I've Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI) & small inner margin labral tears in the Hip joints. It started in left hip 11 years ago but now is present in both the hips. I've been putting off surgery to "repair" labrum. They use bone anchors and sutures to hold the labrum back in place and shave the extra bony growth which causes the impingement.
I avoid bringing my knee close to my chest as it pinches the labrum causing more damage and pain.
Is there any particular Gokhale method technique/exercise that will help with this hip issue? This is a pretty commonly occurring issue and many would benefit from this information.
2 months 2 weeks ago
07/05/2009 - 7:54am
You are right, this is an all too common problem in our culture. You mention that this problem has got worse over 11 years, this fits with our understanding that it is problems with posture and movement that are the root cause of so many musculo skeletal issues. What we teach in the Gokhal Method is how to restore natural posture and movement so that the bones and joints get the natural forces and pressure on them that are healthy. Given the chance, and some time, the body can often heal itself.
With hip problems 2 very common specific problems we see are: a misplaced pelvis and feet not supporting the weight of the body. If the pelvis is not in its natural position and the feet are not working properly then it follows that the head of the femur will not align well with the hip socket, which then deforms under our body weight over the years.
You ask which Gokhale Method techniques would be most helpful. Without seeing you my initial thoughts are stack sitting, tall standing, glide walking and hip hinging all of which enable healthy alignment of the head of the femur and the hip socket. Dont forget kidney bean shaping the feet. However it might be that certain techniques work well for you initially and others are a bit trickier. It would be no surprise if deep hip hinging was uncomfortable to begin with - a degree of healing in the area might be required first. It is best if all 8 steps, or techniques are learnt, and then applied as is comfortable. You mention pulling your knees to your chest is best avoided, good observation - we would always recommend you listen to your body and avoid anything that increases discomfort. Reading the "8 Steps to a Pain Free Back" will give you an initial intellectual understanding. A teacher can then make sense of this in your body.
If you give a relatively conservative, non invasive intervention, such as posture change a chance it can often avoid more radical interventions. Sometimes the years of training, experience and skill of a good surgeon can be very helpful. Even if that did turn out to be the case, you would want to be kind to your hip sockets with natural posture and movement afterwards.
Hope that helps.