March 14, 2025 · Written by Dr. Gina Bernal

An Easy Trick to Help Relieve Hip Pain

You’re returning from a day in Seattle and have been in the car much of the day. After reaching the ferry, you decide to get out and walk for a bit while you wait to board. Now comes the pain and stiffness that you’ve become familiar with but can’t seem to shake. The first few steps are not only painful but also challenging, and you can’t help but limp and shuffle. Finally after passing several cars you get into your stride, but you know this will happen again. What can you do?

There are numerous reasons for this kind of pain and stiffness with just as many ways to go about treating it. Is something weak? Is there a tight ligament? Could arthritis be a part of it? Through my years of practice, there is one exercise I have noted to work with just about every ailment of the lower half of the body, and that is weight shifting. It is very simple and yet it does so many things to help us walk with less pain and stiffness. 

What To Do

When you first stand up, don’t start walking immediately. Instead, take a moment to center yourself over your feet and stand as tall as possible. Now, shift your weight side to side through your hips. Oftentimes people will shift their weight through their shoulders, causing their head to move like an inverted pendulum. Instead, you want your shoulders to remain level with the ground as you move side to side. Lead with your hips as if you are sticking one out to the side to carry a child. Another way to think about this is like you are swaying in a slow dance.

Start with small movements, getting bigger as your pain and stiffness subside. Take as much or as little time as you need before you feel like you can walk. If you start to walk and your hips or low back catch again, pause and try the exercise once more. 

You may want to try doing this in a mirror at home to note how you naturally want to move. If you notice your head is leading the movement, this is the perfect time to correct things so you can do it well when going about your day. 

What does this do?

Chronic pain causes a reflexive response in our body to hold tightly so as to prevent further pain. Muscle spasm holds our joints closely, making it more challenging for bones to move effortlessly. It can also cause ligaments and tendons to become pinched from limited room to move through the joints. The sympathetic nervous system, responsible for fight-or-flight responses, also is turned on more and stays at this place of alertness, further increasing muscle spasm as well as triggering an inflammatory response. What once was a protective mechanism has now come full circle, replaced with dysfunctional movement.

Pausing and weight shifting before walking gives our body the opportunity to prepare for walking. It allows our legs to take our weight fully and then relax instead of holding tightly. This movement allows our hip muscles to wake up and engage more appropriately. Shifting side to side also helps turn down the fight-or-flight response of our sympathetic nervous system, much like being rocked. From all of this, we have less muscle guarding and a more balanced response from our muscles to allow us to walk. 

Why side to side? Why not other directions of movement?

While walking requires all planes and axes of movement, oftentimes the muscles responsible for side to side movement are the most impaired. These muscles are found on the sides of our hips, reaching from our pelvic bone, over the hip joint, and onto the femur (thigh bone). If nothing else is done, focusing on these muscle groups helps improve our chances of reducing pain and stiffness the most. Other helpful movements include stationary marching, glute (butt) squeezes, and heel raises. 

I have had a number of people tell me this exercise helped them immediately with their pain. After some time, you may find you do not need to do this exercise every time you stand from a long period of sitting. However, if you find you are still struggling with little to no relief after trying this for a few weeks, it may be time to see your physical therapist or doctor to further investigate the cause of your pain.

Be well,

Gina