Another Home Hip Therapy Option
In this excerpt from his workshop at OPTA 2016, Dr. Tony Rocklin, a leading advocate for conservative treatment for patients with hip osteoarthritis, discusses the use of HipTrac in the side-lying position. After patients have used HipTrac and advanced to pressures of 70 PSI or more, and have decreased the flexion of the HipTrac from 30 degrees to 0 degrees, they can try the side-lying position for increased traction force. In the side-lying position, the end of the HipTrac furthest away from the patient is placed up against a wall (or another stationary object) and the patient lies on their side while performing the traction.
Like other physical therapy techniques, the positive results – pain relief, increased range of motion – may only last for a few minutes the first time. But when used consistently, the benefits are cumulative, with pain relief lasting longer. Where a patient initially needed to use HipTrac twice a day for pain relief, after a month of consistent use, the need is often reduced to several times a week.
Watch the video below. You can see other excerpts from Dr. Rocklin’s presentation here.