How to Relieve Hip Pain Naturally (Expert Tips)

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February 2025. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/6tjMOrTT1LU

Mike: If you have hip pain, whether it's in the front, the side, or the back, the cause may not be what you think.

Brad: And the best part is, we have a simple fix for fast relief of pain. We'll show you in just a few minutes.

Mike: The problem we are talking about is something called Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome. Now, anterior, if we break down the word, means forward. If we take femoral, that's your femur bone. Glide syndrome just means it kind of glided out of place.

Brad: Why don't we just have Sam help out on this? So, what we're going to do is look at the hip joint here. The femur and the ball. Now, we have some tissues around here, ligaments, and a capsule that holds the ball in place.

Brad: Now, what happens is the ball actually slides forward. And we're going to use another model because we're getting covered up by the connective tissue. So, we'll take the spine here. Sorry, Sam, you're not good enough today for everything. Now, we look at the ball and the socket. Now, it should be deep in the socket so everything is stable. Okay, now this is what happens: the ball actually goes forward. Now, you can see this little mark on the ball. There we go. That's what happens. This is too far forward. There's a gap in the back. We need to slide it back and in deep where it needs to go, so it's a stable hip and pain-free. So that's it. Bring it back where it belongs, the pain goes away, and you can carry on.

Mike: Now, when this occurs, typically what is happening in people with this condition is their hip flexors, muscles in front of the hip, are overused and get tight. They can be tight from sitting too much and not going into extension enough or engaging their glutes. So oftentimes, people have weak glutes as well, including the side of their hip and their buttocks. So we're going to show some stretches and strengthening exercises, as well as some walking tips to help with this issue.

Brad: Yeah, let's look at this just a little bit more. The muscles in the front of the hip get tight, so they pull the hip forward. And the muscle back here gets weak and actually allows more forward motion as well. And that's no good. It all works out. Now, the next thing that we're going to show is a really nice stretch in here. We'll just say that for later, but it really, it explains it so well and why it works.

Mike: So first, what we're going to do is stretch the hip flexors. So hip flexion is actually kind of marching, so we need to go in the opposite direction, backwards, to stretch them. A simple stretch you can do is to lie on the edge of something firm. If you have a firm mattress, you can use that. If you feel comfortable on a table or countertop, you can certainly try there. Those are plenty firm. I'm going to begin with both knees to my chest. I'm going to stretch my left one. I drop it down. Then I bend my knee for more of a stretch, and I'm going to bring the opposite knee towards my chest. Once you're here, you're going to hold this for roughly 30 seconds. Make sure your leg stays in a nice straight line. Don't let it venture too much off to the side. After 30 seconds of trying to relax and breathe, we're going to switch and do it on the opposite side. Now, after 30 seconds, you may notice one side is tighter than the other, so maybe spend a little more time stretching on that side.

Mike: Again, with these, take your time with them. And if you're really tight, you may only get to your leg down slightly. You want to be able to get to neutral or even down, and you know this won't be as much of an issue for you.

Mike: Now, some people struggle sitting at the edge of the bed comfortably, so something you can try is lying on your bed, put your flat back, and just dropping your leg off the edge like this. Now, if you can control your leg and bend your knee, you can certainly do that. If you struggle with this, you can take a belt, loop it around your ankle like this. You can also use a bed sheet, and then you can pull it back with your hand this way. The closer you are to the side of the bed, the more stretch you will feel.

Brad: Right, and you're going to feel that stretch across the knee, particularly when you pull that foot back, you're going to feel the stretch more towards the knee. And you'll also feel it deeper in the hip if the knee is not flexed like that. If you do get a cramp, you're going to want to straighten that leg out, and that will release it and then give it a break. So, that does happen to some people.

Mike: So that's the first thing we want you to do. The next thing we wanted to do is actually strengthen your outside hip muscles, right, Brad?

Brad: Yes, hip abductors. They help stabilize the hip, as well as the back and the pelvis, which helps you in more than one way. The way to do this is relatively simple. Do it in a standing manner. You can have something to hold onto, like a chair or against the wall. I'll do it with the chair. You can see from the backside the proper mechanics. Good tall posture. Feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed forward. Not rotated out, forward. And bringing your foot out to the side and back in. Nice controlled movements. The goal is 10 of them.

Brad: If you can do 10 of them like this without rotating your foot out, you can certainly make it a little more difficult by either adding weight around your ankle, like Mike just did, and continuing with the same exact emotion. If you're a little more advanced, this is going to take more balance, but it works well. Some people will be able to do this comfortably. You can use resistance bands and vary the resistance by simply pulling up or down on the bands, or adjusting your foot position on the band. And you won't have any problems with this. You can simply get a more difficult, darker color band to give you the resistance. Again, do both sides, 10 repetitions. You can do two or three sets of 10 if you're at that level. Otherwise, start out with one. That's good. Mike's doing a nice job of demonstrating good balance and everything that goes with it.

Mike: So focus on good posture, make sure your hips are staying level with this. I have a bent knee on the stationary side, making this hip abductor work as well. I'm going slow and controlled. On this side, I don't have any weight right now. So you need a cuff weight on both sides. You can also use a loop band if you have one of those, but just go slow and controlled. Oftentimes, I see people just swinging their legs, and they're not working their muscles as much.

Brad: No, we need good quality control. The next one we're talking about is side bending.

Mike: Side bending? We're talking about glute pumps, then we're talking about side bending.

Brad: I got ahead of the game.

Mike: He's getting ahead of the game here.

Brad: Glute pumps, we're talking about the glute maximus. Remember, we already stretched the muscles out in the front of the hip. Now we have to strengthen the opposite muscle group to help pull that hip back into that socket, as I mentioned before.

Mike: So, for this, there are a couple of ways you can do it. I will show one on the mat here on your hands and knees, your elbows. If you're uncomfortable on your knees, Brad can show a standing version you can try. So this is kind of just a typical, you know, glute pump up to the air. But we're not going to go through the full range of motion like normal. We're going to go somewhere in between the middle and then just kind of isolate the glute max. Do little oscillations. You can work up to 30 repetitions. If you're not feeling a whole lot of activation in your butt muscle and more in the hamstrings, try turning your foot in. So isolate the glute a little more. And again, try to do 30 total. If you need to do 10, rest, 10, rest, that's fine. Just make sure you do this exercise on both sides. Do you want to show the standing version?

Brad: That's right, but you gotta move.

Mike: Oh, fine.

Brad: So, on the cupboard or bed, something solid, a piece of furniture, you can go lean your hands on the counter, or on your elbows, keep your back straight, bend the knee, and we're going to do the exact same mechanics Mike's mentioned, except for in this position. So a short range of motion, not way up like this, and not allowing the trunk to move. So here we're steady, good posture. We can rotate, and then your ankle's actually going to hit the back of your knee. And that's a nice way to isolate the glutes. Oh, Mike just put an ankle weight on. You can put it above the knee, so that you get resistance that way.

Mike: Yeah, so you can do that. Or you could take a loop band and just put it above your knee on both legs as well. Just a way to add some more resistance. Now, should we talk about the side-bending problem, Brad?

Brad: Right, so this is one of those things that's subtle. Most people aren't going to realize it. As therapists, we do look for the posture of the back. And a side bending back means there's a slight movement or side bend that, again, is not always obvious, but we will notice it as therapists, and we want to get that straightened out. And this is a really unusual way to do it, but it works well, and it's easy to do.

Mike: Yeah, so what you can try is if you are walking, say, and you notice this, now it can come from your ribs being down or your hip being up. A combination you'll see is kind of like this.

Mike: Obviously, I don't quite have this problem because I'm on my tippy toes, but this is what an extreme version would kind of look like. So if they're able to get in a relaxed position, what you want to do is when you're walking, take the side that you feel the pain on and just place your arm above your head while you're doing some walking. So after about three to five steps, you can try placing your hand behind your head, keeping this area between your ribs and your pelvis lengthened. And after about three to five more steps, try to just maintain that position and see if it helps any pain you're experiencing in your hip region.

Brad: Yeah, this is one of those things that when you do it in your walk, you should feel the pain level go down. And if it does, then you'll continue to do this. Obviously, you're not going to walk around like this all day long, but for short periods of time. And these other exercises will complement each other.

Mike: Now, if you're sitting and you notice this, you can also do it in a sitting position. Obviously, you don't have steps to do because you're seated. But just hold your arm up like this for roughly 10 to 30 seconds. Then you can try here. And then just think about having good posture. Now, don't force yourself to squeeze your shoulder blades back, because people are going to get tired from doing that all day. So just think of, "Oh, I'm just lifting my rib cage up. I'm lifting my pecs towards the ceiling," and this will naturally improve your posture.

Brad: There you go. And what about the walking issue? Addressing gait so that it makes our glute muscles engage more. Also, helping that hip get back where it needs to go.

Mike: So, what we can try is to change your walking pattern. Now, this is going to feel awkward for most people, because a lot of people, when they have shoes on, are heel strikers. They put their heel out in front of them. This is going to put a lot of impact forces through your joints from your ankle, your knee, up to your hip, which can go into your lower back. So what we recommend is, if you're in your house, try going barefoot, in socks or slippers, something without an elevated heel on it. Even most tennis shoes have an elevated heel nowadays. So walk around and land with a nice flat foot and a bent knee. You don't have to land directly on your forefoot if that feels too intense for you. Just don't land with your heel and leg straight out in front of you. You're going to naturally take smaller steps as you're walking. And what this does is it helps engage your glutes more. So it'll take pressure off the tight hip flexors and engage your muscles like they're supposed to when you walk.

Brad: There you go. Again, that is something that will take time to do, and you're not going to walk on your toes, you know, all over the place immediately. Something that takes time, changing things. And now, what? This is the big one.

Mike: I should mention, if you want to feel what it's like, and if your muscles are actually working, walk your normal way with your hands on your butt, do it in your house. Then walk the exact opposite with your tippy toes and feel how much more your buttock muscles are engaging. Obviously, don't walk on your tippy toes all the time, but you should feel your glutes firing more.

Brad: Yeah, feel them contract. All right, what's the bonus tip? This is the big one. What's really going to, obviously, I think, is going to help pull that hip back in.

Mike: I will show this, but we should mention that a lot of this is from our friend Rick Olderman, before we forget.

Brad: Exactly.

Mike: So, Rick Olderman is a PT who kind of created this program that we are recommending.

Brad: He didn't kind of create it, he did.

Mike: He sort of did. He did.

Brad: He's written books on it.

Mike: So you could check him out at rickolderman.com. Thank you, Rick, for all the good information. So for this one, you can use a belt at home. It's not going to have as much play as this band will, but this is a good stretch to try to actually get that hip back in the socket if it is slightly out of place. You will notice right away if this is the right thing for you, because it'll feel better. So if my left hip is my bothersome hip, I'm going to lean forward like this and then back, and you're just going to get a nice little stretch. Obviously, with the belt, you don't have this play. So just go to the end feel, and it should feel good to kind of stretch it. When I do this at home, I use my thickest loop band, and I really go forward, and I'll hold it there and mess around. I'll even kind of like repetition like this. And then, personally, for me, I like going this way as well. It really feels good. I just get a nice, good stretch, a nice hip distraction, and it just feels good.

Brad: Right, and again, if you get the opposite reaction, it hurts or creates pain, then you stop doing it. It is not for you. And that's okay, that happens sometimes.

Mike: I'm so strong, I'm pulling our stairs over.

Brad: Yeah, be careful. All right, so go through these exercises. And there may be one or two of them that will not work for you; they won't feel good. Make sure you don't do them, avoid them. Do them once a day, up to twice a day. Again, they should feel good each time. And if these aren't working, we do have some other options.

Mike: Yeah, so watch, "Stop Hip Pain; Best 5 Stretches For Over 55." Those are a whole different approach, and you can try those out too.

Brad: Right, and if you're under 55, they probably work for you. Just, you know.

Mike: They don't work for me at all.

Brad: You, you're like a baby.

Mike: All right, anyway, we're digressing.

Brad: We're rambling.