Hip Pain & Symptoms
Hip pain is a common complaint that can be caused by a wide variety of problems. The precise location of your hip pain can provide valuable clues about the underlying cause.
Problems within the hip joint itself tend to result in pain on the inside of your hip or your groin. Hip pain on the outside of your hip, upper thigh or outer buttock is usually caused by problems with muscles, ligaments, tendons and other soft tissues that surround your hip joint.
Hip pain can sometimes be caused by diseases and conditions in other areas of your body, such as your lower back. This type of pain is called referred pain.
At Aptiva Health, we offer same-day and walk-in appointments for hip injuries and conditions to evaluate, diagnose, and make the appropriate referral for additional treatment based upon your specific hip injury or condition. We treat these conditions in our General Medicine, Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Pain Management, and Physical Therapy departments.
SYMPTOMS
Symptoms associated with hip pain depend on the cause. Symptoms include:
Limping
Joint pain
Groin pain
Loss of motion of the hip
Warmth,
Swelling over the hip
Tenderness of the hip
Difficulty sleeping on the hip
Thigh discomfort
Buttocks pain
Symptoms vary in intensity from mild to severe. Hip pain can be a cause of disability.
Causes
Hip pain can be caused by a variety of conditions and injuries. Some of the more common causes of hip pain treated at Aptiva Health include:
Arthritis. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are among the most common causes of hip pain, especially in older adults. Arthritis leads to inflammation of the hip joint and the breakdown of the cartilage that cushions your hip bones. The pain gradually gets worse. People with arthritis also feel stiffness and have reduced range of motion in the hip.
Muscle or tendon strain. Repeated activities can put strain on the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that support the hips. When they become inflamed due to overuse, they can cause pain and prevent the hip from working normally.
Hip labral tear. This is a rip in the ring of cartilage (called the labrum) that follows the outside rim of the socket of your hip joint. Along with cushioning your hip joint, your labrum acts like a rubber seal or gasket to help hold the ball at the top of your thighbone securely within your hip socket. Athletes and people who perform repetitive twisting movements are at higher risk of developing this problem.
Tendinitis. Tendons are the thick bands of tissue that attach bones to muscles. Tendinitis is inflammation or irritation of the tendons. It's usually caused by repetitive stress from overuse.
Bursitis. Bursae are sacs of liquid found between tissues such as bone, muscles, and tendons. They ease the friction from these tissues rubbing together. When bursae get inflamed, they can cause pain. Inflammation of bursae is usually due to repetitive activities that overwork or irritate the hip joint.
Hip fractures. With age, the bones can become weak and brittle. Weakened bones are more likely to break during a fall.
Avascular necrosis (also called osteonecrosis). This condition happens when blood flow to the hip bone slows and the bone tissue dies. Although it can affect other bones, avascular necrosis most often happens in the hip. It can be caused by a hip fracture or dislocation, or from the long-term use of high-dose steroids (such as prednisone), among other causes.
Treatments
If it’s not from a fracture or a serious condition, some hip pain gets better with self-care. If the pain is not sudden or severe, try these steps:
Rest and keep weight off your hip for a while. Avoid direct pressure on the hip such as bending, sitting or lying on that side.
Try over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve).
Apply cold packs to the hip (15 minutes several times a day) to reduce swelling and pain.
Gentle exercise with low impact exercises like walking or swimming, stretching and resistance training can help with chronic hip pain from arthritis
When you exercise, try a warm bath or shower to help the muscles stretch.
Lose those extra pounds — losing even 5 to 10 pounds can reduce hip stress and pain.
When To See a Doctor
If none of the self-care treatments gives you relief, call Aptiva Health to schedule an appointment. Our General Medicine team is a good place to start, since the range of underlying problems can be so wide.
You should see a doctor right away if you fell or your hip gave way suddenly and it hurts to move or stand on the leg. Urgent or emergent medical care is recommended because this sudden onset of pain could be the result of a hip fracture. Pain that shoots down the leg might also be a sign of a ruptured or acutely herniated disc in the spine. See your doctor if the pain is very bad or gets worse.
To resolve chronic hip pain, an orthopedic specialist may recommend:
Hip injection. Hip joint injections involve injecting medicine directly into the joint. These injections can help diagnose the source of pain, as well as alleviate the discomfort:
Diagnostic function: By placing numbing medicine into the joint, the amount of immediate pain relief experienced will help confirm or deny the joint as a source of pain. If complete pain relief is achieved while the hip joint is numb it means this joint is likely to be the source of pain.
Pain relief function: Along with the numbing medication, time-release cortisone is also injected into these joints to reduce inflammation, which can often provide long term pain relief.
Minimally invasive arthroscopic hip surgery to remove or repair problems in the joint. Hip arthroscopy involves several small incisions through which your surgeon inserts an arthroscope (camera) and related surgical tools if needed.
Compared to open surgical procedures, these smaller incisions and tools cause less disruption to the hip joint and related soft tissues and result in:
Less pain and scarring
Fewer complications and less risk of infection
Shorter recovery time
Hip resurfacing surgery. This is most appropriate for young active patients. A hip resurfacing operation typically lasts from 1-1/2 to 3 hours. Your surgeon will make an incision in your thigh in order to reach the hip joint. The femoral head is then dislocated out of the socket. Next, the head is trimmed with specially designed power instruments. A metal cap is cemented over the prepared femoral head. The cartilage that lines the socket is removed with a power tool called a reamer. A metal cup is then pushed into the socket and held in place by friction between the bone and the metal. Once the cup is in place, the femoral head is relocated back into the socket and the incision is closed.
Hip revision surgery. This can be appropriate for joint damage due to years of wear. Hip revision surgery is performed to repair an artificial hip joint (prosthesis) that has been damaged over time due to an infection, or due to normal wear and tear of the prosthetic hip. Revision surgery helps to correct the problem so the hip can function normally again.
Hip replacement surgery. This approach may include a minimally invasive approach to address disabling joint pain. In a total hip replacement (also called total hip arthroplasty), the damaged bone and cartilage is removed and replaced with prosthetic components.
The damaged femoral head is removed and replaced with a metal stem that is placed into the hollow center of the femur. The femoral stem may be either cemented or "press fit" into the bone.
A metal or ceramic ball is placed on the upper part of the stem. This ball replaces the damaged femoral head that was removed.
The damaged cartilage surface of the socket (acetabulum) is removed and replaced with a metal socket. Screws or cement are sometimes used to hold the socket in place.
A plastic, ceramic, or metal spacer is inserted between the new ball and the socket to allow for a smooth gliding surface.