Three physical therapy methods used for hip arthritis treatment

Your hip hurts when you first wake up in the morning. Walking your dog every day has become a painful chore. Hip discomfort makes it hard to concentrate at work. These are all reasons why people might seek treatment for their hip arthritis. 

Hip osteoarthritis is a common hip issue; it’s estimated that 25% of people who live to age 85 will develop this condition. Often, physical therapy is a treatment option that’s very effective for hip osteoarthritis. One reason it can be so effective is that physical therapists can bring many different therapy methods to bear on your symptoms. 

These three treatment techniques are often used by physical therapists to treat hip arthritis

Physical therapists are human musculoskeletal system gurus, and they also learn many techniques that are designed to reduce pain and improve joint mobility and function. Certain techniques that can be especially effective for treating hip osteoarthritis include: 

1. Dry needling — This therapy method might make some people think it could increase their hip osteoarthritis pain. The reality is that few patients feel serious discomfort during dry needling sessions. This is because physical therapists use very thin needles during this type of therapy. In addition, one study on dry needling found that it helped decrease patients’ worst hip pain by nearly 53 points on the visual analogue scale. 

2. Ergonomic recommendations — Ergonomics is the study of how to make our work and home environment more efficient and safer. Physical therapists can make ergonomic recommendations that can help reduce hip osteoarthritis pain. Some examples of such recommendations are: 

• Getting an ergonomic desk chair. 
• Using special cushions to improve your sitting posture. 
• Learning how to properly position your feet when sitting. 

3. Therapeutic exercises — Your physical therapist can also show you how to do therapeutic exercises designed to decrease your pain. Typically, some of these exercises will focus on stretching muscles around your hips. Others will work to strengthen these same muscles. A medical study of a 12-week therapeutic exercise program shows that it helped hip osteoarthritis patients: 

• Reduce their pain by more than 30%.
• Increase their leg extensor strength by 20%.
• Improve their hip extension range of motion by 30%. 

Back in Motion PT offers effective hip arthritis treatment

You don’t have to continue wondering where to turn for top-notch hip osteoarthritis treatment. In fact, you’ll find effective and personalized treatment at Back in Motion Physical Therapy. Our team offers free screenings that can help us learn the severity of your symptoms. Furthermore, we are adept at constructing therapy plans that are individualized to your specific needs. 

Don’t want to waste time driving to one of our clinics? No problem! You can save the driving time by using either our virtual therapy or at-home care services. 

Contact us today for more information about therapy options we offer for hip arthritis or to schedule your initial appointment.