16 Jan Do You Have Hip Pain? Common Causes & How to Treat It

As your body’s largest weight-bearing joint, the hip is pretty important! If you’ve ever had hip pain, you’ll also know how much it can affect your life if your hip feel stiff, hurts, or limits your movement. Hip pain is a common problem and treating it doesn’t have to be invasive or complicated. Here are some common causes of hip pain and what to do:

Arthritis: As with any joint, your hip joint can be prone to arthritis; especially if your joint has experienced prior injury, your body is carrying excess weight, or if you are otherwise predisposed to arthritis.

Symptoms: With this condition, you may have deterioration of the joint, stiffening, pain, and problems with movement. You may have pain at night, pain lying down, pain within your joint, or pain that seems to be in your groin or even back.

Bursitis: This condition is characterized by inflammation of the bursa (fluid-filled sacs that act as cushions for movement) of the hip.

Symptoms: You may experience both pain and/or stiffness around the hip.

Torn Labrum: The labrum is an edge of soft cartilage around your hip joint, functioning almost like a gasket and helping protect the hip joint’s surface. You can tear your hip labrum in an acute manner, such as during a contact sport, or even through wear-and-tear.

Symptoms: This can be asymptomatic (no symptoms) or painful, with a sensation that your leg is giving out, catching, or clicking.

Tendinitis: This is when the tendons of the hip flexor become irritated and inflamed, causing pain, discomfort, and difficulty with movement. This is often an overuse injury.

Symptoms: You may experience pain that has come on gradually (not an acute injury). Although it may improve some with movement, you’ll experience pain if you continue activities that provoke the discomfort. 

Treatment: One of the best ways to deal with your hip pain is to seek expert care with a physical therapist. Even if you have severe hip arthritis, and may eventually require a joint replacement, beginning physical therapy will help improve your movement and strengthen surrounding connective tissue which will benefit your overall recovery. A physical therapist can assess your hip and determine the likely cause; s/he will then develop a custom treatment plan based on your unique needs. Since many people begin to restrict movement once joint pain develops, seeing a PT and learning how to move properly and stay active is important. A PT is an expert in the musculoskeletal system, and will be able to help you decrease discomfort while working toward better movement and joint health.

If you’ve been struggling with joint pain, we understand. Body One Physical Therapy is locally-owned and operated, and we have three locations serving Central Indiana: North Indianapolis/Carmel, Fishers, and Zionsville. Our team of caring, expert physical therapists works with clients of all ages and activity levels and we’d love to help get you moving and feeling better, too. Don’t let your joint pain limit your life, call Body One today!

Sources: https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/bones-joints-and-muscles/hip-problems/types.html