Week 4 and Now Hip Pain

[UncleGamer]

So started using a Fitbit and walking about 4 weeks ago. My goal is 30 minutes a day and 6K steps for all five weekdays and then off Saturday and Sunday. This is week 4 and things have been going great, until this morning.

Last night I noticed a light pain in the front of my hip. It hurts on the reverse leg swing of the walking motion. This morning it was still there so I took an anti-inflammatory while I did some office work, stretched a bit and started my morning walk. 

500 steps in the pain in the front of the hip was back and within another 500 steps has begun to radiate to the outside of the hip. I stopped and stretched again but it did not help. 

5 weeks ago you could not get me up for a walk, not I crave it every morning. I am dying because I want the morning walk but the hip pain is not minor enough to push through. I have to hobble along if I want to do it and I am worried I can going to make whatever is hurting worse. 

Any thoughts? I am thinking just start my weekend off now and come back Monday.

[Bhuvana]

@UncleGamer: The best option is stop walking and see the doctor. With pain, do not push for any exercise. That's always not advisable! Good Luck!

[UncleGamer]

I sent a note to my doctor this morning about this for his opinion. 

This is a big deal to me, for so long I have been sedate with little to no activity. To have reached the point I WANT to walk every morning is a huge step. Anything that gets in the way of that is just something that rips me up inside.

[Mukluk4]

He will probably send you to PT as you probably pulled a muscle or stretched a ligament.  Continue a good stretching routine until the doc gets back to you.

[MarciM]

@UncleGamer If you have a pool available to you, I'd suggest going for a swim to satisfy your desire to move. You might also consider an exercise bike set with low tension. I often find if I've pushed really hard for a few weeks, my hips and knees need a rest, so I move to the exercise bike, which still gives me an aerobic workout without the stress on my joints. PT will likely be the answer from our doctor, which a swim recommendation. Fingers crossed you are feel great soon.

[GershonSurge]

@UncleGamer,

This is one of those injuries that can become quite painful and chronic if you don't give it a long rest. It may take a couple months for it to heal completely. I'd give it at least a week before walking for no more than five minutes at a time.

As a general rule, don't take any painkillers for an injury so you can keep walking. Pain is your friend that tells you to rest. The only time I'd take a painkiller is to sleep.

Meanwhile, I suggest working on gentle upper body resistance training. If you have a Planet Fitness nearby, you could sign up for the $10.00/month membership and talk to their free trainer. By gentle, I mean no more than 5 or 10 pound dumbbells for the first 12 weeks. I'd ask the trainer for a plan using only one dumbbell at a time that you can do at home. The reason for the light weights is so you can workout every day. This is an essential aspect of habit forming.

Last year, I had to take six weeks off from running due to an Achilles tendon I pulled while jumping rope. I went to Planet Fitness almost every day. When I came back to running, I hadn't lost any speed or endurance at all.

Personally, I have no use for doctors except for serious trauma. In a case like yours, they will want to give you pills, shots, physical therapy, etc., etc. In two months, you will be better with a bunch of pills. With no doctor and rest, it will take 60 days.

(PS: Maybe someone will sue me for this advice.  Be advised, I'm broke.)

[UncleGamer]

I wish we had a Planet Fitness near, all we have is a Gold's Gym and that is $40 a month for a one year contract. I have considered going that route, just wish I had more options.

As for how long for this to heal, my current plan is to take off for the whole 3 day weekend and see how it feels. In the mean time I will keep any walks short, just to keep moving. If Monday it still hurts then I will take a few more days and test again.

I hate that I cannot go for my morning walks right now but understand that this will not happen over night and will take time. 

[JohnnyRow · Accepted solution]

I'm no doctor but it sounds like it could be your hip flexor getting tight.  I get that occasionally and have found a stretch that usually gets rid of the pain in a few days. And if I do it just a minute or two a day, it seems to keep it well. 

If you just google "hip flexor", you can find descriptions to see if that matches you situation, and some stretches for it. "Kneeling hip flexor stretch" is the one that helps me a lot.

When you do get back to being able to walk, reduce your time/distance at first and stop if/when you get the pain so it doesn't become a long-term issue.  Better to reduce your walking for a while than to have to stop for a longer time.

[UncleGamer]

Thanks for the advice. I did some stretching Friday and Saturday. Saturday I walked on it but nothing long, just short trips, like to the store and stuff. However I did not cut down my activities just cut out the longer walks. This morning the pain is greatly reduced.

My plan for this week is to replace my long morning walk with a short walk at least times a day. Just once around the block. See if that will work okay to keep my moving and healing at the same time.