Cartilage, bone and lubricating fluid comprises your hip joints. Aging, as well as a sedentary lifestyle, wear away the hip joint cartilage and dry up the lubricating fluid. The resulting pain makes people consider hip joint replacement, an operation that involves removing the diseased cartilage and some of the underlying bone, and replacing it with it with metal or plastic. Preventative exercises may prevent the need for this complex and expensive surgery.
Exercise Benefits
Hip joint pain causes a negative spiral, Los Angeles orthopedic surgeon Robert Klapper told SiceinceBlog.com. They minimize hip movement and most physical activities in order to avoid future pain, but unfortunately, this backfires. Movement stimulates synovial fluid secretion, which nourishes and lubricates the joint capsule. Inactivity starves the hip joint of its required nourishment, causing pain-weakened muscles and brittle tendons. Dr. Klapper and physical therapist Linda Huey wrote "Heal Your Hips: How to Prevent Hip Surgery -- and What to Do If You Need It," a book that advocates exercise as a means of preventing the need for hip joint replacement.
Water Exercise
Water's buoyancy minimizes the impact and joint stress characteristic of many land-based exercises. Physical therapist Linda Huey attaches a buoyancy belt to her hip pain patients, and has them perform deep water walking, running and jumping jacks. Since the belt keeps your feet from making contact with the pool floor, these exercises provide aerobic activity while enhancing hip joint mobility. Added weight exacerbates hip pain, so the resulting weight control from aerobic exercise benefits hip pain sufferers.
Lubrication Exercises
Rotation exercises stimulate fluid and maintain hip joint range of motion. Two Pilates-evolved exercises, the knee stir and the leg circle, serve this purpose. To perform the knee stir, lie supine with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place your left hand on your left hip to keep it pressed into the floor. Lift your right bent knee, and place your right hand on your right shin. Make five clockwise and five counterclockwise leg circles, imagining that you are stirring a pot with your knee. After completing both sides, straighten both legs and raise your right leg toward the ceiling. Wrap a resistance band around your right foot and hold the band with your left hand, keeping your left elbow pressed into the floor. Imagine a quarter placed on the ceiling. Your foot is the crayon that traces the quarter. Make five clockwise and five counterclockwise circles on each leg.
Fall Prevention
Balance diminishes with age, and the resulting loss of balance may cause hip fractures. The Sit and Be Fit website suggests this basic balance training exercise. Author Mary Ann Wilson, RN, suggests holding on to a chair your sink. Stand upright, with your feet together, and your hands resting lightly on the sink or chair. Step to the side with your right leg, bending your knee and performing a lunge. Straighten your leg, return to center and repeat on the other side. Perform 10 repetitions on each leg. Progress the exercise by performing it without holding onto a stable object.
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