Home Remedies That Can Help Relieve Hip Pain

Do your hips hurt? In the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), most of the pain and joint damage happen in the hands and feet. Over time, however, and especially if you also have osteoarthritis, pain can strike your hips as well.

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While there’s no way to stop all hip pain, experts say there are some home remedies you can add to your treatment regimen to lessen your symptoms. Of course, if the pain is severe or comes out of the blue, call your physician. And always get a doctor’s clearance before working out if you haven’t been exercising regularly.

1. Warm or Ice

People living with rheumatoid arthritis frequently use hot and cold therapy to soothe achy joints. Indeed, this is one of the most widespread coping methods, according to one study.

Whether people use heat (via baths, saunas, heating pads) or cold (ice, going outside in winter) is largely a personal preference, the study found, although in general, heat was selected for everyday aches while cold was favored for acute flares. One study participant marveled at how he “never walked so many stairs” as he did while visiting a warm, southern location.

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The decision whether to use heat or ice for chronic pain should be based on listening to your body, says Carrie Janiski, DO, a family, sports, and neuromuscular skeletal medicine physician with Golden Valley Health Centers in California. “If ice feels good, use it; if heat feels better then stick with that,” she says.

Alas, the benefits of either heat or ice do appear to be fleeting. A clinical trial found mild improvements in pain, functional status, and quality of life in those employing the three-week regimen of twice daily application of either heat or cold, but it was not significantly different from the standard-treatment control group.

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2. Take Long Walks

It sometimes feels like a catch-22. People with hip pain know the benefits that come from movement, but often fear the pain that may result. But unless you feel sharp, stabbing, or radiating pain during or after, or have numbness, tingling, swelling, or redness (in which case you should be checked by your physician), movement should always win out, Dr. Janiski says.

“Joints are like door hinges; their whole purpose in life is to move,” she says. Basic movement, like a long evening walk or a stroll across the parking lot when you park far from a store, are sufficient, she says. The ideal is to get to 10,000 steps a day, but any amount of walking will be beneficial, she says.

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3. Stretch and Loosen Hips With Pliés

Stretching and strengthening the quadriceps and gluteus muscles in the legs and buttocks frees up the surrounding joints that may otherwise be constrained, says Miranda Esmonde-White, the author of the books Forever Painless and Aging Backwards and the long-standing host of the PBS exercise show Classical Stretch.

To do her “tai chi plié with hip swing” (shown above), follow these steps:

1. Stand beside the back of a chair. Spread your legs in a comfortably wide stance and hold the chair with one hand. (If this challenges your balance too much, stand facing the back of the chair and grasp it with both hands.)
2. Turn out your toes like a ballet dancer. Keeping your spine straight, slowly bend your knees and plié either a small amount or all the way to the level of your knees. Be sure your knees are in line with your feet; if not, adjust the width of your stance.
3. While you are in this position, slowly swing your hips from left to right and back again, as far as you comfortably can. (See photos above.) Swing a total of 8 times before you center your hips and slowly straighten your knees.
4. Repeat this sequence 2 to 4 times.

4. Lie on Your Stomach to Relax Tight Hip Flexors

People with hip pain typically try not to stand much, since it can be an uncomfortable position. But sitting shortens the hip flexor muscles, which can actually increase pain, says Genie Lieberman, the director of the Gloria Drummond Physical Rehabilitation Institute at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Florida.

To promote the full extension of the hips, Lieberman recommends lying face down for up to 30 minutes, with small pillows placed under your shoulders for comfort. You can do this on your bed; turn your head to either side and rest it on your forearms for comfort. (You should not do this if you have lower-back problems.) In the beginning, it may be too painful to stay this way for more than a few seconds, but as you stretch the muscles it will get easier.