Many causes of knee and low back pain are rooted in the hips. Clearing your hip of junky, exhausted tissue will improve its ability to generate movement and control alignment of the knee and lower back. Sitting most of the day doesn’t help in the least. Here’s how to reverse the damage of sitting.
The muscles of the posterior hip are often overworked as a result of poor posture at the ankles and pelvis, the result is that they tend to break down. Eventually leaving muscles and fascia that is matted down with scar tissue. This gritty and junky tissue can be cleaned up with some simple self-treatment techniques, instead of having to visit your Oakville Chiropractor for pain relief or our Oakville Physiotherapist.
HIP CLEANUP
Spend 5 minutes on each hip once per day. Do this every other day for 2 weeks, then as needed. Trust me, you will reap the rewards of healthy functional tissue in the hip for years to come. Your knees and lower back will thank you by staying pain-free. And you might save yourself a visit or two at your local Chiropractor.
the Need-to-know
- Sit on the ground and roll a tennis ball or lacrosse ball gently under your hip. Use the tennis ball or lacrosse ball to explore the muscle tissue, searching for tight and tender areas or ‘knots’.
- Sink in: When you hit a spot that needs work, stop and hold your weight over the ball, putting pressure on that spot. Breathe in, then breathe out very slowly and allow the muscle to relax into the ball, causing it to sink deeper into the tissue.
- Oscillate: Once you’ve sunk in, then gently oscillate back and forth over the tight and tender muscle to grind out the tension.
- Roll: Now slowly roll parallel along the fibres of the muscle. Remember to breathe.
- Contract and relax: Contract the target muscle under the ball by squeezing the glutes while inhaling. Then relax and lengthen/stretch the tissue under the ball, during a slow exhale. Follow the movements shown in the video for best results.
- Flossing: To restore sliding surfaces. The muscles in our body need to glide back and forth against each other for proper mechanics and function. This is especially important in the hips. Unglue this sticky tissue by sinking into tight and tender spots and then lengthen the underlying muscles with the movements in the video. As well, sink between muscles and tender spots. This will separate their fascial sheaths, opening up your muscles ability to glide against one another without friction or ‘stickiness’.
You can apply the above techniques to countless areas of the body for killing pain, improving joint posture, movement and strength.
If you spend a good chunk of the day sitting at a desk, you should check out our posts on How To Set-Up Your Chair and How To Set-Up Your Desk. Otherwise, your hip will tighten right back up and you’ll feel like your swimming upstream.
Throw us a line. Let us know your results and problem areas.
-Dr. Justin Guy, Oakville Chiropractor