If you have hip pain, you may benefit from physical therapy to help control your symptoms and improve your overall functional mobility. Your physical therapy program should focus on decreasing or eliminating your pain, improving your hip range of motion and strength, and restoring normal functional mobility.
To ensure that this program is safe and effective for you, it should be performed under your doctor's supervision. Talk to your doctor or physical therapist about which exercises will best help you meet your rehabilitation goals.
Various physical exercises which are helpful in the rehabilitation procedure are :
- Ankle pumps : It is important to gradually increase your out-of-home activity during the first few weeks after surgery. If you do too much activity, your hip may become more swollen and painful.
- Thigh squeezes (quadriceps sets) : Tighten the muscles on the top of your thigh by pushing the back of your knee down into the bed. Hold for 5 seconds and relax.
- Heel slides (hip and knee flexion) : Bend your surgical hip and knee by sliding your heel up toward your buttocks while keeping your heel on the bed. Slide your heel back down to the starting position and relax. Keep your kneecap pointed up toward the ceiling during the exercise. You may want to use a plastic bag under your heel to help it slide easier.
- Lying kicks (short arc quadriceps) : Lie on your back with a rolled-up blanket or towel (at least 6 inches in diameter) under the knee of your surgical leg.
- Straight leg raises : Bend your non-surgical leg with your foot flat on the bed. Tighten the muscles on the top of your thigh, stiffening your knee. Raise your surgical leg up (about 12 inches), keeping your knee straight.