Hi, I a 32 year old female, a mother of 2. All my life I have known I have hip problems. I have congenital hip dysplasia. Had many surgeries before I turned 2, and during one of those surgeries, the Docor broke my knee as well. So, I have a hip problem, a knee problem and a spine problem. I was always told running was a big NO NO for me, and it was true, I can t run to save my life, walking for any amount of distance is a huge struggle. A simple trip to the grocery store will have me in bed or a few days. I can t really do what everyone does to stay healthy, I can t go for walks, I can t jog at the park, and I can t just run my stress away. So other than my hip problem, I am under 5 ft. tall, 4 11. So, I was very surprised to find out that after getting off an elliptical machine, my pain had diminished significantly. I was able to move around more that day, I accomplished so much more than I had been able to in recent weeks. Yes, I was still feeling the discomfort of my hip joints running against each other, but it was just that discomfort the pain I normally felt was almost gone for about half the day. Now, my question is, should I let my husband buy me the machine I used for only a few minutes, and made my day so much better than the past several weeks? It s an expensive machine, and we are not made out of money, so if my husband is determined to work an extra job just to buy me this machine, I want to know that it s okay for me to use it. Please help!
Hello, In hip dysplasia even after multiple surgeries there are chances of arthritis, which can be prolonged but not avoided. Now in your case due to inactivity I.e. you are not using your muscles to full extent due to avoidance of running or jogging has lead to painful muscle spasm which was relieved when you used the elliptical machine. Now you need to understand that this machine is doing the job of walking and running for you in a way strengthening your lower limb muscles. So, this can be done with weights training, physiotherapy, activities like swimming and yoga. To summarizeStrengthening of following muscles will help you provided you should not over exert your joint. Hip flexors, Extensors,rotators, abductors and adductorsKnee flexors and ExtensorsBack Extensors and lateral rotatorsabdominal muscles Hope this helps you thank you