Non-Surgical Hip Pain Treatments

Many people accept hip pain as a natural part of aging and assume there is little that can help them with their pain. Some also think that hip replacement is the only way they can find pain relief, and avoid seeing a physician in fear of going through surgery.

Tapping into your own body’s drive to heal, and supplying the support it needs, is often the first step to take when you have hip pain. Sometimes it is the only one needed to ease your pain and improve your mobility. Some of the most successful of these include:

• Hip pain and physical therapy: Your orthopedist may recommend you see a physical therapist in order to evaluate areas of deficit which could be contributing to you pain. Based on you examination, mobility, strength, and education are utilized to address impairments and improve quality of live. Your physical therapist will work with your doctor to treat your condition, help prepare you for surgery, or help you recover after the procedure.
• OTC hip pain medication: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories may not only relieve pain but also reduce inflammation that continues the cycle of stiffness, pain and inactivity. Your orthopedist may put you on a regimen of NSAIDS to quiet the hip joint and allow for healing of inflamed muscles, tendons or bursa.
• Losing weight: Weight loss can be a game-changer for most overweight people with hip pain, regardless of whether or not surgery is needed. Often, the origin of the pain-inactivity-weight gain cycle is hard to pinpoint, but your medical team can support your efforts to break the chain through a sustained program of healthy eating and exercise.
  • For every five pounds lost, your body is relieved of fifteen pounds of pressure gravity brings to bear on your hip joint. Blood flow, healing capacity, heart health and avoidance of chronic diseases that impact your joints are other great reasons to commit to weight loss.
• Aquatic therapy: Exercising in a pool works by taking the pressure of gravity off the hip joint, allowing for smooth, controlled rotation of the joint to improve muscle tone, strength and flexibility. Your orthopedic team may recommend aquatic therapy as physical therapy, suggest classes in your community, or if you have a pool, home exercises you can do.

Nonsurgical Aids to Hip Pain Relief

• Mechanical aids: A brace to support your lower back or knee joints can take pressure off the hip joint, providing pain relief, promoting healing and helping to protect the hip joint from further injury. Sometimes wearing a brace temporarily or when you play a sport like tennis or golf can be a long-term solution to hip pain. If your pain and joint instability threaten your balance when walking, using a cane or walker can help you avoid the serious consequences that can come with a fall.
• Heat and ice: Icing is a well-known home remedy for reducing swelling and pain. Sticking with a regular icing regimen and combining your icing with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) may help the tissues surrounding your hip to calm and heal more quickly.
• Corticosteroid injections: Applied sparingly, corticosteroid injections into the joint may provide relief from swelling, allowing inflamed tissues to heal more quickly. Overused, however, they can break down tissues, so your physician will advise you of the maximum treatments considered safe.

Each year, Memorial Hermann Joint Center physicians perform more than 3,000 hip and knee joint replacement procedures, more than are performed at any other hospital system in the Greater Houston area. 

If you're experiencing symptoms of hip pain and are seeking relief, Memorial Hermann Joint Centers can help. Our orthopedists see patients with everything from minor knee pain that requires rest and self-care, to those with chronic, serious knee pain, requiring a targeting non-surgical or surgical treatment plan.