By Dr Tony Setiobudi BMedSci, MBBS, MRCS, MMed (Ortho), FRCS (Ortho)
Iliopsoas stretching exercise for hip pain. The iliopsoas stretch is also known as the hip flexor stretch. It is performed to stretch the psoas major and iliacus muscle.
The iliopsoas muscles is responsible for flexing and externally rotating the thigh at the hip joint. The iliopsoas is a combination of the iliacus, psoas major, and psoas minor muscle which joint together and make up iliopsoas muscle. This muscle group connects the spine to the femur.
Certain sports and activities like running, football or having tight hamstrings and weak glute muscles can cause your iliopsoas muscles to be tight. The tight iliopsoas can be associated with low back discomfort and dysfunction as the tightened muscles pull on the pelvis. When it happened, it may affect the range of motion in the low back and hips.
The benefit of Iliopsoas stretching exercise are:
- Decrease the risk of injury
- Stabilise the trunk
- Improve posture
- Reduce hip pain and increase hip mobility
- Relieve tightness, pain and muscular imbalance in the back and hips.
You may add this exercise to your workout or stretching routine. Make sure your body is warmed up before getting into the stretch. Go slow when moving into a stretch and don’t ever go to the point of discomfort. To get the most out of your stretching routine, experts recommend performing flexibility exercises for all the major muscle and tendon groups at least two to three times a week.
Dr Tony Setiobudi is an Orthopaedic & Spine Surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Hospital (Orchard), Singapore. He treats bone, joint, muscle and ligament problems in adults and children. He has a special interest in nerve compression and spine problems such as back & neck pain, scoliosis, kyphosis, spine tumor & infection, spinal cord injury, osteoporosis fracture, spinal stenosis and slipped disc.