Hip bursitis is a condition that’s common in both active and sedentary people. In active people, it’s commonly caused by repetitive movements that inflame the bursa on the point of the hip. Hip bursitis is also possible in sedentary people because their muscles are often tight, and these tight muscles can lead to high levels of bursa irritation. Overall, it’s estimated that more than 23% of people have bursitis in one hip. People can also develop bursitis in both hips, which happens in 8.5% of the population.
It can take some time to recover from hip bursitis. In many cases, hip bursitis recovery times could range from six to 12 weeks. Therapeutic exercises from a physical therapist are one way you may be able to reduce your recovery time for this hip issue. Here are two exercises that can be especially helpful for this condition:
1. Seated figure-four stretch
Stretching the hip rotator muscles is one way you can reduce your hip bursitis recovery time. These muscles include the piriformis muscle and glutes, and a therapeutic exercise that your therapist might recommend to stretch the hip rotators is the seated figure-four stretch.
Steps for doing the seated figure-four stretch
- Sit on the edge of a stable chair with both feet flat on the floor.
- Lift the affected leg so that your foot is resting on the opposite thigh.
- Slowly bend forward from the hips until you feel a stretch in your hip and butt. Make sure to keep your torso straight as you bend forward.
- Hold the stretch for 10 to 15 seconds.
- Return to the starting position and rest for 10 seconds.
- Repeat these steps until you’ve stretched the affected hip two to three times.
2. Lying lateral leg raises
Strengthening the muscles that support and move the hip can help decrease your hip bursitis recovery time as well. There are many exercises that can target these muscles, and one that your therapist could prescribe is the lying lateral leg raise.
Steps for doing the lying lateral leg raise exercise
- Lie down on your side on a bed or a yoga mat on the floor. Make sure you’re not lying on your painful hip, since this is the one you want to strengthen.
- Rest your head on your hand, and straighten both legs.
- Slowly raise the affected leg about a foot off the floor while keeping your leg straight.
- Hold this position for two or three seconds.
- Slowly lower your leg back down.
- Repeat these steps until you’ve done five to 10 repetitions. Your goal should be to complete three sets of the exercise daily.
Panther Physical Therapy can help improve your hip bursitis recovery time
Do you want some help improving your hip bursitis recovery time? Our Panther Physical Therapy team is primed to offer you the help you’re looking for. We’ll start your therapy process by having you come into one of our clinics for a free screening. This will give us the opportunity to assess how hip bursitis is affecting your body. Our team will then use this information to construct an individualized treatment plan, and this plan will be designed to reduce your symptoms and recovery time.
Contact us today for more hip bursitis treatment information or to schedule an initial appointment.