In today’s life, the issue of hip pain is not uncommon. Regardless of your age or gender, there are chances that you could experience hip pain at some point in your life. When it comes to physical pain and discomfort, there are a few things that are comparable to hip pain.
Since our hips play a vital role in body movement, when you experience hip pain, your whole body health is compromised. If you have bothersome hip pain, you should consult with a healthcare provider as soon as possible to figure out the root cause of the issue for appropriate and precise treatment.
An examination by a reliable doctor can help determine the cause of the discomfort because the hip pain could be a symptom of other health issues like a herniated disc or arthritis. Regardless of the cause of your hip pain, consulting with a skilled and experienced professional is vital to help you fix the problem and live a comfortable life. Read on to learn more about hip pain and the most effective remedies for this common physical discomfort.
What are the Most Common Culprits of Hip Pain?
Since hip pain is a prevalent issue, it is crucial to learn about its causes and symptoms for early diagnosis and treatment when you experience this problem. Generally speaking, your hip pain could be due to several factors. Below are some of the most common health conditions that cause hip pain among most people:
Arthritis
Arthritis is a common health problem that causes inflammation to your hip, causing stiffness, pain, and reduced range of motion in the hip joint. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are among the most prevalent culprits or causes of hip joint pain, especially among middle-aged and older adults.
Hip Labral Tear
A labral tear occurs when a rip develops on the cartilage or labrum that follows the outer rim of your joint socket. Apart from cushioning the hip joint, the labrum helps hold your thigh bone firmly within the hip socket. People who perform several twisting activities are more likely to develop this health condition, for example, athletes.
Bursitis
Bursitis is a painful condition that affects the fluid-filled sacs that cushion bones, muscles, and tendons near your joints, especially the hip, elbow, and shoulder joints. Hip bursitis occurs when these fluid-filled sacs, also known as bursae, become inflamed, mainly due to repetitive and frequent motions that irritate your hip joint.
Tendonitis
As the name suggests, tendonitis is a health condition that affects your body tendons. Tendonitis is the irritation and inflammation of your tendons caused mainly by repetitive activities.
Avascular Necrosis
Also commonly known as osteonecrosis occurs when the blood flow to your hip bone slows, leading to the death of the affected bone tissue. Although this health condition can affect other bones, most people experience this condition on their hip bones. Some of the most common causes of osteonecrosis include dislocation, hip fracture, or long-term use of steroids like prednisone.
Cancers
Tumors that begin in your bone or advanced cancer that has spread to the bone can also cause pain in your hip joint. Leukemia or blood cancer is also another cause of hip pain. Like any other cancer, the sooner it is detected, the higher the chances of treating it. Hence, it is advisable to speak with a doctor as soon as you experience symptoms of a bone tumor, including pain in your hips.
Obesity
All too often, most people think of being obese as an image problem rather than a health issue. However, the truth is being overweight or obese is also a common culprit for hip pain and discomfort around this body region.
Symptoms of hip pain typically differ from person to person. Depending on the specific health condition that is causing your hip pain, you should consult with a reliable doctor when you experience discomfort in your:
- Groin
- Buttocks
- Groin
- Thigh
- Outside of the hip joint
- Inside of the hip joint
- Difficulty sleeping on the hip
- Swelling of the hip
Common and Most Effective Remedies for Hip Pain
While you should speak with a doctor to ensure a more severe problem is not the cause of the hip, several remedies can reduce the discomfort and increase your ability to perform daily activities and chores. The specific treatment or remedy your doctor will recommend will depend on the cause of the hip pain.
Typically, doctors diagnose hip pain with physical examination and history. Physical examination maneuvers like externally or internally rotating the hip joint can help determine pain-aggravating positions. To diagnose or determine the precise cause of your hip pain for appropriate treatment, your doctor could also use imaging studies like X-rays, MRI scans, and CT scans.
Below are common and effective hip pain remedies that your doctor could recommend to lower and treat this troublesome discomfort:
Anti-Inflammatory Medications
If your hip pain and discomfort are due to an inflammation caused by bursitis, tendonitis, labral tears, or muscular tears, your doctor could recommend anti-inflammatory medications like naproxen. These drugs will help reduce this inflammation and ultimately decrease pain in your hip joint and surrounding muscles.
In most cases, the doctor will recommend anti-inflammatory medications or anti-inflammatories as your first treatment line in conjunction with other strengthening programs like physical activities.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is a helpful remedy for hip pain, especially if the discomfort is due to arthritis, bursitis, obesity, or sitting for too long. In addition to helping you identify and gain a better understanding of the possible underlying causes of your hip pain and discomfort, physical therapy can help:
- Strengthen your hip muscles and increase their flexibility
- Reduce the inflammation associated with the hip pain
- Maintain or improve your range of motion around the hip joint
If the hip pain and discomfort are due to being obese, it would be helpful to lose weight by engaging in physical activities. Even if it is challenging to work out due to the discomfort, you should try to do light aerobics or exercises in the shallow waters or walk your pet several times weekly.
It is also important to note that if your hip pain stems from other health conditions like a labral tear, physical therapy cannot treat the tear. Therefore, it is wise to speak with a physical therapist or a rehabilitation physician to guide or teach you stretches and exercises that can work to your advantage to ease the uncomfortable hip pain and discomfort.
Typically, the best exercise for relieving hip pain should focus on strengthening your gluteal muscles. When these muscles are stronger, your pelvis (comprising the hip bone, coccyx, and sacrum) is better aligned, causing less pain and stress on your hip area. Below are some of the most common low-impact exercises and stretches your physical therapist could recommend for your hip pain issue:
- Crouching
- Walking on a treadmill or a flat trail
- Yoga
- Water exercises
- Cycling a stationary bike
Having Adequate Rest
While it could seem obvious, having adequate rest can help manage hip pain because your body heals better when you are not doing any physical activity. If your hip pain is due to a labral tear or any other injury, having adequate sleep and rest can help manage the discomfort and allow the problem to heal over time.
It is worth remembering that having adequate rest does not mean sitting or remaining in your bed the whole day. Instead, it means limiting physical activities that involve motions or movements of the hip joint in a manner that can affect the healing of the injury.
Ice and Heat Application
Most doctors recommend applying ice cubes and heat pads on the injured or painful hip joint. Applying ice on the inflamed and painful area of your hip can also help lower swelling and dull your nerve endings, making the pain less troublesome. If you do not have a readily available ice pack, you can apply any cold soft item like cold vegetables on the painful area of your hip.
Remember to wrap the ice packs or whichever frozen item you will decide to use with a towel or any soft cloth to prevent skin agitation when applying the cold treatment on your painful hip. Conversely, if your hip pain is caused by health conditions like arthritis, using heat pads or having a warm bath can help soothe and loosen any muscular tensions on the hip joint, making the pain less bothersome.
Lose Weight
If the cause of your hip pain is osteoarthritis or being overweight, reducing some weight can help lower pressure on the joint and relieve your hip pain and discomfort. Generally speaking, being overweight or obese makes your body work harder, including the musculoskeletal system.
Your hip joint cannot handle the excess weight, and the more you add weight, the harder it will be for them to perform their general functions. Apart from exercising, you can lose excess weight by building healthy eating habits. Eating food rich in fiber, vitamins, and carbohydrates can help increase your recovery rate if you have bothersome hip pain.
As with any other health condition, it is important to speak with a reliable doctor or specialist before you begin your exercise or diet plan if you want to lose excess weight and keep unnecessary hip pain at bay.
Elevate the Injury
While it is not easy to elevate your hip at home, using a recliner can be helpful. If your hip pain stems from an injury, elevating your hip can allow blood to flow to the affected or inflamed hip area more quickly to reduce the uncomfortable pain and inflammation.
If you cannot elevate your hip because of the pain, you can reduce excessive pressure on your hip joint by laying on the opposite side of your body. Doing this can prevent aggravation of the injury when you are asleep. Generally, if you have hip pain, you should adopt sleeping postures that cannot stress or strain your hip joint.
Arthroscopy
Generally speaking, most people with hip pain will not need surgery to treat the issue. However, if other home-based conservative options and medications are not helpful, your doctor could recommend arthroscopy. Arthroscopy is a minor surgical procedure that a doctor uses to diagnose and treat issues inside a joint.
Unlike invasive open surgeries, hip arthroscopy typically requires two or three incisions to diagnose or treat your hip pain issue. During this procedure, your doctor will insert a pencil-sized surgical instrument into your hip joint, which relays a clear image of your joint’s condition to a large monitor or screen in the operating room.
Using this image, your surgeon or doctor will see your hip joint condition to know the root cause of the discomfort for appropriate treatment. When the synovial lining of your hip joint is the cause of the bothersome pain, your surgeon will remove the affected or inflamed tissue through a process known as synovectomy to fix the issue.
Osteotomy is another non-invasive surgical procedure your doctor could recommend to fix a bothersome hip pain problem. During osteotomy, the doctor will reposition and reshape your femur bone to restore more normal anatomy, which allows your hip joint to move smoothly without unnecessary strain.
To make these surgical procedures painless and reduce possible side effects, your doctor will use local anesthesia to numb the site of the incision and your nerve endings. Since not every person is an excellent candidate for hip surgery, your doctor will help you determine whether this treatment option would be necessary or not.
The rule of thumb is to contact a doctor to help you evaluate the root cause of the discomfort if you have detected any of the above-mentioned possible symptoms of hip pain. To better manage your hip pain, your doctor must first identify the root cause of this problem for appropriate and precise treatment. Ensure you schedule an immediate medical appointment with a dependable doctor if:
- The hip pain developed suddenly
- The pain is severe and unbearable
- An injury or fall caused the pain
- You cannot move either or all of your legs
- Your hip joint appears deformed, or perhaps it is bleeding
- You cannot place any weight on the hip area
Other Alternative Remedies for Hip Pain
If the above conservative treatment options are not helpful, you can also consider other holistic treatment options if you have troublesome hip pain. Some of these holistic treatment procedures could be more effective on some patients than others. Therefore, it is wise to consult your doctor for advice to know which treatment option will work best for your hip pain.
Typically, the specific treatment procedure your doctor will recommend will depend on the cause of your hip pain and the extent of the discomfort. While the alternative treatment options explained below do not change the structure of your hip, they are excellent remedies for managing bothersome hip pain:
Acupuncture
If you have bothersome hip pain, you could find the relief you need by visiting a skilled acupuncturist. Acupuncture is typically a 3000-year-old Chinese treatment technique that utilizes your body’s natural healing mechanism to accelerate recovery.
During the acupuncture treatment, an acupuncturist will insert hair-thin needles on different acupuncture points around your body, particularly around the affected or inflamed area of your hip, to promote “qi” energy flow.
According to ancient Chinese medical practitioners, balancing the flow of energy in your body through acupuncture is an effective way to relieve pain in your body. Modern-day doctors believe stimulation of acupuncture points through acupuncture helps the body release endorphins, which are natural painkillers in your body.
If you want to try this alternative hip pain treatment option, you should find a licensed and skilled acupuncturist to administer the treatment.
Acupressure
Another alternative remedy for reducing and treating bothersome hip pain is acupressure. Acupressure is also an ancient Chinese technique that involves applying pressure on the affected or painful area of the body to promote blood circulation in that specific area and relieve pain.
This unique massage can compress and soothe your nerve fibers, reducing the bothersome hip pain. If you want to experiment with this alternative hip pain treatment option, you should consult with a skilled acupressure therapist.
Massage
Apart from being therapeutic, massage therapy is also an effective way of relieving troublesome hip pain, especially if you have arthritis. Like acupressure, massage therapy can increase blood circulation in the affected and painful areas of your hip and help reduce inflammation and any possible muscle tension, which could be the root cause of this discomfort.
Find a Health Clinic and MRI Services Near Me
As with any other medical issue, it is wise to speak with a reliable doctor if you have bothersome hip pain. We invite you to contact dedicated and skilled doctors at Hollywood Healthcare & Diagnostic Imaging at 323-486-7502 if you are looking for treatment or MRI services in Los Angeles.
Once you contact us, one of our friendly and courteous team members will reach out without delay to arrange your initial appointment for a quick diagnosis and treatment of your hip pain.
