. Many report that their pain increases when they touch or palpate the painful hip. Other activities that can cause this type of pain to worsen include:

• Walking up stairs
• Standing up from being seated in a deep chair
• Getting out of a low-slung car

Iliopsoas hip bursitis symptoms

Iliopsoas hip bursitis is also called “snapping-tendon” syndrome due to one of its hallmark symptoms: a snapping feeling or noise that occurs when the hip flexes.

Pain may begin in the front of the hip and radiate across the buttocks and down the leg. Some patients report pain that is worse in the morning but that subsides with gentle movement throughout the day. Over time and left untreated, this pain may get worse as the day wears on. It may also increase with certain activities, like lifting the legs or walking up and down stairs.

Another set of symptoms that can occur in both trochanteric and iliopsoas hip bursitis is swelling that is accompanied by fever and warmth in the painful area. In severe cases, this could be a case of septic hip bursitis, an infection of the bursa. Any infection in the body can cause serious issues. If you’re suffering from this symptom, talk to a doctor immediately.

Getting a hip bursitis diagnosis

Most often, a hip bursitis diagnosis starts with a medical history and physical examination.

Your doctor will take your complete medical history. This will help them determine if there are risk factors or any accidents or injuries that may have led to pain and inflammation in your hip joint.

Your doctor will also do a physical exam that includes a gait analysis and palpation of the tender area. Once they determine the type of pain and where it originates, they may confirm a diagnosis with an MRI.

In most cases, X-rays are not necessary, as they do not show the soft tissues of the body. If your doctor suspects a bone spur is forming in the hip joint, though, they may order an X-ray to confirm.

How to treat hip bursitis: 8 approaches 

In the most severe stages of hip bursitis pain, the best treatment is rest. Inflamed and painful bursa need time to recover. An extended rest period may do more harm than good, though.

There eight hip bursitis treatments can typically help ease inflammation and get you back in action. As always, follow your doctor’s instructions for recovery and case.

1. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen sodium can ease pain and inflammation at the same time. This can allow you to participate in other treatment approaches, like physical therapy.

Follow your doctor’s dosage instructions, as too many NSAIDs over time can be damaging to your gastrointestinal tract.

2. Cold therapy

Icing your hip, especially if you’re suffering from septic bursitis, can bring profound relief.

Follow a 20-minutes-on, 20-minutes-off schedule, completing some gentle stretches in between.

3. Walking

Although walking up and down stairs with either kind of bursitis may cause more pain, walking on a level surface is typically a good and low-impact way to rehabilitate hip bursitis.

Walking is also an easy exercise that combats the epidemic of sitting. Start slowly and gradually add either speed or distance (not both at the same time) as you feel better.

4. Physical therapy

Adding physical therapy to the mix can be a great way to heal hip bursitis, especially if you suffer from an abnormal gait that is learned and not anatomical.

A physical therapist can teach you a better gait pattern. They can also offer stretches and strengthening exercises to better support your hips.

5. Prescription antibiotics

For septic bursitis, prescription antibiotics are necessary to resolve the infection. Take antibiotics as directed.

If approved by your doctor, also consider adding probiotics to your diet while taking antibiotics to help repopulate your beneficial gut flora.

6. Draining the bursa

If bursa are infected, the infected fluid can be drained to provide relief. This is not a treatment generally used unless the bursa are infected.

7. Injections

When other conservative measures have failed and pain persists, your doctor may recommend a hip injection to help relieve your pain and inflammation. Corticosteroids and anesthetic medication are injected into the hip to provide immediate pain relief. Although pain may return when the anesthetic wears off, the steroid then kicks in to reduce inflammation that is causing pain.

While many patients find long-lasting relief after just one injection, others may need to receive more than one. With this approach, it’s always best to couple it with physical therapy to resolve the underlying cause of your pain.

8. Surgery

Most cases of hip bursitis recover from the therapies listed above well before surgery becomes a consideration. If conservative measures fail, though, you still have options. These may include:

• Bone spurs procedure: If you have developed bone spurs, your doctor can surgically remove them to ease your pain and swelling
• Bursectomy: Painful bursa are removed, sometimes in conjunction with an iliotibial (IT) band release
• Repair of tendons and IT band release: For hip bursitis due to a torn tendon, surgery to repair the tendon and lengthen the IT band may help speed healing
• Osteotomy: An osteotomy procedure removes a bit of the greater trochanter to minimize its contact with the acetabulum

Arizona Pain knows that surgery is rarely the first treatment choice for hip bursitis. Get in touch today to discuss all of your pain management options for this conditions. We can help.

Joint pain can range from a mild ache to severe, life-altering pain. And because your joints are so crucial to everyday activities, any level of joint pain can have a significant impact on your health, mood, and quality of life. Read on to learn more about common joint pain causes and what you can do to relieve your pain.

Where do most people experience joint pain?

You have joints all over your body. Any place where one bone connects with another, a joint is there bringing them together. This includes everything from the ball-and-socket joints connecting your legs to your hips, to the hinge joints in your knees and fingers.

Where you experience joint pain will depend on what’s causing it, but some joints are more susceptible to certain conditions than others. Osteoarthritis affects 27 million people in the United States, making it the most common chronic joint condition. Osteoarthritis can affect any joint but is most common in the knees, hands, back, and hips.

Other conditions tend to target other joints. Tendonitis, for example, generally occurs in the legs, arms, and feet, and bursitis often affects the hips, knees, elbows, and shoulders. We’ll discuss each of these in more detail below.

Bilateral vs. unilateral pain

Many of your joints are part of a “set,” so to speak. In other words, you generally have two of each, and it is possible to experience pain in the matching joints on both sides of your body. This is called bilateral joint pain. Other people experience unilateral joint pain, or joint pain that only happens on one side of your body.

Whether your pain is unilateral or bilateral may change over time, and for a variety of reasons. Sometimes this happens as you attempt to compensate for the painful joint. If your left foot hurts, you are likely to move differently, putting more pressure on your right foot while walking or standing. This additional pressure can eventually result in pain in both of your feet.

Other times, the shift from unilateral to bilateral pain is part of the disease’s progression. According to a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders in 2012, 80% of people with osteoarthritis in one knee (unilateral) will develop it in both knees (bilateral) within twelve years.

What causes joint pain?

The causes of this type of pain are as numerous and complicated as the joints themselves. Here are a few of the most common ones.

Arthritis

Arthritis is perhaps the most well-known cause of joint pain. There are many different kinds of arthritis. What they all have in common is that they cause your joints to become swollen, causing pain and a variety of other symptoms. Older people are more likely to develop arthritis, but it can affect people of all ages.

Among the most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. However, there are many other varieties. Ankylosing spondylitis usually, but not always, affects the spine. Gout is another form of arthritis that, rather than causing constant pain, flares up for days or weeks at a time before subsiding. It most often affects your big toe, though occasionally symptoms manifest elsewhere in the foot and even in other joints.

Injury

This can refer to unpredictable, one-time injuries, such as a fall or an accident. But more often, joint injuries come about from gradual wear and tear rather than a single event.

If you engage in a lot of physical activity, especially activity that involves repetitive movements, you are at increased risk of hurting your joints. A sport like gymnastics or a job that involves a lot of lifting or bending are examples of activities that may result in joint injuries.

Bursitis

The bursa are fluid-filled sacs that cushion your joints. When they become inflamed, they cause joint pain.

Bursitis is often the result of many small injuries brought about by repetitive movements. For example, if your job or hobby requires you to reach over your head a lot, you are more likely to develop shoulder bursitis.

Tendonitis

Your tendons connect your bones to your muscles. Sometimes, a tendon becomes inflamed, and this condition is called tendonitis (also spelled tendinitis).

Tendonitis can be caused by overuse, injury, or another condition, such as arthritis.

Fibromyalgia

This potentially devastating condition affects women more than men. It may be caused by another medical event, such as an illness or infection, although this isn’t always the case.

One of its most distinguishing traits is chronic pain throughout the body, especially in the joints. Other symptoms include chronic fatigue and memory problems.

Lupus

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that affects everyone differently.

For many people, lupus means joint pain and stiffness, especially in the hands and knees.

Previous surgeries

Surgery can be an effective method of treating conditions too serious for more common treatments. But it is also very traumatic for your body.

Symptoms like pain can linger for a while after the operation. And if you’ve had an operation on your joints, such as a knee replacement, you will likely suffer from joint pain for a while afterward.

Depression

Not all joint pain causes are physical. It is an established fact that mental illnesses, such as depression, also lead to physical symptoms.

Depression can cause a variety of physical symptoms in addition to joint pain, including insomnia and changes in appetite.

4 common joint pain symptoms

As if joint pain on its own isn’t bad enough, it is often accompanied by a host of other, equally troublesome symptoms. Here are four of the most common.

• Stiffness is a very common complaint among joint pain sufferers. You might have trouble bending the affected joint, especially when you first wake up in the morning.
• Swelling is the result of too much interstitial fluid, or the fluid in the tissue, building up in one area. It usually happens when an area has been irritated or injured, such as by an injury or a chronic disease like arthritis. If you have swelling, your joint(s) will appear larger than normal.
• Warmth often occurs in tandem with swelling. An excess of interstitial fluid causes them both. Your joint may appear red and feel warm to the touch.
• Finally, weakness may accompany your joint pain. You may find it difficult to perform even simple tasks, such as lifting a gallon of milk or buttoning a shirt, that you once performed with ease.

Is joint pain serious?

The severity of joint pain will depend on a variety of factors, including the cause of pain, how long you’ve had the condition, and how long you’ve gone without treatment.

Some joint pain causes will resolve over time with proper treatment. Others will never go away completely and may even get worse. Arthritis, for example, is a degenerative condition; the symptoms will continue to worsen over time.

If you are experiencing fever, prolonged or extreme swelling, and/or joint pain severe enough to prevent you from performing your regular activities, see your doctor right away. This is true regardless of what’s causing your pain: if you have these symptoms, it’s time to go to the doctor.

How do I get a joint pain diagnosis?

Only a doctor can officially diagnose the cause of your symptoms. At your appointment, your doctor will go over your medical history with you. They might also recommend running diagnostic tests to figure out the cause of your joint pain. The exact nature of the tests will depend upon your other symptoms.

For example, different blood tests are commonly used to diagnose arthritis. To diagnose lupus, on the other hand, your doctor will likely run several tests designed to diagnose other conditions with similar symptoms. Once all other possibilities have been eliminated, a lupus diagnosis can be made.

X-rays or CT scans are also used in cases of joint pain. These tests provide a clear picture of your bones and can show if there is any deterioration or damage.

In general, the earlier you get a diagnosis and begin treatment, the better chance you have of preventing permanent damage and ensuring the maximum possible recovery for your joints.

How do you treat joint pain?

There are many ways to relieve joint pain. You may have already tried some of them. If your current treatment plan is working for you, there’s no reason to change it. If not, one or more of the joint pain remedies listed below may be worth a try.

Before experimenting with new treatments, always talk to your doctor to ensure that each treatment is safe for you. Some could actually worsen symptoms or lead to more damage.

Medication

Over-the-counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen, can help in many cases of joint pain. But when these medications aren’t enough to relieve joint pain, your doctor may prescribe something stronger. This is especially true in cases of depression or lupus, when more specialized medication may be required to keep symptoms under control.

Regardless of whether the medicine you take is prescription or over-the-counter, take care to read all instructions and to never take more than the recommended dose.

Heat/cold therapy

Heat/cold therapy is a simple treatment that has the potential to work wonders on your joint pain. Whether you use heat, cold, or both will depend on what’s causing your pain.

The Cleveland Clinic recommends heat therapy for arthritis, since heat generally works better in cases of chronic pain. Do some research and talk to your doctor about which treatment is best for you.

Rest and exercise

Exercise and rest can both be very effective joint pain treatments. Of course, if you’re experiencing chronic joint pain, the prospect of resting is probably much more tempting than exercising. And in some cases, that instinct is exactly right!

If your joint pain is caused by an injury or a condition brought about by an injury (e.g. bursitis), resting and giving your joint the chance to properly heal is usually more important than exercising it—at first.

Once the affected area starts to feel better, you can generally begin physical activity again. Exercise is also important in cases of chronic joint pain; it strengthens your joints so they feel better longer. There are numerous gentle exercises designed for people with chronic joint pain. Always talk to your doctor before beginning any exercise or stretching program.

Lifestyle changes

Maintaining a healthy weight may also improve joint pain. Being overweight puts extra pressure on your joints, while being at a healthy weight can improve both your joint health and your overall health.

In cases of gout, avoid seafood, red meat, and alcohol. These increase the amount of uric acid in the blood, which in turn can lead to a flare-up of gout.

Physical therapy

A physical therapist is someone specially trained to help people whose injury or illness has reduced the range of motion in a joint or limb. They will examine the affected area and guide you through a treatment regimen.

A physical therapy regimen will likely include several of the treatments mentioned above, including exercises and lifestyle changes. Physical therapy can help reduce pain and increase your range of motion.

Injections and surgery

In the more extreme cases, when none of the treatments listed above are working, you may consider injections or surgery. Neither injections nor surgeries are first-line joint pain remedies. The overwhelming majority of joint pain causes do not require such drastic measures.

However if you’re still suffering in pain, cortisone shots are often used when pain is caused by inflammation, such as arthritis. This treatment can help ease your pain and allow you to undergo physical therapy or another program to correct the underlying cause of your pain. However, long-term use of this treatment has potential side effects. It’s important to go over the pros and cons with your doctor before making a decision.

Surgery may be necessary in, for example, especially tough cases of bursitis, tendonitis, or arthritis. Which surgery your doctor chooses for you–and whether you are a candidate for surgery at all–will depend on the cause and severity of your joint pain.

If you are in Arizona and suffer from joint pain, the team at Arizona Pain can help. Contact us today to learn more about that potential causes of your joint pain and how to treat it.

Hip and leg pain is a broad category of conditions that can range from acute soreness due to a minor injury to long-term chronic pain that can be the result of a disease or disorder. Because of the varying causes of hip and leg pain, there are a number of possible treatments as well, all dependent on the cause and severity of the condition.

How many people suffer from hip and leg pain?

It is estimated that nearly two million people in the United States seek emergency room treatments for sports injuries each year. Sports injuries are most often associated to injuries to the legs.

Basketball injuries top the list, with over 90% of individuals seeking treatment after an injury in this sport being men. Bicycling, football, and baseball were the next three most common sports causing injuries on the list. Children between the ages of six and 19 made up 20% of all sports injury related emergency room visits.

However, not all sports injuries are treatable by emergency room visits and some more minor injuries can be treated with rest and at-home care. There are also other conditions that can lead to hip and leg pain. Many of these are related to the hip itself.

How does the hip work?

The hip joint is a ball and socket joint, where the femur connects to the pelvis. The top of the femur is a round ball, which fits into the socket (acetabulum) formed by the pelvic bone.

The ball is allowed to glide and rotate within the acetabulum because a group of ligaments and muscles support the joint and inhibit over extension or malrotation from occurring. Also, within the joint is a synovial lining, which provides lubricating fluid to decrease friction, produced when the joint is in motion.

Any condition that irritates or inflames this joint, like arthritis, can also lead to pain.

What are the major causes of hip and leg pain?

The hip joint is a large weight-bearing joint attaching the leg bone to the pelvis. It allows the body to walk, run, and sit. The most common causes of pain in the hip and leg include:

• Sports-related injuries
• Motor vehicle accidents (MVA)
• Falls in the elderly
• Arthritis

Leg pain from sports injuries

The most common hip and leg pain issues are caused by minor sports injuries for most of the population. This can lead to:

• Muscle cramps
• Sprains and strains
• Fractures
• Shin splints

Each of these conditions can be treated at home with rest and a few simple at-home remedies.

What are muscle cramps?

Muscle cramps are a common condition that can be persistent and painful. They are often referred to as a “Charley Horse” when felt in the calf muscles. Caused by an involuntary contraction of the muscle, the sensation of a muscle cramp is a muscle that will not relax. You may even feel spasms in the affected area. Muscle cramps can occur after a sports injury and they are often related to nutrition and hydration.

When exercising, running, or playing sports, it is important to stretch the muscles properly before beginning and stay hydrated throughout the activity. To relieve a muscle cramp as it is happening, you may want to stretch the muscle, apply heat, drink more water, or take an over-the-counter pain reliever.

Typically a muscle cramp will go away on its own, but if the pain persists, there may be some concern about nerve damage or another malfunction that is causing the muscle cramps. If the cramps reoccur frequently, you should talk with a doctor about them.

What are sprains and strains?

The diagnoses of sprains and strains are among the most common sports injuries, but what do these terms really mean?

A sprain is the stretching or tearing of the ligaments that connect our bones. It is generally caused by some trauma, directly or indirectly, that stretches or ruptures these ligaments. This can be the result of a fall, a blow to the body from another player, or overstretching the leg during the game. Sprains will usually heal with rest and self-care. This may include compression, ice, and elevation as well as the use of over-the-counter pain medications. If an injury is more severe, surgical correction may be necessary.

A strain is an injury of the muscle or the tendons that connect the muscles to bones. Strains are more commonly caused by a repetitive motion or overuse of the muscles in the leg. To prevent a strain, athletes and individuals exercising are advised to take the proper breaks. Strains can also be caused by falls and contact with other players. Strains are treated similarly to sprains with compression, ice, and elevation.

What are shin splints?

The primary sign of a shin splint is an aching or throbbing in the shin, the front area of the lower leg just above your foot. They can be caused by swollen and irritated muscles, a stress fracture, or flat feet. They are most common for runners or dancers.

In general, shin splints will heal on their own. You can treat them at home with:

• Rest
• Ice
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs)
• Compression
• Arch supports for your shoes

If the pain persists, you may want to talk to a doctor and have them do a complete physical examination of the area to determine if there any additional underlying problems. They may also recommend physical therapy.

What about more serious injuries, like fractures? 

A leg breaks when a force great enough to break the bone is applied to the limb. It is a common sports injury, but can also occur due to a car accident or a fall. The treatment for a broken leg will depend entirely on the severity of the break.

A leg fracture can occur in the femur, located in the thigh, or the tibia and fibula which are the two bones that make up your leg from the knee to the foot.

There are several categories of fractures, including:

• Open or compound: The bone ruptures the surrounding muscles and skin
• Closed: The broken bone does not protrude
• Incomplete: The fracture does not break the entire bone
• Complete: Both bones in the lower leg are broken through
• Stress or hairline: A crack in the bone

Stress and hairline fractures will generally heal on their own without the use of a cast. For more severe breaks, medical intervention is required to set the bone and allow it to heal properly. Some broken legs will require surgery if the break is extreme.

How will my hip and leg pain be diagnosed?

Diagnosing patients with hip and leg pain is never straight forward and is often difficult, as many of the symptoms are similar to other conditions. The first step is taking a comprehensive history and physical exam.

Several aspects will be covered in the history and some of the most common questions your doctor will ask you are:

• Where is the pain located?
• How long has the pain been there?
• What were you doing when you first noticed the pain?
• Is there anything you can do that alleviates the pain?
• Are you currently taking any medications for the pain? Do they work?
• Is there any family history of arthritis or other autoimmune diseases?

After conducting a full history and physical exam your doctor may want additional studies, including radiological films and blood work. Imaging techniques are useful because your doctor is often able to see pathology inside the affected joint.

Diagnostic tools

Common imaging techniques to evaluate hip and leg pain include:

• X-rays: A diagnostic test using an electromagnetic energy ray to produce images of internal tissues.
• CT scans: A diagnostic test that combines X-rays with computer technology to produce cross sectional views of the body. This is helpful because it helps to visualize detailed images of the body, including the bones, muscles, and organs.
• MRI scans: A diagnostic image that uses large magnets and a computer to produce detailed images of the structures within the body. This is even more detailed than the CT scan or an X-ray.

Your physician may also request a blood test, and may need to evaluate the consistency of the fluid accumulation in the joint.

Treatments for hip and leg pain

Most of these leg injuries fall under the category of acute pain. These conditions will heal on their own without lingering, long-term effects. Acute pain can be treated at home, as discussed previously, or with medical intervention.

Once the injury heals, you can normally resume full activity. However, if any pain from an injury continues for longer than three months it has crossed classification from acute to chronic pain. Patients dealing with chronic leg pain after an injury may need to seek more advanced treatment to stop or alleviate the pain long-term.

If you have experienced a sports-related injury, such as a muscle strain or a shin splint, talk with your doctor about the best care for your situation. If home care and rest doesn’t improve the condition, discuss more advanced treatment plans.

Physical therapy 

The most common and recommended methods for treating arthritis are conservative alternative therapy provided by a pain specialist. Staying active and physical therapy have also proven to be beneficial.

Physical therapy has been noted to significantly improve postural stability in patients suffering from hip osteoarthritis.

Hip and leg injections

Intra-articular joint injections are also rapidly gaining popularity and use in the treatment for arthritis because of their success, minimally invasive nature, and long-acting effects.

Speak with your pain physician today to determine the best way to improve your hip and leg pain. After conducting a full history and physical exam your physician may want additional studies, including radiological films and blood work.

Have you experienced a leg injury that had led to acute or chronic leg pain? To learn more about how we treat hip and leg pain, contact one of our doctors today. 

As people age, the natural flexibility and fluidity of the youthful body begins to fade. However, if you make the effort to maintain that sense of flexibility, you can often reap the benefits of better joint health for years down the line. Taking as few as five minutes per day to do stretches for hip pain can improve your joint health and enhance flexibility. In this post, we’ll cover some of the greatest benefits of hip stretches, how you can get started with them safely, and then share 29 of our favorite stretches at the end.

The benefits of doing stretches for hip pain

Nobody is immune to muscle and joint tightness: especially in the hips, and especially as people get older. Even athletes in excellent physical shape often lack flexibility, which can increase the risk for injury. Taking time to stretch can also improve your performance by increasing your range of motion and reducing recovery time, according to Summit Daily news.

For non-athletes and older people, maintaining flexibility is an important part of overall health. Many people mistakenly believe that age automatically brings with it joint and hip pain, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Focusing on a mix of strength and flexibility exercises encourages a healthy skeleton that enjoys a full range of motion while supported by strong muscles. Personal trainer Kirsten Stuart tells the Summit Daily that for many of her older clients, the biggest issue they face is staying pain free. She says:

“As we continue to get older, we start to ignore the aches and pains and push through that. Those aches and pains get a little bit more twingey and a little bit more painful…Then the twinges and aches and pains become injuries. The more proactive we are in our lives to create a smoother transition into aging, the more we’re all going to benefit.”

Ideally, a person maintains a life-long program of stretching to stop problems before they start. However, it’s never too late to increase flexibility. No matter how inflexible you are to start, there’s always a chance to improve and reap the benefits of reduced pain and greater mobility.

The following video gives a greater overview of how hip pain occurs, and how stretches can help prevent or manage some of the causes of this condition.

How does flexibility promote hip health?

When we think of flexibility, we often think of touching the toes or maybe the ability to do deep back bends. But flexibility is defined as “the ability of a joint or series of joints to move through an unrestricted, pain free range of motion,” according to the University of California, Davis.

When viewed this way, flexibility is integral to our hip’s health because pain free movement equals healthy joints. Keep in mind that balancing flexibility and strength is important. A joint that’s too flexible is more susceptible to injury, especially if the surrounding muscles are weak, offering little protection.

For older people who may be working to reverse muscle weakness and joint stiffness, starting a fitness program that targets both flexibility and strength will help them achieve more pain-free movement. For instance, strong and flexible hamstrings help to stabilize the knee joint and protect it from injury. On the other hand, tight muscles can result in pain elsewhere in the body. Tight calf muscles sometimes lead to tendinitis in the knee, according to UC Davis. Tightness in the pelvis, especially from sitting all day, can lead to hip pain.

Stretching encourages the health of joint cartilage, which is at risk of degrading as people age, resulting in arthritis, according to UC Davis. Even for those who already have arthritis, stretching may help to stave off further joint damage. Stretching helps to increase the blood flow to the joints, bringing necessary nutrients and synovial fluid, which helps joints move smoothly. Brent Sands, a sports and strength training specialist, tells the Summit Daily that stretching helps to reduce soreness from exercising, allowing people to return to the gym faster regardless of age.

How do I start a stretching routine safely?

When beginning stretches for hip pain, make sure to start slow. It’s easy to overstretch, which can result in injury and require a prolonged period of resting that sets you back from achieving flexibility goals. However, try to stretch daily, or at least as often as possible. Continued stretching is necessary to see a benefit. If you stop, you could lose the gains you made. But even if you stop, it’s never too late to start again.

Make sure to only go into the following stretches for hip pain as far as feels comfortable for you. You should feel a stretch and possibly discomfort, but never any sharp pain, especially in a joint. At the beginning, you may feel a deep stretch with only slight body movements. That’s fine. Over time, with continued practice, your flexibility will deepen. Let repetition be your effort, and let gravity do the work.

Maintain each stretch for anywhere from 30 seconds up to two minutes. Longer holds are ideal to maximize the effects, especially with large joints like the hip that require time to open up. Spend equal amounts of time on both sides of the body, or possibly a little longer on the side that feels stiffer. It’s also natural for one side of the body to feel tighter than the other. Try to avoid forcing the stiff side into a deeper stretch, instead approaching stiffness with patience.

Try to maintain long, even breaths throughout the stretch. This will help you identify if you’ve gone too far, and also help the body relax, signaling to the muscles and joints that it’s okay to release. Come out of the stretch slowly, especially if you’ve held it for a long period of time.

Add in a warm-up

Incorporating some warm-ups or stretching after exercise can be incredibly helpful as well. It’s always best to stretch a warm body, so consider starting off with even five minutes of cardio.

Consider beginning by walking for five minutes around the block. This can help you get warmed up before you start stretching. Walking is generally safe, but see how you feel the next day. Sometimes it takes time for any pain or soreness to set in.Then, consider stretching for 15 to 20 minutes after working out, recommends Sands, the strength training specialist. It’s fine to complete the same stretches every day.

Gaining fitness while staying safe requires finding your edge, that place that’s slightly beyond your comfort zone but not so far it causes injury. Ultimately, it’s better to move too slow than go too fast and injure yourself. Just do what you can. That rule applies for everyone, but especially for seniors, people with chronic pain, or those who haven’t exercised in a while.

Get professional help 

Consider visiting a personal trainer or physical therapist who can help you design the right stretches for hip pain to target your personal areas of stiffness. A professional can also help you avoid any movements that are contraindicated for health issues you may have. For example, if you have back pain, it’s generally a good idea to avoid rounding the back. This means you should stretch the hamstrings while lying on the back as opposed to folding forward, which can put pressure on the lumbar spine.

For optimal results, counteract stretching with strengthening moves to make sure the muscles surrounding important joints don’t become overstretched, increasing the risk of injury.

29 stretches for hip pain 

Try out the following stretches for hip pain to see which ones help you reduce your pain and discomfort. If you suffer from moderate to severe chronic pain, always talk to your doctor before attempting any new stretches or exercise regimens.

Dig into 9 hip openers

Maybe you’ve been to a yoga class in which, at some point, the instructor declared a certain position to be a “hip opener.” Or perhaps your physical therapist recommended “hip-opening” stretches or exercises — maybe he or she even showed you a few to perform at home on your own. But what does “hip opener” really mean?

Remember, that the hip joint is a ball-and-socket type of joint. The “ball” in that equation is the head of the femur, aka the thigh bone. The “socket” is the socket of the pelvis. Multiple muscles attach themselves to the femur in the area of the hip joint, and these are the muscles that benefit from hip opening exercises. Some muscles run between the femur and the pelvis, the femur and the lumbar spine, the femur and the sacrum, and so on. When you perform a hip opener, you’re stretching these muscles, in other words, elongating their muscle fibers and increasing their flexibility.

The overall goal of hip openers is to improve mobility and increase flexibility. When we practice hip openers, we’re also lubricating that hip joint, which keeps it healthy. If you’re a runner, cycling enthusiast, dancer, or sit at a desk all day long, you know how tight your hips can get if you don’t periodically stretch them out. Here’s our favorite hip opening stretches that even beginner’s can use.

Try out these 17 yoga poses for hip pain

These poses from Prevention.com and BeachBody.com range from the ultimate beginner’s poses to more advanced postures you’ll want to work up towards (we’re looking at you frog pose!). Follow the guidelines for any stretches for hip pain while you attempt these: go slow, back off if you feel any sharp pains, and practice modifications with blocks or towels if you need the help.

You’ll work through the following poses and more by clicking the links above:

• Happy baby pose
• Pigeon pose
• Thread-the-needle
• Lunges
• Hero pose
• Goddess pose

Work on hip and lower back pain with these 3 stretches

Finally, one of our favorite set of stretches for hip pain comes from Kai Wheeler, a personal trainer. This video gives a great overview of stretches you can do to relieve pain in the hips, lower back, and buttocks. It focuses on releasing pain in the piriformis.

Remember, always start slowly when working into these stretches for hip pain. With consistent work, a slow build-up to higher intensities, and a focus on how your body is feeling you can start a regimen of stretches for hip pain that is safe and effective. It can help you reduce pain in your hips and increase your overall flexibility, strength, and stamina.

If you suffer from hip pain that doesn’t respond or get better from trying these stretches, it might be time to talk to a certified pain specialist who can help you identify the source of your pain and suggest treatment options that could work for you. To get started, call a pain doctor in your area to talk about the options you have, or read more about how interventional pain management works here.’

Hip pain is a common type of pain suffered by many people in the U.S. The location of the pain can offer clues as to its cause as well as keys to its treatment. Read on to learn more about the most common hip pain causes.

What are the most common hip pain causes?

The hip is a ball and socket joint of the body. Hip pain can involve the actual joint itself or the soft tissues, muscles, and tendons surrounding the joint. If the pain is located inside the leg or groin area, the pain most likely originates within the ball and socket joint itself. If the pain is located on the outside of the hip or wraps around the back to the buttocks, the muscles, tissues, or tendons in the area are probably the source. Hip pain can also radiate up the back and down the leg, causing what is called “referred pain.”

The hip, a ball-and-socket joint that ranks as one of the body’s largest, sustains a great deal of wear and tear throughout the day. Because it’s designed to move back and forth while supporting your body, a healthy hip can withstand a large amount of usage. It can even withstand a certain level of impact without causing pain.

Over the years, however, disorders such as osteoarthritis and bursitis can develop. Other skeletal conditions, including osteoporosis, can affect the hip joint, leading to pain or other, potentially more serious damage. Hip pain affects about 7% of U.S. adults at any given time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

You can learn more about hip pain causes and treatment in the following video..

Who suffers from hip pain? 

The demographics of hip pain, including who has it and its economic impact, are changing with advances in treatment options and changes to the healthcare system.

It is difficult to accurately assess the number of people who suffer from hip pain because many never seek medical treatment, choosing over-the-counter (OTC) medications to cope with the pain instead. A 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found that approximately 116 million people in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain, some of which is under treated by medical professionals. An estimated 2.5 million people in the U.S. have total hip replacement (THR) surgeries, which gives some idea of the issue, but many more have untreated pain in that area, or pain that is not resolved with surgery.

Age

There has been an increase in THR treatments, up 73% from 2000 to 2009, with a 123% increase for patients ages 45 to 64 and 54% for ages 65 to 84. The largest increase in surgical interventions occurred in the younger age group. THR is also rising for patients younger than 45 due to year-round athletics and other repetitive motion injuries. Hip pain in adolescence can be successfully treated non-surgically if it is diagnosed and treated early.

Hip pain may also be underreported in some groups. Elderly patients are more likely to suffer from hip pain but less likely to report it.

Race and income status

There is also evidence that minority and low income patients do not report hip pain as often as it is experienced. This may be partly due to the expense associated with seeking treatment, as well as the perceived stigma of reporting pain in general.

In a 2014 presentation to the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), lead study author Jacob M. Drew, MD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School said:

“While shifts in age strata seem to be ongoing, race and gender distribution have remained relatively stable for…THR. This suggests that well-documented racial disparity in total joint replacement (TJR) persists, and that there remains a substantial population in whom TJR is underutilized.”

Whatever the demographic, the economic impact of pain is skyrocketing. Chronic pain is the number one cause of disability in the U.S. According to the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA), one in six people are living with chronic pain.

The cost of chronic pain

The IOM report “Relieving Pain in America” puts the economic cost of chronic pain at an estimated $560 to $635 billion annually.

It is difficult to allocate a percentage of that number to certain types of pain, but because hip pain causes typically affect mobility it stands to reason that the price tag for hip pain is high.  According to the results of a National Health and Wellness survey, individuals who suffer from osteoarthritis, a common source of hip pain, were less likely to be employed and highly likely to be on disability. Missing work due to pain or being perceived as unemployable due to pain can be devastating financially to individual families and society as a whole.

Beyond the dollar signs, the cost of chronic pain is personal and rising. People with chronic pain are more likely to be depressed to the point of attempting suicide, and there are social costs as well.  Christopher L. Edwards, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine notes in a WebMD article:

“The [social] costs are incalculable. How do you estimate the value of lost self-worth? How do you estimate the loss of family, friends, and a sense of accomplishment?”

Common hip pain causes

Common hip pain causes vary widely and have many options for treatment. Hip pain can be caused by arthritis, including juvenile, rheumatoid, and osteoarthritis. It can also be caused by injury to the joint itself, as in a hip fracture or dislocation, or it can be caused by injuries to the soft tissues and tendons surrounding the joint. Bursitis, tendonitis, inguinal hernias, and sprains or strains can all cause significant, long-lasting hip pain.

Other causes of hip pain may not originate in the hip itself. A herniated disc or trauma to the sciatic nerve can cause significant hip pain, as can spinal stenosis (narrowing of the space in the spine that places pressure on the spinal cord), and meralgia paresthetica (caused by compression of the nerves). More severe hip pain causes can include bone cancer, leukemia, or metastatic cancer that has spread to the bones. Osteoarthritis, however, is the most common hip pain causes in people as they age.

Many conditions can cause hip pain, varying from acute and treatable to more serious conditions for which treatment options are more limited. Here are the five most common hip pain causes.

1. Osteoarthritis

The hip, like other joints, has a protective layer of cartilage that cushions the joint as it moves back and forth. With osteoarthritis, the cartilage gradually wears away, leaving less and less material to insulate the bones from rubbing against one another. The condition may manifest early on as stiffness that slowly gives way to inflammation and pain as the condition progresses.

With osteoarthritis in the hip, pain may also flare up in the buttock, thigh, or groin areas. Walking, standing, or twisting may exacerbate pain.

Risk factors for osteoarthritis include being older than 45, overweight, and having family members with the condition. Some injuries to the hip, including labral tears, increase the risk of developing osteoporosis later in life. The exact causes of the disorder aren’t known.

Overuse does not, in itself, necessarily lead to osteoarthritis in the hip, according to the University of Washington Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine school, since many people grow older without developing the condition. What’s more, runners have a lower than average risk of developing osteoarthritis in the hip, according to research published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

Treatment for osteoarthritis may include a mix of exercise, heat treatment, physical therapy, and in severe cases, surgery.

2. Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a degenerative skeletal condition defined by abnormally thin bone density. Bones are living tissue that go through a creation and absorption process throughout a person’s entire life.

Peak bone mass—the most dense a person’s bones will ever be—develops between the ages of 25 and 30. In young people, the bone creation process is rapid and a bank of bone develops to protect against future loss.

Around age 40, the process reverses, with bone loss outpacing bone growth. Although bone continues to be created throughout a person’s lifetime, bone growth never reaches that youthful state of high density.

Although everybody loses bone density, some people lose excessive amounts, resulting in weakened bones and osteoporosis. Osteoporosis can develop in any part of the body, but the hips are a commonly affected joint. There typically aren’t any symptoms, but the disorder can be caught through bone density scans.

Weak bones increase the risk that a fall will result in a fracture. In 2010, 258,000 people were admitted to the hospital following a hip fracture, according to the CDC, with more than 95% of those cases resulting from falls.

Sometimes, the hip weakens so much that a bone could break while standing or walking. Fractures result in pain and limited mobility, and frequently require surgery to repair. To prevent osteoporosis, eat a calcium-rich diet and do weight bearing exercises, such as walking.

3. Labral tear

The hip’s labrum is a piece of cartilage that seals the femoral head—the ball at the top of the thigh bone—into the socket. It helps to absorb shock, and stabilizes and lubricates the joint. However, this all-important stabilizer and shock absorber is not immune to injury.

Labral tears can result from traumas sustained from playing sports or from a car accident, although repetitive twisting or turning in some sports can also lead to the injury. Sometimes, structural deficiencies in the hip lead to tears.

Symptoms include the sensation of something clicking in the joint, along with pain or stiffness. A labral tear may improve on its own with rest within six weeks, but medical attention may be necessary if pain does not ease. Doctors typically diagnose the condition with a physical examination followed by an X-ray or other screening test.

Treatment includes physical therapy or surgery.

4. Hip bursitis

Bursitis occurs when small, fluid-filled sacs called bursa become inflamed from overuse. Bursa provide cushioning between the hip joint and surrounding muscles and tendons. Although bursitis can occur in any joint, the hip ranks as one of the more common spots, according to the Mayo Clinic. It also means it’s one of the more common hip pain causes.

Hip bursitis symptoms include pain and swelling. A doctor may diagnose the condition by performing an X-ray or MRI, or testing fluid present in the swollen area. Treatment includes rest and ice with pain medication as necessary. Inflammation may last a few weeks, although additional flare-ups may occur. In lingering cases of bursitis, surgery is available to address damage that hasn’t healed.

 

5. Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI)

Sometimes, hip pain causes develop due to structural abnormalities within the hip socket.

During childhood, people with FAI develop bone spurs that interfere with movement in the hip socket. The bone spur may occur on the femoral head or the acetabulum—the socket of the hip that curves around the femoral head, cupping it.

FAI first develops during childhood when the hips are still growing. It’s unknown how common the condition is, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

There are three different types of FAI: pincer, cam, and combined. With pincer, the excess bone growth extends over the acetabulum. With cam, the bone growth gives the femoral head an unnatural shape, making it impossible to smoothly rotate inside the acetabulum. In combined FAI, patients show a mix of the two types.

FAI doesn’t always cause problems. However, symptoms can include stiffness, pain, and limping. Resting or avoiding activities that cause pain may alleviate symptoms. Surgery is available to treat persistent cases. During the procedure, a doctor shaves excess bone growth to help the joint move smoothly.

Treating hip pain

Treatments for hip pain is progressive in nature, and statistics on utilization of the early stages of treatment are hard to come by. Doctors generally recommend rest and icing when pain is initially reported, accompanied by OTC non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen. If these actions do not successfully alleviate the pain, X-rays are called for followed by whatever course of treatment they indicate.

A total hip replacement is not the only surgical intervention. Hip debridement is a procedure whereby surgeons will remove bone in the hip that may be impeding movement of the ball in the socket, and hip pinning may be used to connect and stabilize hip fractures.

If you’re interested in learning more about common hip pain causes, click the button below to talk to a pain doctor in your area.

The best exercises for sciatica leg pain include stretches that can relieve tightness, yoga poses to reduce tension, and cardio activities like dancing and walking. Learn more about how you can start incorporating these exercises for sciatica leg pain into your daily routine to help you relieve your pain.

Performing exercises for sciatica leg pain

Before getting started on exercises for sciatica leg pain, it’s important to have a really good understanding of what sciatica is and how it’s different from more general types of leg pain or tightness. As some of our presenters of sciatica leg pain exercises will point out, often people believe they have sciatica when it’s actually just tightness in the piriformis muscle.

What is sciatica? 

Sciatica is a pain symptom that is felt when the sciatic nerve is irritated or inflamed. Since the sciatic nerve runs all the way down the spinal cord and the legs, the pain follows and may be felt as tingling or numbness in the legs and feet, as well as pain up through the lower back and buttocks. This pain is normally caused by a herniated or slipped disc that impact the sciatic nerve.

Sciatica pain can also be caused by:

• Extreme forms of chronic lower back pain
• Pinched nerves
• Spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal that can put pressure on the nerves
• Piriformis syndrome, spasms in the piriformis muscle
• Spondylolisthesis, vertabrae that slip one over the other

Unfortunately, for many people today, sciatica pain can be exacerbated by long bouts of sitting. While there are multiple treatment options, the first preventative step for many office workers is to remain as active as  possible during the day and to take short breaks from sitting.

Other simple changes can also have a big impact on sciatica pain, including exercises for sciatica leg pain which we’ll discuss shortly. Other options include proper eating, massages, or physical therapy. Alternative therapies like yoga and acupuncture have also been shown to help people with sciatica pain. People with more advanced sciatica pain may be able to find some relief with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like aspirin or ibuprofen, or interventional procedures like epidural steroid injections, Botox injections, spinal cord stimulation, or intrathecal pump implants.

With any form of pain, it’s best to talk with your pain doctor before undergoing any new treatment. This includes exercises for sciatica leg pain. He or she can help you find the best options for your pain symptoms.

You can learn more about sciatica by watching the video below.

What is leg pain? 

More general types of leg pain may strike in any part of the lower limb, from the hip to the knee, calf, and on down to the ankle. Causes of leg pain vary greatly, and may be attributed to an acute injury or more serious underlying condition, including sciatica. Types of pain and prognosis vary depending on the cause. As we’ll see, leg pain that occurs in the hips, knees, and ankles are often attributable to other underlying conditions–not sciatica.

Leg pain in the hip

Hip pain is hard to ignore since it can linger and make walking difficult. The hip, formed by a ball-and-socket joint, is built to support our bodies as they run, jump, and walk through life. However, over time, the cartilage that cushions the hip and helps it move smoothly erodes.

This weakened cartilage may lead to arthritis, which causes inflammation and pain. For many people, pain might be the first symptom that arthritis has developed. Pain associated with arthritis feels dull or aching. It may feel worse in the morning and decrease during the day as activity levels increase. Finding a balance in activity may help manage hip pain since vigorous activities like running have been known to exacerbate it, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

Hip pain may also result from tendinitis, a painful, inflammatory condition typically caused by muscle overuse. Tendons are strong, thick bands of tissue that hold bones and muscles together. Fractures are another potential cause of hip pain, but most frequently occur in elderly people or those with osteoporosis, a condition of thinned bones.

Leg pain in the knee

The knee is the largest joint in the body. It connects the lower leg bones—the tibia and the fibula—with the upper leg bone, or the femur. The knee achieves this monumental task with a network of tendons, ligaments, and muscles. The knee also has a cartilage cap, making this joint also susceptible to the pain of arthritis.

Knees absorb the shock of impact from walking and running, and they frequently break falls while playing sports or just living life. The knee was the joint people most commonly reported as causing pain in a 2006 CDC survey.

While the knee can develop arthritis or other problems resulting in pain, most knee pain is caused by injuries, according to WebMD. Injuries may result from a fall or abnormal twisting of the leg. Parts of the knee susceptible to damage include the meniscus, a tough, rubbery cushion located between the femur and tibia. The tibia is also known as the shinbone. Older people who have weakened cartilage may also tear the meniscus.

Many times, the telltale sign of a meniscus tear is a popping noise. Pain and swelling will continue for several days. Treatment may include rest, ice, and elevation, although surgery is sometimes necessary for more serious tears. The knee may also become swollen or tender from overuse. Tendonitis, strains, and sprains can cause knee pain as they can with other joints in the body.

Leg pain in the ankle

The ankle is a complex cluster of joints and bones that’s responsible for joining the foot to the leg. It bends and turns with an astonishing range of flexibility, but even the mighty ankle succumbs to pain.

A frequent cause of ankle pain is sprain. Sprains may happen from daily activities or from a wrong turn or fall while playing sports or going for a hike. In sprains, the ankle turns or twists in an abnormal direction, resulting in the ligaments sustaining small tears. Symptoms include swelling, bruising, and difficulty walking.

About 40% of people who sprain their ankles develop chronic pain, even after the injury heals, according to a study published in the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons journal. Researchers said these individuals may have torn ankle tendons. Symptoms include pain that doesn’t respond to treatment and pain outside the ankle or behind it.

Arthritis may also develop in the ankle as age wears down the bone and cartilage during daily use. Symptoms of arthritis in the ankle include stiffness, swelling, and difficulty walking. Treatment may include physical therapy, custom shoes, or weight control.

Other causes of leg pain

Other leg pain causes may include:

• Leg cramps: Muscle cramps come on quickly and frequently leave just as fast. Causes may include dehydration or depleted levels of important minerals such as potassium, magnesium, sodium, or calcium. Some medicines, including diuretics or stratins, may cause leg cramps. Another frequent cause is muscle fatigue from overuse or staying in one position for too long.
• Tumors: Although most leg pain is due to injury or arthritis, sometimes leg pain signals a more serious medical condition that requires urgent medical attention. Some bone cancers such as osteosarcoma or Ewing sarcoma result in leg pain. Benign tumors, so called because they’re not cancerous and not fatal, may also grow in the leg and cause pain.
• Blood clots: Blood clots in the legs may also result in pain. Atherosclerosis, the medical term for hardening of the arteries, is the same process that leads to a heart attack, but it can also occur in the leg. Years of fat and cholesterol buildup in the arteries and lead to hard plaque deposits, making it difficult for blood to flow. In addition to pain or discomfort, symptoms include fatigue and achiness.

If you’ve ruled out these leg pain causes and identified sciatica as a source of your pain, it’s time to get started with some exercises for sciatica leg pain.

10 stretches for sciatica leg pain

If your sciatica pain starts from the moment you wake up, try one of these six exercises for sciatica leg pain you can do in bed. Prevention.com shows how to perform each stretch safely and effectively.

If you’re looking for a deeper stretch, try one of the following stretches for sciatica leg pain.

1. Leg up the wall stretch

Dr. Paula Moore gives a quick stretch you can do anywhere in her short video.

2. Low lunge

This classic pose gently stretches the hip flexors. This is a good stretch to help the body relax. Only go so deep into the pose as feels comfortable for you.

1. Come to a kneeling position. Send the right leg in front of you, coming into a low runner’s lunge. If the knee feels any strain, fold up a blanket and use it for support.
2. Adjust your stance as desired. The lunge can be a long or short one, whichever feels best for you.
3. Place the hands on the knee, or if it feels good, lift the arms overhead, breathing into the space behind the heart. Stay here for five to seven breaths, enjoying a gentle opening down the hip flexor and spine.
4. Relax and repeat on the other side.

3. Seated hip stretch

This is another classic pose that’s easy to do just about anywhere (even the break room!). Morgan Sutherland at Mind Body Green gives a breakdown and illustration of this sciatica stretch.

4. Foam roller for sciatica pain

This rolling sciatica exercise from Prevention.com is great for opening up the hips and easing pain.

Link to Video

4 yoga poses for sciatica leg pain

When exercises for sciatica leg pain are discussed, yoga is one of the first practices that’s mentioned. And there’s a reason.

People who sit a lot tend to have short, weak hip flexors, so stretching and strengthening helps restore them to better health. Focusing on hip flexor strength and flexibility can help reduce leg and sciatica pain. Yoga does just that. Yoga is a practice of cultivating balance, emphasizing both stretching and strengthening to ensure the muscles become as healthy as possible.

1. Pigeon pose

Healthline.com pulls together multiple examples of how to do this deeply therapeutic pose. Pigeon pose is one of those exercises for sciatica leg pain that can be modified for any person. The most gentle variation is shown below in the GIF Healthline created to illustrate this pose.

2. Extended hand-to-big-toe pose (utthita hasta padangusthasana)

This pose may seem difficult, but it can be modified for any level of ability. It’s excellent for building hip flexor strength, improving balance, and increasing hamstring flexibility.

1. Stand tall, with both feet on the ground, hands by your side. Keep the spine nice and long and press all four corners of the feet into the floor.
2. Press weight into the left foot, firmly rooting down. Bend the right knee and lift it up towards the stomach, keeping the foot flexed and parallel to the floor. Stay here for a breath.
3. If it feels good, clasp your right big toe between your index and middle fingers from the inside of your leg. Begin to straighten the right leg so it’s parallel to the floor. It’s okay to straighten the leg halfway, with a bend still in the knee. Just make sure your back doesn’t hunch forward. Stay as tall as possible.
4. If you need to modify this yoga pose for sciatica leg pain, try a strap. Wrap the strap around the ball of the right foot and use it as an extension of your arm. Likewise, an even more gentle variation is to do this pose with a something to rest your foot on, like a tall chair or stool.
5. Wherever you are in this posture, keep your shoulders firmly on your back. Find a steady point of focus to help you balance.
6. Stay for three to five breaths, simply returning to the posture if you fall out, before repeating on the other side.

3. Boat pose (navasana)

Boat pose is a wonderful strengthener for the entire core. Strengthening the core can help with reducing the tension in your legs. Again, the full pose can be a little intense, but many modifications are available to make this pose suitable for every body.

1. Start from a seated position, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor in front of you. Place your hands on the floor by your sit bone.
2. Lift one leg up so the calf is parallel to the ground. The first option is to stay here for a couple of breaths before lowering down and repeating on the other side. Or, if that feels good…
3. Lift the second leg up and keep both legs raised simultaneously for about five breaths. Rest and repeat three more times. Leave the hands resting on the floor or extend them straight past the knees. If you’d like a little more…
4. Straighten the legs, coming into the full pose, which resembles a V-shape. Keep the spine long with the arms extended straight past the knees. If it feels like too much, don’t be afraid to back out of it and return to the bent-leg version, also known as half-boat, or ardha navasana.

Yoga Journal provides a more in-depth explanation of this yoga pose for sciatica pain.

4. Tiger pose (vyaghrasana)

This gentle movement stretches and strengthens the hip flexors while also strengthening the lower back, making it a highly effective back strengthening exercise for sciatica pain.

1. Come to all fours, with the knees underneath the hips and wrists underneath the shoulders. Press firmly down into the finger pads, taking the weight out of the wrist. If the knees hurt, place a rolled-up blanket underneath them for padding.
2. Extend your right leg straight behind you. If it’s possible, also extend the left arm in front of you.
3. Bend the right leg and bring the knee toward the forehead. If you’re using your arms as well, bring the elbow and knee to touch or as close as possible.
4. Maintain the movement, expanding and contracting, in concert with the breath. Continue about five or six times, breathing nice, long, and deep, before switching to the other side.

2 of the best exercises for sciatica leg pain

After you’ve tried stretches and yoga poses for your pain, try out one of these more fun cardio exercises for sciatica leg pain.

1. Dance!

Most of the recommendations to reduce leg and sciatica pain don’t sound very fun, but we’ve got a very special one that’s sure to put a smile on your face and joy in your heart: dancing! That’s right, research has discovered that dancing the night away—or the afternoon for that matter—is a highly effective way to reduce pain and get your groove back. It’s why it’s one of our favorite exercises for sciatica leg pain.

The research behind dancing for leg pain

Researchers at Saint Louis University Medical Center examined senior citizens living in an age-restricted apartment complex. Most residents were women with an average age of 80. All the study participants reported stiffness or pain in their hips or knees, and most of that discomfort was related to arthritis. The specific type of dance used in the program was customized for the needs of people with hip or leg pain.

Researchers noted that dancing was a wonderful way to help seniors become more agile and increase the pace of their walking. Walking speed is important because a gait that’s too slow is considered a risk factor for falling and subsequent injury and hospitalization. Health care professionals consider a person’s walking speed to be a sixth vital sign, researchers said, helping to predict which patients are at high risk for injuries.

But dancing did more than help people walk faster. It also reduced pain and increased quality of life. In the group that danced, people were able to lower the amount of pain medication they took by 39% while people who didn’t dance actually had to increase their pain medicine by 21%. Krampe says:

“Those in the dance group talked about how much they loved it. It’s exercise, but it’s fun… This is not surprising because those in our study are from a generation that loved dancing.”

Dancing is an activity that many younger people do, but with age, those same dance lovers often give it up. But you’re never too old or young to dance. Dancing does more than make you fit and healthy—it makes you smile. In this way, it reduces stress, which can also reduce the amount of pain a person experiences.

Try these types of dancing

If you’d like get into the swing of things, here are some ways to get started.

• Salsa: Salsa is a Latin-themed style of dance, and many classes are held in restaurants and dance centers. Many facilities offer salsa dance socials preceded by lessons, allowing you to learn or fine-tune your skills and then practice and have fun doing the real thing.
• Zumba: Zumba is a popular type of workout that’s infused with Latin-style rhythms. Classes are offered at many gyms. Zumba is also all levels since dancers can move at their own pace and take breaks whenever they’d like to. This is a solo dancing experience, too, making it perfect for those not interested in tangoing with a partner.
• YouTube at home: For a private, no-fear experience, try dancing at home. Let your inhibitions loose and don’t worry about what you look like or even what you’re wearing. YouTube offers many free home workouts that you can try at your own pace, on your own time. From weight loss to cardio dance, YouTube has you covered. Workouts come in a range of lengths, anywhere from ten minutes to 30 and beyond. If you try this option, find a space in your house with hard floors and not carpet. Dancing on carpet can lead to a tweaked knee or ankle since the non-slippery surface inhibits freedom of movement.
• Dancing classes: Dance classes are a bit larger of a commitment because sign-up typically occurs in sessions lasting several weeks. However, lessons are a great way to get out of the house, meet people, and have fun all while dancing and improving your health. Plus, making that commitment could be a good thing, helping you to stick to your newfound hobby long enough to truly decide whether you like it.

2. Walking

Walking is one of the simplest exercises for sciatica leg pain. Even parking the car farther away from your destination or taking a stroll around the block after lunch can provide health benefits, such as as reducing low back pain and lowering the risk of heart disease.

Benefits of walking

One study published in The Lancet found that people who have problems tolerating glucose reduced their risk of heart attack or stroke by walking an additional 2,000 steps per day. That’s about 20 minutes at a moderate pace. The American Heart Association (AHA) considers walking one of the most important things people can do for heart health. The AHA recommends walking for 30 minutes daily, however ten minute walks taken three times a day have the same effect. Every hour of walking helps to increase your life expectancy by two hours, according to the AHA.

Walking also helps to reduce low back pain and sciatica pain. A team of Israeli researchers published a study in Clinical Rehabilitation, revealing that walking two or three times per week for 20 to 40 minutes provides the same amount of lower back relief as specialized physical therapy programs.

Get started

If incorporating 30 minutes of physical activity in your day seems overwhelming, start where you can and progress from there. Incorporating just five minutes of walking into your day helps to create good habits. Once the endorphins from exercise kick in, you might be inspired to move some more!

Tips to get stepping include:

1. Wear a pair of comfortable shoes so your feet have adequate support.
2. Try to walk at the same time every day, possibly after lunch or dinner, to create a habit.
3. Don’t push yourself too hard. If you haven’t exercised for a long time, take it slow and work up to 30 minutes gradually.
4. Recruit a walking buddy. Walking with a friend or loved one provides an added push and makes exercise fun. 

What other exercises for sciatica leg pain have worked for you? If your sciatica pain isn’t relieved by these exercises for sciatica leg pain, it may be time to talk to a pain doctor. They can provide additional treatment options to relieve your pain.

Chronic leg pain–any type of leg pain condition that lasts for 3 months or more–is a serious condition facing many people. At Arizona Pain, we always endeavor to provide the most up-to-date information about any pain condition, while also incorporating holistic lifestyle approaches into treatment plans.

If you suffer from chronic leg pain, you can find out more about your pain condition by reading many of our Inside Pain posts from July. 

Knowing more about a pain condition starts with identifying its root causes and risk factors. If you suffer from knee pain, you may already know its cause, but did you know the factors that put you more at risk for the condition? These include everything from age to extra weight to smoking habits.

We also broke down many of the causes of hip pain in our post on the subject. In-depth coverage was given to conditions, such as:

• Osteoarthritis
• Osteoporosis
• Hip bursitis
• Labral tears
• Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI)

We also discussed many of the innovative new chronic leg pain research topics and treatment methods being developed. Pain research is a rapidly expanding field with new information coming from everywhere–from our understanding of cutting edge therapies to unlikely revelations we learned from squid. Our own Dr. Paul Lynch also discussed his knowledge on treating chronic knee pain conditions with a comprehensive treatment plan in a paper published in Pain Medicine News. 

Finally, many chronic leg pain conditions are best treated with a combination of interventional medicine with lifestyle changes.

We know that exercise can be difficult when you suffer from a chronic leg pain condition, but we also know that appropriate exercise is a crucial component to getting back to yourself and relieving your pain. Because of this, we introduced many different exercise options for chronic pain patients in the hope that some of these methods will fit with your lifestyle and pain condition.

We discussed the following topics for chronic leg pain patients:

• Guidelines for exercising with knee pain
• 5-minute yoga breaks that can help ease stress and tension
• The benefits of high-intensity interval training for those people short on time
• Ergonomics and exercise options for those suffering from hip pain
• Health benefits of the lower-impact exercises Pilates and Tai Chi
• Risks and precautions for the higher-intensity CrossFit exercises 

All pain is different and all pain patients will respond differently to treatment methods and lifestyle changes. Through our Inside Pain blog, we hope to introduce you to multiple new options for treatment and prevention in order to help you find the pain treatment plan that works best for you. If you want to learn even more from other people who are living with chronic pain every day, join our Chronic Pain Support Group over on Facebook. In that community, you’ll find advice and support from over 30,000 other people also living with chronic pain.

Do you suffer from chronic leg pain? What treatment options have worked best for you? 

Image by marksontok via Flickr

Modern life revolves around sitting. Many people sit in the car on the way to work, all day in the office, while eating lunch, and then maybe while catching some quality time on the couch while relaxing before bed. All those hours spent sitting, year after year, can wreak havoc on the body and lead to hip pain.

Making sure to sit in a healthy posture that supports the body and incorporating more movement into your day can make the difference between healthy hips and painful ones. Here are a few tips to alleviate hip pain or stop it before it begins.

Ergonomics at the office

When it comes to ergonomics, many people first think of typing while keeping the wrists at a healthy angle to prevent damage, including carpal tunnel. However, organizing your workspace so the seat rests at a good height and angle is also essential for optimal ergonomics and healthy hips.

The 1st step is to pick a supportive chair. Swiveling chairs work best because they make it easy to move around and grab files not within immediate reach, helping to minimize joint strain, says Dr. Alan Hedge, an ergonomics professor at Cornell University.

Ensuring the chair fits the body adequately is also essential. Hedge recommends using the 1-inch rule, which says that a 1-inch space should remain between the backs of the knees and the edge of the seat when sitting all the way back in the chair. The space between the edge of the seat and the hips should also measure at least 1 inch, and there should be enough room to move the arms comfortably.

The seat of the chair should be well-padded and comfortably support the hips and thighs. The feet should easily reach the floor while resting flat, while the thighs should either rest parallel to the floor, or they could slope down from the hips at an angle greater than 90 degrees. The latter posture is known as declined sitting, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

After picking the perfect chair, the next step is to make sure its height works well with the desk. The seat should rest high enough so that the wrists are able to reach the computer in a 90-degree angle, but not so high that the feet can’t reach the ground.

Finding this balance may require adjusting the height of the desk, or looking for a new chair. However, making small changes, even if only an inch or 2 in 1 direction, can have a dramatic impact on the health of the hips and other joints.

Ergonomics in the car

Guidelines for proper hip-to-body angles extend to posture when sitting in the car, as well. Make sure the feet easily reach the pedals when driving, and keep the back upright to maintain a good, 90-degree or greater angle with the hips and pelvis.

People often forget about supporting musculoskeletal health once in the car, but good posture makes all the difference for people who drive frequently.

Increase mobility

No matter how well your office space is set up, long periods of sitting cause the body to stiffen, tightening the hip flexors and increasing the risk of hip pain.

Making sure to get up every 30 minutes or so. Even walking to pour a glass of water helps to get the blood flowing and reduce the risk of hip pain. If you can incorporate some easy hip and strengthening exercises into the day, even better.

Low-impact exercises, when done in conjunction with resistance training and stretching, help to alleviate pain and increase joint mobility. Keeping the core strong can also help to reduce hip pain, says Dr. Rochelle Rosian, a rheumatologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

Whether you’re at work or on the go, hip and core exercises take just a few minutes and can supplement ergonomics to reduce pain.

At work, take a break and stretch the hamstrings, since tight hamstrings can lead to hip pain, according to the University of California, San Diego Health System.

1 specific hamstring exercise involves standing up and placing the left leg in front of the right. Bend the right knee and place the hands on the thigh while bending slowly forward. Keep bending until you feel a stretch in the left hamstring. Hold for 10 or 15 seconds before repeating on the other side.

Next, stretch the quadriceps. Stand on both feet before bending the left leg back and grabbing the foot with the hand. Keep the knees together, holding on to the desk if needed for balance. Hold the foot as close to the sit-bone as possible, finding a good stretch without pain, for about 10 seconds. Repeat on the other side.

At home, try strengthening the outer thighs through calisthenics. Lay on your side, with the head supported by the hand. Slowly lift the top leg up, hold for 1 second, and then slowly let the leg drift back to rest. Repeat 10 times before switching to the other side.

Next, try the leg raise, which works the thighs, glutes, and hip flexors. Come to the floor with your hands underneath the shoulders and knees underneath the hips. Lift your left leg straight behind you, so it’s parallel to the floor. Pause for a second before lowering back to the floor. Repeat 10 times on the left side, and complete the same number of repetitions on the right side.

Take mobility out on the town

Breaking up the day with intervals of moving around helps to prevent or reduce hip pain, but spicing up weekend activities offers ways to stay active while having fun.

Researchers at Saint Louis University found dancing helps lessen knee and hip pain in older adults while improving mobility. Adults who danced 45 minutes, 2 times per week over 12 weeks had fun while working on their hip health.

The dancing done in the study was rhythmic, and not high impact, which reduced the potential for joint damage while still increasing strength and flexibility.

How do you manage or prevent hip pain?

Image by U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr