Hip Pain Causes and Treatment 

Hip Pain Causes and Treatment: Common Causes of Hip Pain

There are a few causes of hip pain. Some common causes of hip pain are more common in older people and can lead to hip conditions, which can be painful and have long-term effects. Although hip pain is common in older adults, hip pain can happen to people of any age. The most common causes of hip pain are:

·         Osteoarthritis (OA). OA is a condition that causes joints to become painful and stiff. Some people have swelling, tenderness and clicking/grinding of the joint. Most people will also report some form of groin pain when the hip is involved. The hip is one of the most common areas to be affected by OA as its one of the predominant load bearing joints in the body. OA is the most common type of arthritis in the UK. OA tends to happen over time as we age.

·         Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). RA causes joint inflammation and pain. It happens when the immune system does not work properly and attacks lining of the joints (called the synovium). The disease commonly affects the hands, knees, hips or ankles, and usually the same joint on both sides of the body.

·         Avascular Necrosis is when the blood supply to the femoral head is compromised causing the bone to weaken. When this happens a patient is very susceptible to fractures from the most innocuous of reasons. Pain is quite sudden with the patient reporting being unable to weight bear or load the affected side.

·         Septic Arthritis is when the joint itself becomes infected. There is no known reason for this and symptoms include pain, unable to weight bear, red hot and angry around the joint and due to the infection the patient may feel unwell.

·         Trochanteric bursitis is when the bursa that provides support and cushioning on lateral side of hip becomes inflamed. This can be due to trauma to the area but also weakness when the tendons who attach in the area become inflamed it can be absorbed by the bursa causing bursitis. Common symptom is pain over the lateral side of hip on palpation.

·         Accidents or Injuries- If you have had an accident and such as a slip, trip or fall, or if you have been involved in a road traffic accident, the impact may have affected your hip muscles, tendons, bones or joints. Accidents at work such as manual handling accidents can also cause problems and strains in the hips Accidents can often lead to soft tissue hip injuries as well as hip fractures.

·         Repetitive Strain – Repeated activities involving hip movements can lead to muscle or tendon strain in your hips. This can lead to problems, such as tendinitis, an irritable and painful condition which causes inflammation of the tendons that surround your hips.

Hip Pain Causes and Treatment: How To Avoid Hip Pain

We use our hips every day, so it is likely that we may develop problems with them over time. However, there are some things which you can do on a regular basis to avoid getting pains or potentially straining your hips. These include:

·         Exercising regularly to keep the hips active and blood flowing. The single most important thing to do is to exercise regularly.

·         Warming up your hips out before doing an activity. This can prevents your hips from over straining and getting painful.

·         When lifting heavy objects at work, remember to lift them in a correct, safe way, to avoid pulling your hips muscles above their limit.

·         Take regular breaks when performing manual handling or repetitive tasks.

How To Relieve Hip Pain

Some hip pain may be short-term and mild, whilst other cases of hip pain are severe and long- term. Hip pain depends on how much pain you are getting in your hips and for how long you have been experiencing pain. If your pain has caused by trauma, you cant walk or your hips or thighs swell up and bleed, you should seek emergency care immediately. Here are some relief methods:

·     Relative Rest– If you are suffering from hip pain, resting from the aggravating factors will give the hip’s muscles and bones time to relax and recover from injuries, and prevent further injuries. If you are unable to do any form of exercise please consult a healthcare professional.

·     Good Posture– Paying attention to your posture should help to relieve some pressure and ease pain in the hips.

·     Exercising– Doing low-impact exercises, such as swimming, can help to stretch muscles around the hips, reducing pain and improving joint mobility. Slowly increasing your strength in these areas will also help to alleviate pain.

·     Altering your sleeping positions– If your hip pain carries on through the night, sleeping positions such as sleeping on one side or on your back, may reduce discomfort.

·     Ice and Heat Packs– These may help with reducing swelling and pain and increases blood circulation to speed up recovery for your hip pain.

·     Medication– Over the counter pain medication such as anti-inflammatory medications like Ibuprofen or gels, can help relieve and reduce your level of pain.

·     Seek Medical Attention– If you have been experiencing intense pain in your hips or have had hip pain for a long period of time, you should seek medical attention from your G.P. Your G.P. could suggest specific exercises you can do to target the area of the hip where there is pain and stiffness, or they may also recommend Physiotherapy/ physical therapy treatment. If your doctor thinks your hip problems are severe, they could suggest further diagnostics and possibly surgery, such as a hip replacement.

Physiotherapy for Hip Pain

One of the most common treatment options for hip pain is physiotherapy. Physiotherapy can be used for most types of pain, including upper body, back, neck and shoulder pain, as well as lower back pain and lower body issues such as pain in the hips. They can provide lots of advice on hip pain causes and relief methods.

Briganti Physiotherapy offers a range of treatments and modalities to manage, reduce and eliminate hip pain. Briganti Physiotherapy uses a range of evidence based treatments and modalities to aid in your recovery. While we utilise manual therapy and injection therapy to help treat patients, the underpinning of our treatment is based on education and the use exercise and strengthening.

Contact Briganti Physiotherapy by visiting their website to find out more about the types of treatment which may be offered to assist in the recovery of your hip.

How Beacon Law Can Help You

If you believe you developed hip pain due to an accident, or if you think it may have been caused by your duties at work, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. Beacon Law provides an experienced team of solicitors and legal professionals. We provide a high level of service to all our clients and work to ensure you receive the highest level of accident work compensation for your injuries. Beacon Law is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Contact us today to find out if you could make a claim. Use our contact forms or call 0330 1332 857.