Due to hurricane damage, the Havelock location is closed until further notice. Havelock therapists Hannah Zhang, Sarah Hall and Judy Hickes are available to see patients at the New Bern location. Please call the New Bern location at (252) 636-9800 to discuss your care.

Why you should try physical therapy for hip pain

Physical Therapy for Hip Pain

Greater difficulty walking your dog every day. Pain when doing hobbies like gardening. A decreased ability to play with your kids or grandkids. These are just a few of the impacts that hip pain can have on your everyday life. 

The sad reality is that there is no shortage of people living with hip pain. This reality is supported by medical research showing that up to 15% of adults over 60 have hip pain. Of the various treatment options available, physical therapy is one of the most effective ways to treat hip pain. 

Three benefits that hip pain physical therapy can offer you

There are many reasons to consider doing physical therapy to treat your hip pain. One is that therapy plans are personalized to fit each patient’s needs. A second reason is physical therapists can offer far more than in-clinic care. 

The biggest reason to try physical therapy is that it offers many benefits to people with hip problems. Three of these benefits include: 

  1. Improving hip muscle strength — Many hip problems are partly caused by underlying hip muscle issues. Often, this issue is weakness in these muscles, since weak muscles typically can’t keep the hip joint aligned properly. Your physical therapist can show you how to perform therapeutic exercises designed to increase your hip muscle strength. A medical study reveals that patients who did therapy exercises after a hip replacement had: 
  • A 24.4% boost in hip flexor strength 
  • A 47.9% increase in hip extensor strength 
  • A 41.2% improvement in hip abductor power 
  1. Reducing pain — The primary goal of physical therapy for hip issues is to reduce your pain. Dry needling is one therapy method your physical therapist may use to meet this goal. This technique uses monofilament needles to create a local twitch response in soft tissue; this response can help reduce soft tissue tension and pain. One medical study of patients with chronic hip pain reports that dry needling helped reduce pain by 14 points in as few as four sessions. 
  1. A high success rate — The success rate of physical therapy for people with hip issues is very high. One reason for this high success rate is methods like manual therapy. This is a category of therapy techniques where physical therapists move and mobilize joints and soft tissue with their hands. A study on hip osteoarthritis patients reports that 81% of patients who had manual therapy in their care plan had successful outcomes. 

Ready to try physical therapy for your hip pain? Peak Performance can help!

You’ll need to find a top-notch physical therapy team for your hip pain, and our team at Peak Performance fits the bill completely. We offer comprehensive evaluations designed to reveal the root cause(s) of your hip symptoms. Additionally, our physical therapists excel at building individualized therapy plans intended to offer benefits like the three listed above. 

Even better, our team can help you get care right in your own home. This is possible thanks to our virtual therapy appointments, which involve meeting with your physical therapist over a secure online video link. 

Contact us today for more information about our hip pain physical therapy services or to schedule your initial appointment.