Did you ever feel intense pain in the hip while standing up, bending, or doing just about anything? It may be a sign that you’re experiencing hip pain. Experiencing hip pain is shared among all ages as the hip acts as the vital joint of the body, helping us perform our day-to-day tasks and activities.
The reasons for experiencing hip pain can be vigorous physical activities, medical conditions, or external mishaps. As a result, hip pain can interfere with your daily life and restrict your mobility. The treatment can come in the form of effective home remedies for hip pain through resting, medical interventions, and other care options, such as physiotherapy and chiropractic care.
However, before going to a doctor, why not try some home remedies for hip pain to get faster pain relief?
Causes of Hip Pain
Joints play a massive role in the mobility of the human body. They put less pressure on the torso and leg, allowing mobility and balance to perform regular tasks. However, due to frequent movement, it is possible to have a strain on the hip. The first common cause of hip pain is cartilage wearing in hip joints, where the bones are likely to wear and tear due to friction, leading to the chipping off of the cartilage.
It can be worsened by osteoarthritis caused by inflammation of joints, which restricts mobility and causes pain.
5 Home Remedies for Hip Pain to Have Quick Relief
In most cases, hip pain is temporary and might go away in a while, but in other scenarios, it can lead to chronic pain, indicating a severe health problem. There are various home remedies for hip pain if you face a low, mild, or moderate pain level.
Primary treatment is the RICE method, which states rest, ice, compression, and elevation. In addition, this method includes traditional measures like pain relief medicines, home remedies, specialty services, chiropractic care, physical therapy, and acupuncture.
Rest
The first and foremost guideline to treat your hip pain is to rest. Avoid doing things that require the movement of this joint, such as bending or putting pressure on it. Also, avoid resting on the side of the hip or letting yourself sit on a flat, rigid surface for an extended time.
It doesn’t necessitate halting all physical activities but avoiding moving your injured side of the hip, which might aggravate the pain. For instance, when you are exercising, prevent yourself from engaging in running.
Ice or Heat
Another of the most effective and widely-used home remedies for hip pain is to treat it with either ice or heat. Take an ice pack or bag of vegetables and apply it where you feel the most pain. Applying cold to it can lessen inflammation and excessive puffiness.
But, if you feel the joint being stiffed than swollen, then using heat can be your savior. The heat causes the blood vessels to expand, which helps the blood flow of damaged tissue. And this leads to the soothing of tissue and helps ease the stiffness.
Compression
Compression is one of the most effective home remedies for hip pain. This process aids the joints to stay in one place, boosts mobility, and increases the blood flow in the affected region. In addition, it ensures less pressure on the joint and releases hip pain.
Wrap a thick bandage around your pelvis or hip to compress the injury and its pain. It’s that simple.
Elevation
To treat a painful joint, elevating it can help lessen the swelling, which helps relieve the pain faster. Though it’s difficult to elevate your hip, it helps blood circulation and reduces pressure on joints and soreness.
So, recline your feet up (higher than your heart) to do this while resting. You can place a pillow under your hip while doing this.
Motion Exercising or Stretching
This home remedy for hip pain can be fun as long as you are not in too much pain while doing it. Exercise can increase the motion of your joint and support the muscle around the hip. However, choosing the right type of exercise/physical activity is one of the most crucial requirements for relieving pain. So, to safeguard your hip joint, the following exercises will help you through the pain.
- Gluteal Sets: Squeeze your butt cheeks together for 6 seconds and repeat it 10-15 times.
- Active Assisted Ham String Stretches: Bring your leg up, grab the bottom part of the thigh, and stretch your legs until you feel your hamstrings being stretched. These hamstrings are connected to the pelvis and hip area. Stretch for 30 minutes 2-3 times and do it on both sides for better results.
- Pelvic Tilts: Rotate and tilt your pelvis area to flatten your back. Hold, wiggle, and repeat it 2-3 times for 10 seconds.
People Also Ask
What activities should be avoided explicitly while experiencing hip pain?
High-motion exercises, such as running, intense yoga, or Pilate, should be avoided, as well as squatting with heavy weights that put pressure on your hip.
What medicines or pain relievers should be taken?
Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines can prove beneficial. These medicines include acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), naproxen sodium (Aleve), and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others).
In what cases should we seek immediate medical attention?
Get to the nearest clinic or medical center in case of throbbing hip pain, swelling, inability to move your leg or carry weight, or if there’s an indication of infections, such as fever, soreness, or cold.
Conclusion
Pain in any body region can be nerve-wracking, let alone one that affects your mobility –hip pain. The conventional steps, such as pain medication and physical therapy, often act as some of the effective home remedies for hip pain. However, it is time for a doctor’s visit if the symptoms get severe after a few months or weeks. So, to avoid further complications that may lead to surgery, it is vital to get enough sleep, eat healthy food, stay active, and exercise daily to lessen the inflammation levels that may lead to injury and hip pain. But most importantly, follow the RICE technique shared above.