The holidays are meant for celebrations with friends and loved ones, but if you’re struggling with hip arthritis, hosting an event can pose some serious challenges. Between standing for long periods, bending to prepare meals, or rushing around to entertain guests, it’s easy to strain joints already suffering from pain, inflammation, and stiffness.
Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to protect your hips and reduce the risk of painful symptoms during the holiday season and beyond. In this post, Thomas E. Powell, MD, and the team at Powell Orthopedics and Sports Medicine offer three simple solutions that can dramatically relieve arthritis-related hip strain, so you can focus on the joy of the season.
It might be very tempting to tackle all your holiday tasks in a single day, but too much activity in a relatively short space of time can leave your hips aching and inflamed. In fact, arthritis pain often worsens when joints are repeatedly stressed, especially through activities such as standing, bending, lifting, and twisting.
While it might not seem as desirable as finishing everything as quickly as possible, pacing your activities over a longer period is the key to preventing painful symptoms. Break your to-do list into a series of smaller tasks, then spread them out over a period of a few days, ensuring you work in occasional rest periods as well.
For tasks that require a lot of standing (like food prep, for instance), consider buying an anti-fatigue mat and swap out your current shoes for footwear that provides more support for your feet — and in turn, your ankles, knees, hips, and even lower back. Taking proactive measures to limit strain now helps you avoid pain that could limit your mobility well into the new year.
Investing in anti-fatigue mats is just one way to make your environment more accommodating to your needs. When it comes to hosting, it pays to map out your activities so you can make ergonomic changes to support the way your body naturally moves.
For hip pain, that typically means arranging your space to minimize the movements that strain your hips like twisting, reaching, and bending. For instance, in your kitchen, keep your pots and pans, serving dishes, and utensils within easy reach, even if it means moving them back to their regular locations after the holidays.
Consider adding a stool to your kitchen so you can sit and rest your hips while preparing vegetables or even washing the dishes. Be sure you have a firm chair or sofa to retreat to when sitting with your guests to make it easier to sit and stand and to avoid strain on your lower back and pelvis. Making small adjustments to your environment promotes mobility, reduces discomfort, and helps you host confidently throughout your event.
When joints ache, it might seem like the obvious solution is to rest as much as possible. But while occasional rest periods are important for limiting strain and giving your hips a chance to recover, completely avoiding exercise can quickly make your symptoms worse.
Joints are made to move. In fact, movement increases circulation to your joints and helps them stay lubricated. Regular, low-impact activities, like walking, gentle stretching, or yoga, promote better joint health and keep your joints flexible, avoiding stiffness that can take a toll on your mobility and movement.
You can improve joint mobility and reduce symptoms even more by applying occasional heat to your joints. A warm compress or heating pad stimulates circulation, delivering oxygen and other nutrients to your joints while preventing muscles from tightening up.
Arthritis is a chronic, degenerative condition that requires ongoing management to protect your joints and manage your symptoms. If your arthritis symptoms make it difficult to do the activities you love — like hosting holiday parties — we have solutions that can help.
Best of all, the sooner you start treatment, the better your results can be. To find out how we can design a hip arthritis management plan just for you, request an appointment online or over the phone with Powell Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, today.
