Try to avoid injuring your hips at all costs. There are a few common hip injuries that are painful and they are often slow to recover from. They don’t just hurt in the moment – they can make walking, sitting and lying down painful. If you do sustain a hip injury, it will take time to get better, which will see you lose speed and distance gains. Want to know what you need to avoid? Here are some of the most common hip injuries for runners and some tips on how to avoid them.
Stress fractures – The neck of the femur is the most common place for runners to find hip stress fractures. They are caused by repeated impact stressors over time. Stress fractures are tiny cracks in the bone – and are very painful.
Back squats and other weight bearing exercises can help strengthen the bones that are supporting the worked muscles. Squats work the muscles all around the upper thighs and hips, which will see stronger hip bones – helping to avoid those stress fractures.
Muscle strains – Hip flexors and hip pain caused from higher hamstring injuries are the most common hip muscles that runners injure. Strains are caused by over stretching the muscles, leading to tears in the fibres. They can vary in severity but often take a long time to heal (if you’ve ever ‘done a hammy’ you’ll know what we mean).
Stretch your hip flexor muscles before and after running to keep them in good shape. Step forward with your right foot and back with your left foot (a compact lunge position). Instead of dropping into a lunge, tilt the hips forward. This stretch also helps if you’ve been sitting in a chair all day.
Bursitis – Another form of common hip injuries is Bursitis. In between your bones and muscles are small sacks called bursa. These little pouches act as insulation, protecting both bone and muscle from friction. If they have to work too hard, they can get inflamed and irritated. At the hips, you’ll likely find bursitis occurring between the IT band and the greater trochanter (the corner of your hip bone).
IT band C stretches should help to relieve bursitis caused at the IT band site, or help to avoid it before it occurs. Cross your right leg behind your left leg, allowing the right knee to bend slightly while the left leg stays locked in position. Lean your torso to the left and you should feel a satisfying stretch at the hip.
If you would like to find out more about how Enertor Insoles can help reduce common hip injuries for runners and those playing sports, take a look at our hip injury page.
About Enertor Advanced Technology Insoles – Enertor insoles are designed to prevent a number of common running injuries and provide more comfort. Designed by leading podiatrists to reduce your risk of injury, the unique design features support your foot throughout training. Enertor insoles are enhanced by D3O impact protection technology, which means they can provide more shock absorption than any other insole. Our expertise, combined with the patented D3O shock absorption technology, enables Enertor to deliver the most advanced injury prevention insoles on the market today.
Enertor insoles are available to buy from our online insoles shop.
Whilst Enertor has over 18 years Orthotics experience, our blog content is provided for informational purposes only and it is not a substitute for your own doctor’s medical advice. Enertor advises anyone with an injury to seek their own medical advice – and do not make any health or medical related decisions based solely on information found on this site
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