If your hips feel sore or achy every day after work, take steps to ease your discomfort now. Hip discomfort can develop from sitting in a work chair or standing on your feet all day. Some people experience problems if they have arthritis or an injury in the muscles, joints, or ligaments of the hips. You can find relief with the helpful tips below. 

Massage Your Hips

Prolonged sitting and standing can cause the soft tissues in your hips to tense up. Your hip bones use cartilage to separate them from their sockets and other bones. Pressure created on the ends of your hip joints can inflame or wear down cartilage. Sitting for long periods of time might even pinch or suppress the nerves in your hips. These issues can cause pain in your hips as well as other areas of the lower body.

Gently massaging the area over each hip may help ease some of your discomfort. Prior to your massage, take a warm bath or shower to reduce the inflammation in your hip joints and soft tissues. If you have arthritis, the warmth may benefit you greatly.

After your bath or shower, apply a few drops of natural oil to your skin to keep the areas moisturized. You can use olive oil, vitamin E oil, or lavender oil for your massage. If possible, use a circular motion during the massage to increase circulation to your sore, achy tissues.

If your discomfort continues, talk to your doctor about physical therapy.

Seek Physical Therapy for Your Hips

If your symptoms continue, even after massaging your hips, see if physical therapy will help. A therapist may take X-ray images of your hip bones and soft tissues to see if they have some type of injury, such as a tear or bruise. Arthritis can cause significant problems over time if it goes untreated.

Injuries to the nerves, ligaments, and bones of the hips can also require special treatment, such as water therapy or strength training. These types of treatments restore function and movement to your joints over time.

A physical therapist may suggest that you do range of motion exercises at home to improve your condition. Range of motion exercises help lubricate your joints while easing the inflammation in them. You may do the exercises on a regular basis to achieve the best results.

If you want to learn more about your sore, achy hips, contact a physical therapist like those at Hands-On Physical Therapy.