What causes hip pain?
Hip pain may result from trauma, such as a fall or auto accident that fractures or dislocates the joint. In older age, osteoporosis can weaken the bones, making hip fractures from minor falls a common problem. Acute injuries to the muscles, ligaments, and tendons surrounding your hip can also cause sudden pain.
Chronic hip pain could be due to arthritis. Osteoarthritis is most likely, as this wear-and-tear form of the disease is common in older age, but the autoimmune disorder rheumatoid arthritis is another possibility. Inflammation of the cushioning sacs called bursae can result in trochanteric bursitis and hip pain.
In some cases, the pain felt in your hip could be radiating from your back or the sacroiliac joints in your pelvis.
How is hip pain diagnosed?
To diagnose your hip pain, your provider at Pacific Sports and Spine conducts a comprehensive physical examination and review of your medical history and symptoms.
They might also conduct imaging tests like X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs before making a diagnosis.
Sometimes the root cause of pain is challenging to pinpoint. Two tests are available that can help determine the source of your hip pain – a lumbar sympathetic block and a piriformis injection. These might also offer relief from hip pain.
What treatments can help with hip pain?
In many cases, conservative treatments, including physical therapies and medication, prove to be successful in relieving hip pain alongside activity modification.
If your condition doesn't get better after several months of treatment, the Pacific Sports and Spine team offers various minimally invasive outpatient procedures that could help. These include:
Steroid joint injections
Steroids have a powerful anti-inflammatory effect capable of reducing pain from arthritis or other damage to your hip joint.
Regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine techniques (stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy) tap into your body's capacity to restore damaged cells and tissues using healing substances taken from your own body.
Radiofrequency neurotomy of the lumbar facet joints
Facet joint syndrome and facet joint arthritis can cause hip pain that may not respond to conservative treatments. In this minimally invasive procedure, your provider at Pacific Sports and Spine uses heat generated by radio waves to treat the facet joints in your lower back, thus relieving persistent hip pain.
Whatever the cause of your hip pain, Pacific Sports and Spine offers effective therapies to ease discomfort and increase mobility. Call their office or book an appointment online today.
