Hip pain is frustrating and aggravating, it can keep you from doing things you love. Your hips drive your movement and are home to your body’s most powerful muscles. There can be many causes for hip pain and to figure out exactly what is going on with YOUR hip you need a thorough assessment by a professional who understands the hips, pelvis, biomechanics, and how it connects to the rest of your body and life. At Kineci we believe in a holistic approach in which we understand and appreciate that your hip is not isolated but an integrated part of Your Body-Mind-&-Spirit.
Your hips hold the potential to directly affect the rest of your body for either success or dysfunction. Since your hips and pelvis are the center of your movement, the spot from which your body movements originate, your hips are the key to your success. Based on the way we, as humans, are designed if your hips are restricted they create compensations and extra stress and strain on body parts above and below the hips. At the same time, if your hips are mobile, strong, and stable they can make life easier for your body parts above and below the hips. So the better your hips can move and function the better life gets for the rest of your body.
Hip pain can come from a variety of sources such as muscle strains, joint or labrum impingements, arthritis, and your low back. Yes, hip pain often comes from your low back. Your hips and low back are next door neighbors so they influence each other directly. When your body senses something it does not trust in your low back it often tightens up muscles in the area to protect itself called Muscle Guarding. Very often this muscle guarding creates tightness and pain in hip muscles. If this is the case your hip pain will not go away unless the underlying issue in your low back is addressed. When looking for a provider to help you understand and fix your hip pain, finding someone who can differentiate between pain coming from your hips vs your back is vital.
Your hip is a ball-in-socket joint. It is designed to move in all 3 planes of motion: Sagittal plane = forward and back, Frontal plane = side to side, and Transverse plane = rotation left and right. Some of the most common losses of motion in hips are losing Extension = your leg moving behind your body as in the back leg when walking, Internal rotation = rotating your body/pelvis/trunk towards the target leg, and Abduction = your leg moving out to the side stretching your groin. Losing mobility in your hips sets the stage for both hip pain and other body parts starting to suffer and become painful too. Your movement practice whether it is injury prevention, global health and fitness, sports and exercise, rehab or just playing needs to move in all 3 planes of motion. If not, you are missing a key element to a good program and something will suffer.
If your hip is bothering you here are 3 simple exercises and 3 tips you can do to help yourself start to feel better and move easier. Download this Free Report.
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