We recently got a question that I think many of us can relate to. I hope you find this helpful too!
Q. My right hip aches, particularly at night. It doesn’t feel like an injury but more like a “just getting older” kind of ache. I am already doing the hip stretch (#7) in our Ramp. Do you have any stretches you would recommend that might help?
A. This is a great question and most of the time
the most important thing to do it remove what aggravates the area vs. adding a stretch. Like
if you have a toxic person in your life dragging you down, you can
learn techniques (add) to better deal with them, but your life would be
much better via subtraction….
The
most important thing to add would be some additional foam rolling on a
daily basis – 3 to 5 minutes (make sure to explore and find the most
tender areas), and #5-6-7 in RAMP too. This would be the ½ kneel elbow-to-elbow, a pigeon stretch, and hip flexor stretch with arm reach.
Back to things to subtract.
If it is at night, a common issue that aggravates hips is sleeping on one’s side – that pressure over 6 or 8 hours can really add up, and nothing will make it go away other than a different sleep position.
In general, try paying attention to when it starts and trying to adjust your position to make it feel better. For example: Sitting cross legged or with a leg tucked under you tends to aggravate most people’s hips too – think watching TV on the couch at night – put your legs up on an ottoman instead.
Hope that helps!
Oh and if you are having any back pain you might find this to be helpful too: 3 Back Pain Myths