If you're experiencing early signs of hip arthritis
and you're looking for some simple and effective ways
to manage your hip pain with physiotherapy,
this video is for you.
I'll be sharing some effective ways to manage hip pain
with simple physiotherapy exercises you can do at home
to ease symptoms.
We'll also look at what sorts of exercises to avoid
and at what point to seek specialist support.
Hi, I'm Mark.
I'm the physiotherapy manager
at Chiltern & Shelbourne Hospitals.
More often than not, by catching hip pain early
and knowing what the best exercises are to ease
and manage your symptoms
there is little need for further treatment.
I'm going to explain why you should embrace movement
and exercise as well as give you five effective exercises
that ease hip pain specifically related to arthritis.
You might be avoiding exercise because of your hip pain
but actually exercise such as strengthening
and mobilising your hip may reduce your symptoms.
Pain around your hip might weaken your muscles
so strengthening them is a really good idea.
Also, your hip might become stiff from lack of movement
so you should stretch as well.
If you've got hip pain, some of your muscles might be weak
and some of them strong.
By doing exercises, you'll restore the natural balance
of these muscles making the hip work as it's supposed to.
It may seem counterintuitive because you've got discomfort
but in time exercises which strengthen
and mobilise your hip will make you feel more comfortable.
This will also preserve the life of your hip joint.
At what point should you speak to a physio?
Well, it depends on whether the pain is mild.
Gentle exercise can be enough to see a big difference.
If the pain in your hip is worsening,
if it's affecting your sleep,
if you are using increasing amounts of painkillers
that aren't working, basically if it's all worsening,
I'd advise you see someone.
If you've got hip arthritis
you may eventually need a hip replacement.
The exercises I'm about to show you are not only
going to prolong the life of your hip joint
and ease the pain in the run up to surgery
they'll give you a solid foundation
for the best possible start to your recovery.
These exercises should take a fair few weeks
for you to feel the benefits, so stick with them.
If they increase pain, then ease off
and do these movements more gently.
You most definitely want to avoid high-impact sports
with arthritis, so let's get into it.
The first exercise I'm gonna show you is bridging.
This is a good exercise to do
before you get out of bed in the morning.
Lie on your back, on your bed
or on the floor if it's safe to do so,
bend up your knees and hips
so your feet are flat on the ground.
You can have your arms by your side or across your chest.
That's up to you.
Tighten your bottom muscles and slowly lift up as high
as able and relax back down again.
Like so.
You can vary the speed
at which you do your bridging exercises
and they will feel slightly different
and make the muscles work in slightly different ways.
So now I'm gonna show you the clamshell exercise.
Lie on your side, on the bed or the floor.
If it's safe.
We want 45 degree angle at the hips
approximately 90 degree or right angle at the knees.
And if you are able to see what's going on
you want to have your feet level
with your back like so not too far in front
of you or too far behind you, and you keep your ankles
and heels together and separate your knees slowly.
Avoid rolling backwards as you are taking the knees apart.
There shouldn't be any
backwards rolling movement in your body.
It should just be your knees separating as far
as you are able and nice and slow on the way down
and you will be feeling the muscle in your bottom just here
on the top rather than down your leg.
If you feel the muscle pulling down your leg
then just slightly adjust your leg position.
The next exercise I'm going to show you is
called hip abduction.
Again, lying on the bed or on the floor
if you're able to get up and down from the floor.
It is done like this quite simply.
You leave your bottom leg bent up
and you straighten your top leg
and take it away as far as comfortable,
hold for a second or two and then slowly bring it down.
If this exercise is too difficult
for you lying on your side
I'll show you an easier version when you're standing up.
If you are struggling to take your leg
to the side when you're lying on the bed
this is an easier alternative.
Stand with a firm support
like a chair or kitchen work surface
and take a painful leg to the side
and slowly back down again.
Repeat about 10 times.
This should also be done
on the the other leg as well if you're able to.
Exercise number four, turn the chair around
and sit down because this exercise is called sit to stand.
So sit with your feet comfortably apart
and flat on the floor and stand up and down again.
Try not to use your arms to push
from the arms of the chair.
Try not to bend very forwards, just a comfortable
relaxed position of your back
and all the work being done by your legs.
Try to do this 10 times
in a row, if you want to make it more difficult,
slow the exercise down.
If you want, you can even pause for a few seconds
before you sit down.
Slowly up, down,
pause and relax and go again.
So this is exercise number five,
the last exercise in the video.
If you don't have a step like this, then use the first step
of your stairs at home with support from your banister.
Step onto the step and turn to the side.
And what you're gonna do is you're gonna keep one leg
in the middle of the step,
have a bit of support for stability, and step down
to the ground with the other leg and come back up.
This is a slightly more advanced exercise
than the first four.
This is working on dynamic control
of your hip whilst it's moving.
So you've got your thigh muscles and your hamstring muscles
and your bottom muscles all working together to
achieve this movement without a lot of wobbling around.
Try it on both legs as before, repeat 10 times on each leg.
If you've tried these basic exercises and you're unsure
as to why you are still experiencing hip pain
it's useful to know that you don't need a GP referral
in order to see a physio at your local Circle hospital.
Our team can help you work out
if you need further treatment and can refer you
on to one of our specialist consultants if you need one.
If you have any questions or comments
we'd love to hear from you.
So please comment below this video.
We'd also like to know what kinds of videos would be helpful
so we can share our best insights with you in future.
Thanks for watching.