Working with a physical therapist can help you regain range of motion and strength and improve your mobility.
Strengthening and stretching exercises are vital to recovering from FAI. A physical therapist can map out an exercise routine for you. This article explains how to do seven common exercises.
Exercise as Primary Treatment for FAI
A physical therapist may offer a variety of treatments to manage your pain and movement dysfunction. Exercises will most likely play the biggest role in treating your FAI.
Research shows that exercises can help you fully recover and manage future episodes of pain from FAI. The exercises may focus on improving hip mobility and flexibility, hip strength, balance, and overall functional mobility.
You may be glad to know that these exercises are safe to do. And they will put you in the driver’s seat of your recovery.
Tightness here may be one cause of the pinching feeling you get in the front of your hip when sitting or bending. Stretching your hip flexor muscles may be one part of your FAI exercise program.
Follow these steps:
Get into a half-kneeling position, placing one knee on the floor. This knee should be the one with the tight hip flexor you want to stretch. Your other foot should be flat on the floor in front of you. Keep your back straight with your chest high. Shift your body forward slowly. Gently tighten your abdominals by drawing your belly button in towards your spine. Tighten your butt muscles. You should feel a gentle stretch in the front of your hip and thigh of the leg with the knee on the floor. Hold the stretch for 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat three to five times.
Stop the stretch if you feel intense pain in your hip or leg. Any mild discomfort while stretching should go away once you return to the starting position of this exercise.
A physical therapist may recommend that you stretch your piriformis muscle as part of your FAI rehab.
Here’s how:
Lie on your back with your knees bent. Cross the leg to be stretched over your other knee. Your ankle should rest on your thigh next to your knee. Grab the thigh of your leg supporting your bent leg. Gently pull it towards your chest. You should feel a slight pull in the back of your hip. Hold the stretch for 15 to 30 seconds. Then rest. Repeat three to five times.
You may prefer an alternative stretch for your piriformis.
Try this:
Lie on your back. Lift your knee up toward the opposite shoulder. Grab your knee and gently pull until you feel a stretch in the back of your hip and buttocks. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Release. Repeat three to five times.
Stop if you feel increasing or lasting pain.
Follow these steps to do a groin stretch—also called the butterfly stretch:
Sit with your back straight and your legs in front of you. Bend your knees and place the soles of your feet together. Gently allow your bent knees to fall toward the ground until you feel a pull in your inner thigh and groin. You can also lean your trunk forward a bit if you want some more stretch. Hold the stretch for 15 to 30 seconds. Then release. Repeat three to five times.
Remember to stop if you feel pain.
Many exercises can build up hip strength. Ask for a demonstration and practice a few of the more common ones.
They include:
Ball bridgesBridgesClamshellsHip hikesIsometric hip raiseLateral band walkingSingle leg bridgesStraight leg raises
You can do these exercises daily. Or your physical therapist may prescribe them less often because exercising every other day may give your hip the “rest time” it needs.
Your pelvis houses the socket of your hip joint. So gaining control of your core and pelvis may be important to your FAI exercise program.
These exercises could help:
BridgingPelvic clockPelvic tiltProne straight leg raising
Core exercises can be done in 15 to 20 repetitions. Your physical therapist can show you how to do each exercise.
Improving balance can help you gain control of your pelvic and lower extremity regions. Doing so takes pressure off your hip joint and helps relieve the pain from FAI.
Balance exercises may start out with a simple, single-leg stance: Stand on one foot and hold your balance for 30 seconds.
Make the exercise more challenging by closing your eyes or standing on an unsteady surface, such as a pillow or folded-up towel.
Other balance exercises include:
Single leg squat Single leg standing with a ball toss Standing on a balance board or wobble board Using a BOSU or BAPS board
It can be tricky to improve your balance through exercise. Your goal is to challenge your balance while remaining safe. So hedge your bets and keep something stable (to hold onto) or soft (to fall into) nearby.
You may need help:
Learning to jump and land properly Performing single-leg hop testing and training Continuing to gain balance and muscular control of your hips, pelvis, and lower extremities
Summary
Exercises to strengthen and stretch the hip muscles—as well as the core, which helps stabilize the hip—are vital for recovering from an FAI. Balance and functional training can also help relieve pain and restore function.
Your physical therapist can create a personalized exercise plan for you, show you how the exercises are done, watch you do them, and keep a close eye on your progress.
