Hip Replacement: A Rite of Passage?
There are many life markers that we all know about and that indicate our passage into a new stage of life’s journey. These markers include things like our first time drinking too much, our first breakup, our first financial crisis and…our first body part replacement.
Hip replacement has now become a “rite of passage” for seniors (and even some in their 40's & 50's!) to commiserate and brag about. This is at least true in the United States where we have 4% of the world’s population but undergo 64% of the world’s hip replacements. People in less fortunate countries are most likely hobbling around unable to move or dance or work or do anything. It seems that: we are so lucky here!
But why are our hips wearing out?
Why have human beings evolved over thousands of years so that, even though we are more sedentary than ever before, our darn hips are just wearing out like they’re paper mâché? And the problem is getting worse all the time.
Americans are receiving 760,000 hip replacements per year and that number has doubled in the last 30 years.
So, what’s really going on here?
No. I don’t think our hips are wearing out at all. The hips are the thickest and biggest bones in the body. They’re meant to support the body for a lifetime of heavy physical labor, and they do the task just fine in third world countries.
I believe hip pain is just the result higher levels of emotional tension tightening the soft tissue in the hip PLUS compression of that same soft tissue because we’re sitting down all the time. Simple really. The soft tissue in the hip area eventually becomes inflamed and that causes pain. It’s the same as back pain.
I know surgeons make a compelling case. Just look at the abnormalities on your MRI. It’s scary. And unlike most back surgery, hip replacement surgery does “work” sometimes but here’s why I think that happens. When the surgeon replaces the hip, he must cut through all that tight muscle tissue surrounding the hip. So, when there’s no more tight inflamed muscle tissue - there’s no more pain!
However, there are much easier ways to resolve hip pain. While dealing with the root causes of your mental stress is key, the pain has still settled in your body. So, if you're sitting for 6+ hours per day, you have to stretch and roll and move your body and you have to do it a lot. You need to somehow release the tight and compressed soft tissue. And you have to do it on a regular basis.
GAME CHANGER. Lay on the floor and roll a tennis or lacrosse ball back and forth in the painful hip/glute area for about 3 minutes every day. It will hurt a lot for about a week. And then the pain will just go away. Continue to roll the ball a couple times per week after the pain is gone to keep your soft tissue pliable.
Hip replacement can be one of life’s rites of passage that happily passes you by!
Your TMS Coach,
John Thornton
And click here if you’d like more guidance for healing your TMS symptoms
