Healthy hips need to do one thing − support your body’s movement. Often, our hips can become weak or irritated from overuse or high-impact activity. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to maintain fit and healthy hips. Check out these four quick tips below that can help keep your hips healthy and your body moving.
Sleep Mindfully
Many of us sleep on our sides or toss and turn while sleeping, switching from side to side and back again. While sleeping on your side isn’t necessarily bad, putting pressure on your hips by side sleeping on a regular basis can affect your hip alignment.
There is, however, a simple fix: if you’re unable to sleep any other way, try putting a pillow in between your legs to support proper hip alignment. This simple trick helps keep your hips and pelvis neutral, thus reducing strain and poor posture while sleeping. It can also help reduce pressure on possible inflamed ligaments, as well as ease pressure on your knees.
Stay Moving
Many Americans spend most of their days sitting at a desk working on a computer. Spending so much time in a sedentary position can be detrimental to your body’s health as it increases stress on your hip joints and can cause pain. Keeping your hips and body in motion with exercise can help prevent many of the joint and muscular problems that too much sitting may cause.
Though regular exercise is ideal, not everyone can dedicate time each week to working out. Fortunately, you don’t need to go to the gym or do heavy workouts to improve your hip health. There are many activities that everyone can do to promote movement and joint health, some of which can even be performed while at work. Getting up from your chair and moving a little bit every hour can help resolve some of these issues.
Take a walk around the neighborhood once or twice a week, take the stairs instead of the elevator when you can, and look for an activity that can keep you motivated to move. Over time, you’ll notice that adding a moderate amount of physical activity each day will not just improve the health of your muscles and joints but may also improve your overall mood.
Go Shoe Shopping
Your shoes might look and feel fine, but did you know that once your shoes have gone about 400 miles, they lose nearly all the support they originally had? Walking up to five miles a day (the recommended 10,000 step goal) means you’ll hit 400 miles in just a few months.
Without proper arch support, those worn shoes can make you sidestep, meaning you plant your foot at an angle and push off with the side of your foot instead of the ball. Walking on the sides of your feet can put stress on your hips, knees, ankles, and the soles of your feet. Old shoes also absorb less shock, which means your ankles, knees, and hips are under more stress when you move. This opens the door to many potential injuries, like tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, or other musculoskeletal conditions.
Keep track of the mileage on your sneakers and upgrade your footwear as necessary when hitting your mileage. This will help ensure your body continuously gets the support it needs to keep you moving pain free.
Stretch Regularly
We all know how important it is to stretch after a workout. If you don’t take the time to properly warm up your muscles and joints before putting them to use, and cooling them down after exercise, you could end up with a painful injury. But stretching isn’t just used to help relieve post workout soreness. It’s also a great habit to practice daily, even while working.
Try to incorporate some hip exercises and stretches into your morning routine. Starting your day off like this will help loosen tight muscles and improve hip mobility. Taking a few minutes every morning to stretch can also help boost your energy levels, release built-up tension, and help relieve stress.
*Disclaimer: Always consult with your doctor before starting any exercise program. If you experience any numbness, tingling, or reproduction of your symptoms, please contact your doctor.
Don’t Let Hip Pain Hinder You
These few simple habits to keep your hips healthy can go a long way toward your ability to walk, run, and move pain free for years to come.
Sometimes, though, you may still find yourself with aches, pains, and even injuries. Hip injuries can disrupt your mobility and bring your life to a standstill. That’s where Airrosti comes in. We take the time to help pinpoint the root cause of your hip pain and get you back on your feet fast.
If you’re experiencing hip pain that just won’t go away, schedule an in-clinic or virtual appointment with an Airrosti provider today!
Have any questions? Call us at (800) 404-6050 or click here to learn more.
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