Mr Daniel Williams
Orthopaedic surgery

How to overcome hip pain (part 2): build back muscle strength

Written by: Mr Daniel Williams

Published: 20/04/2021

Edited by: Emma McLeod

Surprisingly to many, building back muscle strength can be essential in overcoming hip pain. Mr Daniel Williams continues to share his medical expertise with you and highlights how muscle strength is important, alongside optimising body weight, for reducing hip pain and inflammation.

Don’t forget to read part 1: optimise body weight if you haven’t already.

A man in his athletic clothing holding two small dumbbells while looking into the camera

For stronger muscles, low impact activity like cycling, swimming, jogging or simply walking more is the best place to start. Again, it can be difficult to get started… so start slowly. You might be thinking ‘My hip hurts, so I can’t cycle or walk..’ but it’s often the other way around. Weak muscles lead to increased inflammation. So thinking ‘ My hip hurts ‘cos I’m not active enough’ is often a better way to think about it. I explain this in my video ‘Reduce pain in your hip and knee joints by cycling’.

When you begin to get more active, your hip might be a bit sore the day after, but that’s ok - start slowly. Do little and often, some gentle activity every day, scaling up slowly over weeks and months.

A good beginning is to cycle on a static exercise bike. Buy or borrow a static exercise bike and turn the pedals for one minute a day. Click here for my video explanation.

Do one minute a day the first week, two minutes a day in week two, three minutes a day in week three, slowly building until you’re doing 10 to 15 minutes most days. Remember to scale up slowly. Dive straight into a 15-minute spin class and your hip will scream at you! Scale-up slowly and the muscles around your hip will get stronger, helping to reduce inflammation in your hip over maybe a 6-18 month period. Then hopefully you will begin to notice fewer flare-ups and fewer painful episodes.

Making small changes to help optimise your body weight and build back muscle strength will keep the force in your hip well controlled and can help settle down hip inflammation. That’s whether you’ve got a niggly hip that gives you trouble every now and again, whether you’re thinking about hip replacement, or, for that matter if you’ve had a hip replacement and want to keep looking after it. Optimising your body weight and building back muscle strength will help you look after your hip so that your hip lasts you a lifetime.

Mr Williams’ excellent patient care is available via video and face-to-face consultations. Learn how he can help you look after your hip health.

By Mr Daniel Williams

Orthopaedic surgery in Cornwall

Mr Dan Williams is a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon based in Truro, Cornwall, specialising in hip pain, hip replacement and knee arthroscopy as well as knee replacement and revision hip and knee replacement. He privately practices at Duchy Hospital and also for the Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust. Mr Williams is a highly qualified professional, having obtained an MBBCh in Anatomy and Medical Statistics fro...

By Mr Daniel Williams
Orthopaedic surgery

Mr Dan Williams is a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon based in Truro, Cornwall, specialising in hip pain, hip replacement and knee arthroscopy as well as knee replacement and revision hip and knee replacement. He privately practices at Duchy Hospital and also for the Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust.

Mr Williams is a highly qualified professional, having obtained an MBBCh in Anatomy and Medical Statistics from the University of Wales' College of Medicine in 1998, graduating with distinction, as well as going on to successfully complete a Master's degree in Orthopaedic Engineering at Cardiff University in 2006.

His training was undertaken at equally esteemed organisations including Royal Gwent Hospital, where he travelled to Gosford Hospital, Australia, as part of his basic surgical training, Harborview Medical Centre in Seattle, USA, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He also further developed his knowledge at Bedford Orthopaedic Centre, Umtata, South Africa.

Mr Williams' medical reputation is complemented by impressive roles surrounding medicine in the wider community. He is the vice chair on the medical device expert panel for the European Commission and was a Clinical Advisor to Lloyd's Register Foundation, a historically-esteemed UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and engineering, until 2019.

Mr Williams, who is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), the British Hip Society (BHS) and British Orthopaedic Association (BOA), has had orthopaedic research featured in published papers, peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. He is in demand as a key-note speaker, both nationally and internationally, presenting his work at various orthopaedic associations and also hosts informative videos about hip treatment on his YouTube channel, Lifetime Hip.

Mr Williams is keen to pass knowledge and skills on to the next generation. He has been an educational and clinical supervisor for medical students alongside a tutor and examiner for respected institutions such as the University of Exeter Medical School and the South West Peninsular Postgraduate NHS Deanery.