From sitting to standing

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LK57
LK57 Member Posts: 15
in Living with arthritis

Is there anyone out there with arthritis of the hip who has tips for managing the move from sitting to standing without that excruciating pain? It's happening more and more and can take upwards of thirty seconds to be able to actually put weight on my "bad" hip so I can walk. It's getting embarrassing at work in meetings when I get "stuck" and even worse when some kind soul tries to "help"!

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  • Baloo
    Baloo Member Posts: 405
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    Depends where you get stuck. I don't have a painful hip but I am quite keen on keeping weight off joints. If its only the standing vertical part, you might try a tai chi move called rooster stands on one leg. It develops confidence that you can gracefully balance on one leg. I can only do it now on my left leg because my right ankle is too wobbly but yes, I can get there from being sat down and can imagine it might actually work for you.

  • RogerBill
    RogerBill Member Posts: 223
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    I was advised to try flexing the legs a little to reduce stiffness before standing. Also I'm sure doing all the recommended exercises you can manage, builds up the muscles which helps take the strain off the damaged joint. Obviously losing a bit of weight also helps. Although this research refers to knee arthritis I'm sure the figures for hips would be similar: if an overweight person with knee osteoarthritis loses one pound, that equates to four pounds of pressure taken off the knees and losing just 5 pounds will take 20 pounds of pressure off your knees.

  • Lilymary
    Lilymary Member Posts: 1,742
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    I was the same, stand up slowly, move gently, and allow the muscles to start taking the weight before setting off. Although if I set off too fast (eg to answer the phone) I was doing the "rusty robot" walk across the room, which is pretty undignified. But as @RogerBill says, doing gentle exercises every day to keep the joints supple and the muscles that support your hip well toned will also help. There are several exercise programmes on this site, eg "Let's move with Leon" and Tai Chi, which can be as gentle as you like and are quite fun. Keeping the muscles toned will also aid recovery after eventual hip replacement.

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