What the Heck Are Hip Dips? The Facts Behind the Body Part That's Driving a Social Media Craze

Julia Naftulin
Updated
A sports medicine doctor talks about the tiny pelvic curves so many women are suddenly celebrating.

Have you noticed this new trend on your news feed recently? Instagrammers are posting photos of their "hip dips," the slight inward curve just below each hip bone. Instead of bashing this part of their anatomy, these real women are embracing it the way body-positive bloggers and many celebs also celebrate their cellulite, stretch marks, bulges, and other so-called physical flaws.

"In recent years, proportionate hour glass bodies have been glamorized in the media heavily," wrote one Instagrammer, jenneydoll. But I have realized that I will never have a perfect hour-glass shape because I have very prominent hip dips (even though I do carry more fat in my lower body). "There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, but it is one of those things I don't absolutely love about my body."

LETS TALK HIP DIPS!!! I didn't even know these were a thing until @sjamesfit made a post about them! In recent years, proportionate hour glass bodies have been glamorized in the media heavily.. but I have realized that I will never have a perfect hour-glass shape because I have very prominent hip dips (even though I do carry more fat in my lower body). There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, but it is one of those things I don't absolutely love about my body. However, I accept it and i'm learning to love all my imperfections because that's what makes us human ???? #embracethedips #fitness #fitspo #weightloss #fitspiration #fitnessmotivation #hipdips #gymshark #gymsharkwomen #tgit

A post shared by jennn. (@jenneydoll) on May 4, 2017 at 1:00pm PDT

Before hip dip photos took over social media, many of us here at Health had no clue what they were. (Something to do with plank hip dips, maybe?) To get the facts on this body area, we spoke to Gerardo Miranda-Comas, MD, an assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

RELATED: 5 Famous Women on Their Stretch Marks

He set the record straight on what hip dips are and why not everyone has them. "It's not a body abnormality; it's actually a common part of your anatomy," explains Dr. Miranda. Whether or not you have hip dips largely depends on the way your great trochanter, aka, the protrusion at the upper part of your femur, connects to your pelvis, he says.

Let's talk hip dips. For years and years growing up I hated this part of my body. I didn't understand why my hips sunk in so far and made me look boxy and odd shaped. But over the years, and through practicing self love, I've learned to see this as just another part of me that makes me beautiful. I may never have fully loaded glutes like some girls have, but I'll look hella good with the body I've made and continue to make despite that. My hips are beautiful. They have the ability to carry another living human someday...Refuse to tear your body down, because it can do amazing things. No stigma of the negative "hip dip" saying I am odd and need to do this or that to correct it to be more proportional will make me any less or any more of the person I am. So imma just accept this part of me, and love the crap out of it. You should too. ?? Special thanks to all the empowering woman who inspire the crap out of me to love my body for how God made it. ???? #hipdips #bodyimage #selflove #truthtalk #loveyourself #bodypositive #recovery #recoveryisworthit #selfmotivation #fitspo #fitspiration #fitnessjourney #fitfam #fitnessmotivation #iifym #teamrtsf #iifymgirls #bodybuilding #bodybuildingmotivation #mentalhealth #health #healthymind #macros #macrocounting #flexibledieting

A post shared by Lexie Thiery (@lexx_lifts) on Jun 27, 2017 at 9:20am PDT

Many women are paying tribute to their hip dips—but what if you'd rather get rid of them? That's unlikely, says Dr. Miranda, because they are a permanent part of your physiology. However, working out the gluteus medius, one of your main pelvic muscles, could lessen their appearance. Dr. Miranda recommends doing clamshells, hip abductions, and squats with elastic bands to tone this muscle. "Core exercises work well too because the gluteus medius is a component of the core," he adds.

So if your body curves in a bit under your hip bones, don't be alarmed. It's perfectly natural, and there's not much you can do about it. Rather than killing yourself with lower-body exercises to make them less noticeable, we think you're better off forgetting about them—or taking a cue from the hip dip Instagrammers by showing them some love.