Treat Hip Pain Early to Increase Your Chances of Avoiding Surgery

When you develop hip pain, it may drastically affect your life. You may find the pain causes you to have trouble walking and even keeps you from sleeping at night. Finding the root cause of your hip pain and available treatment options will be your number one priority.

In most cases, arthritis is the root cause of hip pain. Dr. Benoy Benny at The Spine and Sports Center specializes in pain treatment using minimally invasive procedures, and he can help you overcome your bothersome hip joint through personalized care and rehabilitation.

Why you have hip pain

Hip pain can be caused by a variety of medical problems. The most prevalent cause of hip pain today is arthritis.

There are several kinds of arthritis that can affect your hip. The two most common forms are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

 Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory autoimmune disorder, while osteoarthritis is a disease from wear-and-tear on your joints that causes breakdown of the bone and surrounding tissue.

There are many other causes of hip pain that include:

• osteoporosis 
• synovitis
• labral tear
• tendonitis
• sprains
• dislocation

No matter what the cause, there are many treatment options available to you that do not include surgical intervention.

So you have hip pain, now what?

As with any kind of pain, you should seek treatment and diagnosis as soon as possible to avoid complications and more aggressive treatment. Finding the problem early increases your chances of conservative treatment over surgical treatment.

The first line of treatment for hip pain is rest along with heat and cold therapy. Heat helps to relax the muscles, while the cold reduces inflammation of the surrounding tissue. This is the easiest at-home treatment for your hip pain.

Another option for early treatment of hip pain is medication therapy. Medications that may be used to decrease your pain include:

•  anti-inflammatories
•  oral steroids
•  sleep aids  

If oral medications don’t seem to work, you may be scheduled for a corticosteroid injection into your hip joint.

Physical therapy is another conservative treatment that Dr. Benny may recommend. Physical therapy provides you with daily range-of-motion exercises to increase flexibility and movement in your joint.  

There are many other conservative treatments and lifestyle changes that can help you treat your hip pain. Some of these include:

•  low-impact exercises
•  weight management
•  hip bracing for stability
•  use of a cane or walker
•  gait retraining

Dr. Benny may also tell you to avoid certain activities such as high impact sports, excessive bending and kneeling, pushing or lifting heavy objects, and activities that require quick stop and start motions.

Avoiding surgical intervention

Hip replacements are an extensive, involved surgery with a long recovery time. Although in some cases, surgery is necessary for complete recovery, most times hip pain can be managed through conservative treatments and lifestyle changes.

The biggest key to avoiding surgical intervention for your hip pain is seeking early treatment and lifestyle modifications like losing excess weight. 

Some of the causes of hip pain are sudden, and will force you to seek immediate medical intervention. Arthritis, however, takes time to cause damage to your hip joint, so early intervention is key. 

If you’ve been suffering from debilitating hip pain and are wondering about treatment options, call us today at any of our three locations in Houston and Sugarland to schedule a consultation with Dr. Benny, or request an appointment online today.