Osteoarthritis in my hips

jenpad

Hello, I'm new here. 43 year old female. So shocked to learn that the cause for my hip pain is Osteoarthritis. I am overweight, BMI around 40. Having done no exercise, I've started with a gentle walk each day. No more than 30 mins. But the exercise has triggered pain in my hips, one in particular! Do I carry on? Or am I doing it damage? Will it eventually help if I keep going? Feeling very disheartened and in pain.

noddingtonpete

Hello @jenpad and welcome to the Community. We are a friendly and supportive group and I hope that will be your experience as well.

I understand that you have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in your hip and that exercise has triggered pain. As in all cases if the pain is bad I would suggest getting in touch with your GP/Consultant to make sure it is Ok. Having said that gentle exercise usually helps. We have some exercise videos on YouTube which you might find of help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5K55p01AwM

Have a look and see if it helps.

With best wishes

Peter (Moderator)

TLee

I have severe OA in the left hip. I walk daily and, yes, sometimes I get a flare-up of pain. Usually I can think of something that I did that may have been the cause (stepped down wrong, walked on uneven surface, let the dog get too excited at the end of the leash...), but sometimes it just seems like I'm having a "bad day". I usually take it a bit easier on those days, taking time to get back to more strenuous exercise. I do think that exercise is a good thing, and I've not really heard much about it making things worse. One thing that I have discovered is that I am able to be much more active since losing a bit of weight. I would encourage healthy eating habits as well as exercise. Simple things like cutting down on carbs and limiting higher-calorie foods can make a difference. I have also found the recommended stretches can be helpful, but you need to keep at it. I gave up on physical therapy for a time because I didn't think it was likely to help. When I went back to some of the simple exercises I was taught I began to feel stronger & more stable over time. Here's my trick: I put on a favorite video & go through a series of stretches while I watch--makes it much more enjoyable! Best of luck!