Hip pain that limits daily activities is a sign of an injury that needs treatment. Over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen and ibuprofen can reduce inflammation and ease discomfort.
Hot and cold treatments can also help. Using a whirlpool or hot and cold compress can reduce swelling and improve circulation.
Hip pain can be caused by problems in the hip joint or the muscles and ligaments that support it. The most common cause of hip pain is hip arthritis or a disease that damages the cartilage, such as avascular necrosis.
In many cases, rest and conservative treatment options will relieve hip pain. Over-the-counter pain medications, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), can reduce pain and swelling.
Physical therapy can help decrease hip pain and improve mobility by strengthening the surrounding muscles. Physical therapists can also teach you how to move and exercise with less stress on your hip joints.
Ice can be helpful to control hip pain and inflammation by reducing fluid build-up in the area. You can apply ice cubes or bags of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel for 20 minutes several times a day. Elevating your hip above your heart can also help decrease fluid buildup and prevent internal bleeding.
Injections are a treatment option to reduce hip pain and inflammation. Cortisone injections use a combination of a local anesthetic and an anti-inflammatory steroid to reduce hip pain caused by conditions such as bursitis or osteoarthritis. Penn also offers platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections that utilize the body’s own blood to boost tissue regeneration and accelerate healing.
After diagnosing the source of your pain, our orthopedic and pain management specialists may recommend hip injections using ultrasound guidance or fluoroscopy for precise needle placement. These procedures include psoas injections, which are used to relieve a painful psoas tendon that runs outside the hip joint; trochanteric bursa injections, which address pain from the symptomatic outer hip bursa; and viscosupplementation, which uses hyaluronic acid to provide supplements to the synovial fluid that lubricates the hip and creates smooth gliding surfaces on the femoral head and acetabulum in the pelvic bone.
Once the injection site is numb, our team inserts a small needle into the hip joint using either ultrasound or fluoroscopy guidance. Occasionally, we inject a dye into the hip to confirm that the needle is in the correct spot before administering the medicine.
The hip is the largest ball-and-socket joint in the body, but it’s not indestructible. It takes a lot of impact and strain, and the muscles, tendons and cartilage that surround it can become weary or damaged with overuse.
Our physical therapists will create a targeted program of exercises to ease pain and improve movement in your hip. These techniques include gait evaluation and measurement, palpation (feeling) the structures around your hip, range of motion measurements, and exercise to build strength, flexibility, and coordination.
We can help you manage pain with over-the-counter medications, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, or prescription medications that reduce inflammation and increase mobility. We may also recommend steroid injections to reduce inflammation, or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) that uses blood from your own body to accelerate healing and draw regenerative cells to the area. These procedures can help relieve hip bursitis, osteoarthritis and other conditions that cause hip pain. Our team will correctly diagnose the source of your pain and create a personalized treatment plan for you.
For people whose hip pain doesn’t respond to conservative treatments, surgery may be the next step. During hip replacement surgery, your orthopedic surgeon replaces the damaged ball and socket of the hip with new, artificial components.
Most people can leave the hospital within a few days, depending on the severity of their hip pain and whether they have someone to help them at home. They may need to continue physical therapy after they return home, however, and might need a temporary aid like a cane or walker to help them get around.
Hip replacement surgery can reduce hip pain in people who are having difficulty walking, bending, or climbing stairs because of severe hip damage. It’s important to remember, however, that the new hip won’t work as well as your own natural hip and that it might take months or even a year before you can return to all of your normal activities. If you have any concerns about hip surgery, an experienced orthopedic specialist at Los Angeles Pain Relief Clinic can answer your questions.