Hip joint exercises

We all know that the hip joint is a very important joint in our human body. It is located at the equivalent of an axis, and plays a vital role in many activities of the human body, such as the extension and rotation of the femoral head. But what many people don’t know is that the movement of our human hip joint can produce lubricating fluid, which has a repairing effect on the femoral head. So today we are going to learn several hip joint exercises.

1. Bed exercise method

(1) Hip flexion and extension exercise: Lie on your back to stretch the joint. Hold the lower end of the femur with your hands interlaced and your fingers together. Use repeated elbow flexion to pull up and combine it with active hip flexion exercises. Continue the exercise for 5 to 10 minutes, gradually increasing the frequency and amplitude.

(2) Hip abduction and straight leg raising exercise: Lie on your back with your legs straight and your hands at your sides. Raise the affected leg 25° to 35° by abducting it and holding it there for 1 minute. Repeat 10 times. Similarly, you can do side-lying or prone leg raises to exercise the lateral and posterior muscles. (Starting 3 months after surgery)

(3) The hip joint is abducted and adducted. The knees are flexed to about 90 degrees and shoulder-width apart. The knee joints are abducted and adducted for 5 to 10 minutes.

(4) Hip joint external rotation and internal rotation exercise method: Lie on your back with your legs straight, your hands on your sides, your feet shoulder-width apart, and use your heels as the axis to perform external and internal rotation exercises on your legs for 5 to 10 minutes.

(5) Hip flexion position external rotation and internal rotation exercise method: Lie on your back with your knee flexed to 100° and your hip flexed to 90°. Hold your knees with both hands and use your wrist strength to repeatedly perform external rotation and internal rotation exercises for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Under-bed exercise

(1) Squatting with support: Stretch forward with one or both hands to hold onto a fixed object, stand upright, and place your feet shoulder-width apart. Slowly squat down and then stand up. Repeat for 3 to 5 minutes. (Starting half a year after surgery)

(2) Swinging the affected limb: Stretch one or both hands forward or lean sideways to hold onto a fixed object, stand on one foot with weight, and then flex, extend, adduct, and abduct the affected limb and swing it for 3 to 5 minutes. (Starting half a year after surgery)

(3) Internal and external rotation method: Hold onto a fixed object with your hands, extend one foot slightly forward and outward, with the heel touching the ground, and perform internal and external rotation exercises for 3 to 5 minutes. (Starting half a year after surgery)

(4) Hip flexion method: The patient sits upright on the bed or in a chair with his lower limbs separated; the affected limb repeatedly performs knee and hip flexion exercises for 3 to 5 minutes.

(5) Knee hugging method: The patient sits upright on the bed, sofa, or chair, with the lower limbs separated. The patient holds the affected limb under the knee with both hands and repeatedly bends the elbow and pulls it back in coordination with active hip flexion exercises to increase the strength and amplitude of hip flexion.

(6) Opening and closing method: Sit upright on a chair or stool, with the hip, knee and ankle joints at 90° angles. Put the feet together and use the toes as the axis to abduct and adduct the knees, focusing on abduction for 3 to 5 minutes.

(7) Cycling exercise method: Sit firmly on a special bicycle exercise machine and exercise as if you were pedaling a bicycle, gradually increasing the speed for 10 to 20 minutes.

Through the above introduction, we know what are the exercises for the hip joint. There are two ways to exercise the hip joint: on bed and under bed, so you can choose the exercise method that suits you according to your preference. However, we must remind everyone that the time and intensity of daily exercise should be within a certain range to avoid the opposite effect.