What causes hip pain?
Some of the most common causes of hip pain diagnosed at Performance Pain and Sports Medicine include:
Osteoarthritis
Hip osteoarthritis is a condition in which gradual wear and tear to the cartilage in your hip joint causes inflammation, stiffness, and chronic pain. Arthritic hip pain usually affects the front of your hip, groin, and buttock.
Hip flexor strain
A hip flexor strain occurs if one or more of your hip flexor muscles tears, causing pain in the front of your hip or groin.
Labral tear
The labrum is the cartilage that lines the socket part of your hip, which is a ball-and-socket joint. The labrum helps to keep the ball component in place, but labral tears can develop slowly from overuse or occur suddenly from a violent twisting of your hip. Pain can affect your groin and buttock, as well as your hip.
Trochanteric bursitis
The trochanteric bursa is a fluid-filled sac on the outer edge of your hip. Bursitis develops when there's inflammation of the bursa, most often due to repetitive strain or spending too long lying on your side. Symptoms include pain on the outer part of your hip.
How is hip pain diagnosed?
To diagnose the cause of your hip pain, the Performance Pain and Sports Medicine team conducts a thorough physical exam, reviews your medical history, and talks through your symptoms with you.
They can see from how you move and the nature of your pain what's likely to be causing your hip problems. To confirm their preliminary diagnosis and rule out other possible causes, they might have you undergo an ultrasound scan, X-rays, a CT scan, or an MRI scan.
How is hip pain treated?
Most cases of hip pain respond well to a conservative approach. The Performance Pain and Sports Medicine team designs a treatment plan that addresses the cause of your condition and takes into account other key factors like your age, general health, and mobility goals.
Conservative treatments for hip pain include:
- Activity modification
- Pain medications
- Anti-inflammatory medicines
- Acupuncture
- Regenerative medicine
Injectable regenerative medicine techniques like prolotherapy, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, stem cell therapy, and PURION® processed AmnioFix® all work by stimulating new cell growth and tissue healing.
You could also benefit from joint injections into your hip. These injections contain an anti-inflammatory steroid medication and a local anesthetic.
The Performance Pain and Sports Medicine team uses advanced imaging technologies like fluoroscopy to guide the injections, ensuring the medication reaches exactly the right place in your hip joint while avoiding damage to the surrounding tissues.
Find out more about getting relief from hip pain with customized and comprehensive treatments by calling Performance Pain and Sports Medicine today.
