Services | Orthopedics and Pain Medicine Physician located in Edison, Clifton, Hazlet, Jersey City and West Orange, NJ | Garden State Pain & Orthopedics

What Causes Hip Pain?

Your hip may develop issues over time due to age as well as wear and tear. Athletes should be aware of potential overuse injuries due to repeating certain movements. But, in the case of injuries, the trauma may affect the ligaments, muscles, bones, tendons, and other soft tissues that your hip relies on. 

• Arthritis: Hip arthritis is a common form of the disorder that typically affects older people. Specific arthritis types you may also suffer from include: 
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Psoriatic Arthritis 
• Ankylosing Spondylitis 
• Osteoarthritis: One of the most common causes of hip pain for adults, affecting the joints in your hip. It causes painful swelling, restricted movement, bent hip bones, stiffness, and even a shorter leg as the cartilage that prevents friction between bones is thinned. As the bones rub against each other, osteophytes will form on the bones of the joint.
• Osteoporosis: Where the bone becomes less dense and fractures more easily. 

• Osteonecrosis: Or avascular necrosis, is a rare but painful condition that occurs when the hip’s blood supply is disrupted. 

• Paget’s Disease: A serious problem that causes the pelvis to grow out of shape as the way the bone develops and renews itself is altered. 
• Hip Fractures: The result of a fall or injury may be a fracture or fractures around the hip. This leads to sudden and acute hip pain and may require physical therapy to recover from. This affects older people in particular due to bones becoming more brittle with age.
• Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI): A condition where the ball and socket do not move as they are supposed to, limiting movement. 
• Iliopsoas Tendonitis: The inflammation of the iliopsoas tendon. 
• Torn Acetabular Labrum: Where the thick ring of cartilage around the hip socket is torn due to the ball and socket of the hip being misshapen.
• Bursitis: The bursae in your body are used to cushion your joints. But bursitis develops when these fluid-filled sacs in your hip are irritated or swollen. This can happen due to overuse, arthritis, or injury. 
• Hip Abnormalities: When the structure of the hip is abnormal, it can lead to the development of DDH (developmental dysplasia). Where the ball part of the ball-and-socket hip joint painfully refuses to stay in the socket. 
• Weaker Bones: Age causes bones to become more brittle and prone to breaking. 

• Labral Tears: an injury to the tissue that holds the ball and socket parts of the hip together

• Snapping Hip Syndrome:  a condition where you may hear a click in your hip when your hip joint moves or you may feel as though something is catching as you move
• Perthes Disease: a condition where the femoral head temporarily loses its blood supply

Common Hip Pain Symptoms

The result of hip pain ranges drastically and depends on the source of the problem. Your hip relies on several systems that work together to keep you moving without pain or discomfort. Issues with these systems may lead to symptoms like: 

• Redness
• Soreness
• Swelling
• Tenderness
• Warmth

Diagnosing Your Hip Pain

When you go to your doctor to diagnose your hip, it helps to provide notes on your condition to give them an idea of the problem. Your doctor will ask about your pain, with questions like its intensity, when it started, and how it affects your daily activities. If your condition is serious enough, further testing may be required. 

• X-Ray: These are used to check your bones for issues, including breaks and fractures. They are not capable of providing the most detailed images of your pelvis. 
• Computerized Tomography scan (CAT Scan): A combination of X-rays and computer imagery to show sections of the hip as a 3D image. This test can be helpful for checking on the hip joint and its socket. 
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI Scans): They use radio waves to give your doctor a good look at the soft tissues on your hip, like muscles and tendons. 
• Blood Tests: Your blood may be tested to check for infection or rheumatoid arthritis.

Hip Pain Self Care

If you suffer from hip pain, be sure to take the proper steps to ensure the symptoms do not worsen. 

Exercise Consistently

Moving your hip to keep it flexible and strong to prevent further issues is important. But make sure that you exercise according to the severity of your condition. Do not aggravate your symptoms by participating in an exercise that pushes your hip beyond its limits. Keep your exercises simple and gentle in order to keep the muscles strong and improve your symptoms without causing more problems. It is normal to feel aching or discomfort after exercise, but stop if your hip pain increases. 

Hip pain aside, maintaining a consistent exercise routine will support your general health and help you lose weight. Swimming, walking, and running are just some ways to relieve tension in your hip muscles and strengthen them as well. Once your hip pain ceases, make sure to continue with your exercise routine in order to maintain your health. 

Change Your Habits

Your hip pain should not get in the way of your daily routine, so long as you stay mindful of your limits and avoid aggravating your hip condition with too much physical activity. Pace yourself accordingly and increase your hip usage daily while changing some small habits to help your hip recovery.

• Avoid carrying heavy weights.
• Sit comfortably, especially if you work at a desk and sit for prolonged periods of time. 
• Avoid low chairs.
• Try not to stand on one leg and distribute your weight equally to both legs.
• A walking stick can provide extra support. 
• Change your diet and lose weight. 
• Wear flat shoes.

Engage in Physiotherapy

Speak to a physiotherapist in order to understand the full range of motion you can achieve in your condition. It is important to stay within your limits, and a trained specialist's help can make this much easier. It also helps to understand what exercises and techniques you should learn in order to strengthen the hip and lower the risks of future incidents. Focus on strengthening and stretching exercises, massages, and other therapeutic techniques in order to keep your hip feeling strong. Partaking in physiotherapy may also help you:

• Improve your posture. 
• Increase the range of joint movement.
• Increase your awareness of the position of your hips and back.
• Walk despite hip pain. 
• Learn how to use a crutch or walking stick. 

Learn from Occupational Therapy

An occupational therapist will be able to help you if you think that your job or daily activities may be aggravating your condition. They are specialists trained to help you create new daily routines to accommodate your hip condition. They give advice on how to go through normal, everyday activities and necessities while reducing hip strain. This is essential for maintaining your independence at home, work, or during travel. This is important advice for preventing your hip pain symptoms from worsening or returning over time. 

How is Hip Pain Professionally Treated?

Whether your hip pain started recently or you’ve gone through different types of treatment without getting sufficient relief, the Garden State Pain & Orthopedics doctors can help. The proper treatment depends on the cause of your hip pain and the specific location of the pain, so they use diagnostic tests and imaging to target the cause, then they provide specialized treatments such as: 

Hip Injections 

Medication is injected directly into the area where your pain is located. The injections contain a combination of steroids and a local anesthetic so that you get immediate pain relief and long-lasting results, as steroids reduce swelling and pain. 

DRG Stimulation 

Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) therapy is used to diminish chronic pain in the lower body, including the hip and groin. Your doctor at Garden State Pain & Orthopedics implants a small generator under your skin that sends mild electrical impulses to the dorsal root ganglion that’s causing your hip pain. The dorsal root ganglion is a bundle of nerves that transmit pain information to your brain. The electrical stimulation stops the DRG from sending those pain signals, which means you feel less pain. 

How Does Platelet-Rich Plasma Treat Hip Pain? 

Platelets found in your blood contain growth factors that promote healing by stimulating new cells and tissues to grow and replace injured tissue. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is blood plasma that contains extra platelets. PRP is made by drawing some of your blood, separating the platelets from the plasma, then adding all the platelets into a small amount of plasma. When PRP is injected into your hip, the growth factors reduce pain and speed healing. This treatment is especially beneficial when your hip pain is caused by arthritis or damaged tendons, muscles, or bones.