What is hip arthritis?
Hip arthritis is a group of diseases that damage your hip joint. Several different types of arthritis affect the hip joint, including:
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, occurs when the cartilage that protects your bones breaks down. This can mean the bones in your hip joint grind together, causing severe pain. About 90% of hip replacement patients have osteoarthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease that occurs when your immune system launches an attack on your own body. This type of arthritis can break your hip joint down, or even destroy it completely.
Post-traumatic arthritis
Post-traumatic arthritis causes the same symptoms as osteoarthritis, but it develops in a different way. It starts after trauma, such as a hip fracture, or more minor injuries. Joint injury isn’t always obvious, so you might not have symptoms until the arthritis actually appears. It can take up to five years for post-traumatic arthritis symptoms to start after your joint injury.
The hips are one of the most common areas of arthritic damage in the entire body.
What are the symptoms of hip arthritis?
The main symptom of hip arthritis is aching pain. The pain usually occurs in the groin area, but it may shoot down to the front of the thigh as well. Less commonly, hip pain can occur on the side of your hip, or in the back of your body, in your buttocks or posterior thigh.
Other hip arthritis symptoms can include:
- Stiffness
- Restricted range of motion
- Hip clicking or popping as you move
- Hip joint swelling
- Hip joint tenderness
Many hip arthritis sufferers experience increased pain when they're being active or making movements that stress the joint, such as rising from a seated position.
Resting for a short while usually eases symptoms. But, being inactive for long periods can actually make your hip arthritis symptoms worse.
How do you treat hip arthritis?
Hip arthritis treatment varies with your needs. Your hip joint is vitally important for your mobility and overall function, so Dr. Weber makes every effort to ease your symptoms and help you live comfortably without surgery.
Your nonsurgical hip arthritis treatment may include oral medication, activity modification, physical therapy, and injection therapy.
If these conservative measures don’t work, Dr. Weber may recommend total hip replacement. This surgery replaces your worn-out joint with fully functioning plastic and metal parts. Dr. Weber performs minimally invasive hip replacements and uses multimodal pain control for reduced pain and easier recovery.
Book your appointment by calling the office of Ian C. Weber, MD, or click the online request form now.
