Sit on the floor
Our first impulse when our hips ache is to find a comfy chair, but you’ll do your hip joints and spine a lot of good by spending more time on the floor. Try to sit flat on the ground for 15 to 30 minutes day, moving between having your legs crossed, stretched out in front and holding each at a 90 degree angle.
Maintain a healthy bodyweight
As with most ailments that take their toll on our bodies with age, one of the simplest and most helpful ways to avoid discomfort is to keep an eye on your weight. The heavier you are, the more strain this will put on your joints, which can lead to problems with your hips as well as your knees and elsewhere.
Take regular exercise
Few things take a greater toll on your body than neglect. Stronger muscles means more support for your joints, and easier movement with less discomfort. Regular walking and/or running, or other low impact activities like swimming and cycling, will help increase strength and protect your hip joints.
Don’t forget to warm up and cool down
Working out often feels like a catch-22, for as much as we need it to keep our bodies to get strong, so many of us wind up getting injured whilst exercising. For this reason, it is vitally important to begin any exercise session with a warm-up, and end with a cooldown. Neglecting these increases the risk of stress on the hips.
Perform mobility exercises
Hip pain is often rooted in loss of mobility in the hip joints, so it’s also helpful to perform some mobility exercises. Simple floor-based moves like knee tucks and hip circles, performed slowly and gently, can help ease tension in those areas, and can offer some welcome relief first thing in the morning or after a long period of sitting still.
Check your posture
The way you sit and the way you carry yourself inevitably has an impact on your hip joints. Slouching while you stand and slumping when you sit is certain to take a toll, so try to make a point of keeping yourself straight and elevated, with your weight evenly distributed.
Choose supportive shoes
Hip pain can often occur as a result of problems with the alignment of our bodies, originating with our feet. For this reason, if you’re wearing shoes that don’t give you the proper support, this can make your hips worse. Special orthopedic shoes help keep your feet and ankles in a straighter position, lessening the strain on the hips.
Organize your space to avoid potential trip hazards
The older we get, the more dangerous it can be to fall over, not least as regards our hips. For this reason it’s important to keep your home clear of potential trip hazards. Be sure to clean up after yourself, and leave your walkways nice and empty.
Try hot and cold therapy
Exposure to both heat and cold can be hugely beneficial to keeping our joints pliable. This can be as simple as taking hot and cold showers or baths, or making regular use of a sauna and/or steam room. Applying hot and cold compresses will also offer relief when pain occurs.
Don’t put off seeing the doctor
If you’re doing all you can to look after your hips but still find yourself struggling with discomfort, it is important to consult your doctor. This is especially vital if you’ve been using over-the-counter painkillers to deal with the problem, and find that they are losing their effectiveness.
