If you experience hip pain, physical therapy may help you regulate your symptoms and increase your total functional mobility. Your physical therapy program should reduce or eliminate discomfort, increase hip range of motion and strength, and restore normal functional mobility.
The hip is a ball and socket joint made up of the femur (thigh bone) and the pelvis. Several ligaments support the bones and give significant joint stability. Numerous muscles attach to the hip to aid with movement.
A variety of circumstances can cause hip pain. Occasionally, you may get hip pain for no apparent cause. Recreation or athletics can exert repetitive strain on the hip, creating pain. Hip arthritis is prevalent because the hip is a primary weight-bearing joint. The hip is in charge of functional actions such as walking, jogging, rising from a sitting position, and ascending stairs. Hip pain can make these tasks difficult.
A visit to a physician, physical therapist, or healthcare practitioner is indicated if hip discomfort persists for longer than two or three weeks or arises as a result of serious trauma.
Your first visit to physical therapy for hip pain will start with an assessment. This appointment is crucial to ensure proper diagnosis and management. During this visit, the physical therapist will interview you to learn about your problem's history, aggravating and relieving variables, and any previous medical history that may have contributed to the overall problem. A focused examination will be undertaken based on the facts acquired throughout the history.
The examination may include, but is not limited to, the following sections:
1. Gait evaluation
A gait evaluation is an assessment of your walking style. Physical therapists are trained to detect minor changes in the hip during various stages of walking. This can lead to better management. Your physical therapist may also perform a video gait analysis to uncover subtleties in your walk that may be causing your pain.
2. Palpation
This involves using the hands to feel for irregularities or to determine whether a structure is unpleasant to touch around the hip.
3. Range of motion measurements
The range of motion of your hip relates to how far it can bend, straighten, or rotate. To help direct treatment, the physical therapist may use sophisticated devices to measure how the hip joint moves.
4. Strength measurements
There are numerous muscle attachments surrounding the hip, and measuring strength can assist in determining whether muscular weakness or imbalance is the source of your hip pain.
Functional mobility assessments. Your physical therapist may observe you walking, climbing stairs, or running to assess how your hip pain impacts your total mobility.
5. Special tests
Special tests are maneuvers conducted around the hip to help discover which structure is at issue and producing the condition. This may entail lower back tests to verify if your hip pain is indeed originating from your spine.
Following the initial evaluation, you and your physical therapist will be ready to begin treatment for your hip. To reduce inflammation, the therapist may employ physical agents such as heat or cold.
Although passive treatments such as heat or ice may feel good, active participation in your PT program through exercise is the most effective treatment for hip pain.
Your physical therapist may recommend exercises to increase hip strength or mobility. You may also be required to do exercises at home every day as part of a home fitness program. You must participate actively in physical therapy and ask questions if you have any.
Exercises to promote hip mobility or strength are essential for maintaining hip health. Simple exercises performed once a day are an excellent approach to keeping the hips in good operating order. As your hip pain subsides, advanced hip strengthening may be a viable alternative for improving hip function.
Joint mobilization treatments have also been demonstrated in studies to assist in alleviating acute and long-term pain in patients with hip osteoarthritis. This pain relief may be accompanied by increased hip mobility.
