Hip pain exercises · Chapel Hill
Hip exercises haven’t helped? Let’s look at the whole movement.
Stretching a painful hip or repeating strengthening exercises may leave part of the picture unexplored. Let’s find out what your movement tells us.
Clinical insights from Dr. Derek Nielsen, PT, DPT, owner of Royal Pain Physical Therapy.
Look at more than the spot where your hip hurts.
Consider when symptoms show up during exercise and everyday activities:
- Squatting or lunging brings on hip pain.
- Running, hiking, or longer walks becomes painful.
- Stairs or getting up from a chair feels restricted.
- You also notice back stiffness or a difference between sides.
These symptoms don’t tell you exactly what’s causing the problem, but they give us more to investigate.
At Royal Pain, we assess your painful movements and how your hip works with the surrounding areas. We check your response to treatment to guide what needs to change for walking, exercising, and everyday movement with less pain.
The same symptom doesn’t mean the same problem.
One person with hip pain may need more mobility. Another may need strength or help with how they load the hip during activity. We assess your movement rather than assume everyone needs the same hip stretches.
At Royal Pain, we assess first to understand what your problem needs—then check your response to guide treatment toward lasting relief.
How Royal Pain finds your starting point.
Your symptoms, movement, and treatment response guide the plan—including what you can do on your own for pain relief.
Assess first.
At Royal Pain, we examine the movement that hurts and use a hands-on assessment to look for what may be contributing to your pain.
Treat and recheck.
We treat what we believe is contributing, then repeat the painful movement to check whether your symptoms improve. Your response guides what we do next.
Build on the response.
We use what helps to guide your treatment and show you what to do at home—so you can build on the relief and address what’s contributing to your pain.
A closer look at hip pain.
Explore Royal Pain’s approach to hip pain, including questions about arthritis, labrum tears, and pain around the outside of the hip.
Hip pain care at Royal Pain
Not ready to book an appointment yet?
Get a free copy of Pain Is a Royal Nuisance and discover a process for addressing what may be keeping you in pain—without relying on medication or surgery.
Understand your options before deciding.
Talk with Dr. Nielsen about your hip pain, what you’ve tried, and where he would start based on your symptoms.