Hips Don't Lie, But They Do Break Down
We want to stay active, and there are certain activities that bring us joy–we just can’t give them up. You love tennis, maybe golf. Or, you just joined that paddle/pickleball craze. Maybe you can’t live without your yoga class, your HIIT class, your favorite cycle instructor. I get it, I feel that way too. But something is wrong with our hips. Our activities are compounding, and we need balance…literally. We do our favorite things but at some point we need to add more to those routines in order to actually get to do them. At the end of this article, I will offer solutions.
Here’s what happens, and it happens often, maybe you can relate. One day you realize you have trouble walking without deep aching hip pain or hip clicking. Eventually, you can’t get in and out of a car without feeling it. You can’t stand for long periods of time without pain. The nagging ache from the day’s activities keeps you up at night. Then one day you can’t even walk New York City the way you once used to on family trips. You reluctantly Uber instead. You feel like a drag even though you’re young and active.
For some people, surgery was the answer to improving function and relieving pain. Recently, just from asking around on social media, I heard from tons of active adults having hip surgeries, from hip labrum repairs (the labrum is a ligament that deepens the hip socket) to total hip replacements due to arthritis or fracture. I was inundated with messages from active women, and a few men, who reported hip problem after hip problem–all of them between the ages of 30 and 55 (see these responses below). I responded to most of them asking, “Before surgery and even before your injury, were you given any specific, tailored exercises to prevent the hip joint from breaking down in the first place or any guidance on how to promote hip stability and mobility?” Across the board, maybe with a few exceptions, not one person discussed a treatment or preventative method that focused on 3-dimensional strength, mobility and stability exercises for the hip.
I spoke with my friend Torun who had her hip replaced a little over a year ago. She said she can name 4 other women her age (early 50’s) who also had hip replacements all within a 6 month span. “I was always ultra flexible,” Torun told me over the phone when I asked about why she needed a new hip, “but I think I abused it.” Torun was a huge Bikram yoga fan a while back and practiced consistently. “I think I got a hands-on assist that was too hard, I had trouble walking after that and it sent me over the edge. I haven’t really let teachers give me yoga assists since then until now since I have people I trust.” Although she doesn’t think this one event caused a tear in her hip labrum or the start of her arthritis, she does think the way that she moved during yoga and other athletic activities compounded and contributed to the stress on the joint and eventually brought her to the surgeon. She has since made changes by focusing more on how her body feels, not how it looks during class or compared to others.
With caution, I asked her if she regretted anything that she had done. I was careful with this because I hate it when people tell me that my C-section 16 years ago was likely preventable. That's the last thing someone wants to hear after they’ve gone through major surgery and recovery. I didn’t want to bait Torun into feeling guilty that she had “abused” her flexibility. “No, I don’t regret anything. I just wish I had known more of what to expect with the surgery.” At the end of our conversation she says:
“Let go of what you're looking at in the mirror, that doesn't matter. You have to do what your body tells you is right for your body, not what you think it’s supposed to look like. Listen to that and honor it. It is now a wisdom thing.”
I love that.
Although surgery can be the only way to improve hip function, the truth is, there are many things you can do to fix your hip and preserve its function with movement alone, but they are not widely practiced or promoted. Why? As I write this I am sitting here shaking my head. I don’t know why. But there seems to be an epidemic of preventable hip problems among young people (if you are active, you are young) and we need to figure out how to manage them better.
In the meantime, the teaching staff at Mind the Mat and myself will continue to teach balanced exercise that will essentially support your hip joints by rebuilding that scaffolding that we are born with. Our hips have intricate musculature that supports movements and stances imperative for functioning as the three-dimensional creatures that we are.
What if there were something you could do for your hips now, before you have problems so that you can play golf, tennis, get on the floor with your baby or grandbaby, beat your buds at paddle? Try these starter exercises and join us on the FitClinic app as we launch phase 2: Mobility & Foundations. Use code FITCLINIC25 and get 25% off now for the life of your subscription.
