Hip osteoarthritis treatment with 6 physical therapy exercises

Hip osteoarthritis is a condition that everyone eventually will face.

However, it doesn’t have to be painful. I’m going to explain to you how that is.

I tell you precisely what osteoarthritis in the hip is,  how it arises, what the symptoms are, and how you can reduce the pain yourself with 6 physiotherapy exercises.

We cannot cure osteoarthritis, but the pain that it causes can often be relieved.

So read on quickly.

1. Hip osteoarthritis cause
2. Symptoms of osteoarthritis in the hip
3. Hip osteoarthritis treatment with 6 physical therapy exercises

Your pelvis and thigh together form your hip joint. Your pelvis and thigh are both covered with a layer of cartilage to allow the joint to move smoothly. Hip osteoarthritis is called coxarthrosis in Latin, after the Latin name for the hip joint.

Over the years, the thickness of the cartilage slowly decreases. It starts around the age of 25. There are various reasons for this.

The main cause of osteoarthritis in the hip is obesity. First, being overweight puts more pressure on the joint. That also causes the cartilage to break down faster. In addition, overweight people also have more fat cells in their bodies.

Fat cells are inherently inflammatory. As a result, overweight people suffer more from pain and problems. These inflammations also affect the cartilage in your joints. It speeds up cartilage degeneration in osteoarthritis.

Finally, there is a genetic component that comes into play. Some people are more prone to developing osteoarthritis than others. Their father, mother, grandfather, and grandmother also developed osteoarthritis partly in the genes. That is why osteoarthritis in the hip often also has osteoarthritis in the knee and the back.

Fortunately, osteoarthritis does not always lead to pain. I will now discuss this, together with the symptoms by which you can recognize hip osteoarthritis.

Also read: Hip pain causes, treatment and stretching exercises for relief.

Hip osteoarthritis is usually diagnosed through an X-ray. In such a photo, the amount of cartilage that is still present in the joint is assessed. However, research shows that the degree of wear on the photo and the degree of pain does not always match.

It is therefore possible that you have a lot of hip pain without osteoarthritis showing in the photo, and vice versa it is possible that a lot of osteoarthritis is present with little pain.

For that reason, we also look at other symptoms that are often present with hip osteoarthritis.

Several symptoms indicate hip osteoarthritis.

One of the main symptoms is groin pain. The hip joint is located deep inside and not on the outside as many people think. The pain in the hip therefore radiates to the groin and thigh. Therefore, groin pain is a clear symptom of hip osteoarthritis, where pain on the outside of the hip is a buttock or muscle problem.

Also starting stiffness in the morning or pain when getting up after sitting for a long time is a clear sign of hip osteoarthritis. That is because the joint is less well lubricated due to a lack of cartilage. By moving, synovial fluid is produced, which lubricates the joint again. It reduces the friction in the hip joint, and the stiffness disappears.

In addition, pain when squatting and pain when bending the hip is a sign of osteoarthritis in the hip. Turning the leg inward also puts pressure on the hip joint, which can cause pain. It is also a sign of wear in the hip.

Finally, pain when extending the hip is a sign of a hip problem.

These symptoms can often be easily relieved with 6 physiotherapeutic exercises without the need to regenerate cartilage.

Also read: Lower back pain treatment with 4 exercises for common causes.

Although we cannot grow back the cartilage in the joint, we can reduce hip pain.

In some people, it helps to take glucosamine. The effect is not scientifically proven, but it has a positive impact on pain in some people.

In addition, it is essential to train the strength and mobility of the hip and back. Osteoarthritis makes the joint and joint capsule stiff. The hip muscles and leg muscles are also overloaded. Together it creates even more pressure in the joint and irritation of the cartilage.

By making the joints more flexible and the muscles stronger, you can absorb some of the osteoarthritis problems, which reduces hip pain.

It also reduces knee pain.

I will explain exactly which exercises you should do and how they help relieve the pain of osteoarthritis in the hip.

If you find our information helpful and would like to support us, you can donate here through PayPal or leave a review on Google or Facebook.

The first exercise aims to improve hip flexion. When your hip can bend easier, it also causes less hip pain when you bend your knees.

It, therefore, reduces pressure in the hip when squatting, reducing strain and pain.

The exercise goes like this:

• Lie on your back with your legs straight
• Pull the knee from your painful hip to your chest with 2 hands
• Keep your other leg straight
• Hold this for 20 seconds
• Repeat this 3 times

You can also see the exercise in this video.

Repeat the exercise 2 times a day. The exercise also ensures that the mobility of your SI joint improves against SI joint pain.

The 2nd exercise is meant to improve the rotation of the hip. With this stretching exercise, you stretch both the glutes and another part of the hip capsule. It makes the hip more flexible, and the pain will also decrease because the pressure within the joint reduces.

The exercise goes like this:

• Grab the knee of your painful side with the same hand
• Grab the ankle of your painful side with your other hand
• Bend your knee in 90 degrees
• Now push your knee away and pull your ankle towards you
• Hold this for 20 seconds
• Repeat this 3 times

You can also see the execution of the exercise in this video.

You should feel the stretch on the outside of your hip and possibly in the buttock. Repeat the exercise 2 times a day. You will notice that the hip becomes more flexible and that the pain gradually decreases.

In addition to improving the mobility of the hip, we also need to ensure that the lower back becomes more flexible. The mobility of the hip can be partially restricted by limited mobility of the back.

By making the back more flexible, the hip also becomes more flexible, which reduces the pressure.

The exercise goes like this:

• Lie on your back with your legs bent
• Spread your arms on the floor
• Rotate your knees to the left as far as possible while keeping your shoulders on the floor
• Hold this for 10 seconds
• Now turn your knees to the right and hold this also for 10 seconds
• Repeat 5 times on each side

You can also see the execution of the exercise in this video.

In the beginning, your back will feel stiff and possibly a bit sore. As you perform the exercise more often, the pain and stiffness will slowly decrease. You will also notice that your hip becomes more flexible.

In addition to improving hip and back mobility, it is also essential to train the strength of the thigh muscles. The muscles can absorb some of the load on the hip joint, making the cartilage in the hip less irritated.

With this exercise, you can do that without putting too much strain on the knee. You can also do this exercise if you have problems with your knee.

The exercise goes like this:

• Lie on your back with your legs stretched out
• Pull your toes towards you and raise your leg straight
• Repeat this 10 times
• Do the same with the other leg
• Do this a total of 3 times per leg

You can also find the execution of the exercise in this video.

Repeat the exercise 2 times a day. If the exercise becomes too easy, you can increase the number of repetitions to 15 or 20 times. You will notice that the leg of the painful hip is less strong than the other leg.

The hip muscles also need to become stronger to reduce your hip osteoarthritis pain. The hip muscles also relieve the hip joint, which reduces the pain.

The exercise goes like this:

• Lie on your pain-free side
• Lift your leg straight out to the side, with the toes pulled towards you
• Repeat this 10 times
• Do this 3 times
• Alternate left and right if necessary so that you train both sides.

You can also find the execution of the exercise in this video.

If the exercise becomes too easy, you can increase the number of repetitions to 15 or 20 repetitions. Also, in this exercise, you will feel a difference between your 2 legs.

The last exercise we do aims at strengthening the back muscles. By making the back stronger, it becomes stiff less quickly.

The exercise goes like this:

• Lie on your back with your legs bend
• Lift your hips
• Hold this for 10 seconds
• Repeat it 3 times

You can find the exercise in this video.

When the exercise becomes too easy, you can extend one leg and hold this for 10 seconds. Alternate between both legs 3 times.