Hip Pain Specialists

What conditions can cause hip pain?

Many conditions could be causing your hip pain, including:

• Muscle tears

• Fractures

• Arthritis

• Bone spurs

• Dislocations

• Bursitis

• Labral tears

• Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI)

Hip pain can come from the surrounding muscles or from the joint itself. Joint problems typically present as pain deep in your pelvis and groin. Muscle or soft tissue problems typically cause pain in the side of your hip and in your thigh.

One of the leading causes of chronic hip pain is osteoarthritis, which develops when the cartilage coating the bones in the hip joint wears down, leading to inflammation, stiffness, and worsening hip pain.

How is mild hip pain treated?

The first step to treating your hip pain is determining its cause. For many patients with muscle strains, bursitis, or mild osteoarthritis, our team may recommend conservative treatments including: 

Physical therapy

Physical therapy exercises strengthen the muscles surrounding your hip so you’ll have less pain from mild osteoarthritis and hip bursitis. If you would benefit from physical therapy, your surgeon will refer you to a convenient therapy location.

Lifestyle changes

Excess weight, lack of exercise, and poor-quality or insufficient sleep can all make hip pain worse. Your surgeon can help you change to a healthier diet, get more restful sleep, and benefit from regular, low-impact exercise.

Injections

Injections are particularly effective for bursitis – a painful inflammation of fluid-filled protective sacs over your joints. Steroid injections into your inflamed bursa can give you months of pain relief, and possibly more, by reducing inflammation. 

These nonsurgical treatments can be very effective in resolving many causes of hip pain, including mild to moderate osteoarthritis. However, not everyone finds that these approaches work for them, or what has worked previously may become less effective as time passes.

What are effective treatments for severe or persistent hip pain?

If conservative treatments aren't relieving your hip pain, your surgeon may recommend hip replacement surgery. This procedure is a proven solution to severe hip injury or degeneration, and it’s an operation that our team at Midwest Center for Joint Replacement performs daily.

Hip replacement surgery involves removing the damaged ends of the bones in your hip joint and replacing them with a prosthesis. Artificial hip implants are now highly sophisticated and accurately match the normal functioning of your hip joint.

If you’re suffering from hip pain, call our office today to book an appointment.