A Comprehensive Guide to Natural Hip Pain Relief

Often hip pain can be relieved with conservative, non-surgical treatment. This includes rest, ice and physical therapy. Medications like anti-inflammatory drugs or steroid injections can also help.

Hip replacement surgery may be recommended if nonsurgical treatments don’t provide relief or improvement to your quality of life. Los Angeles LifeSpan Medicine’s hip surgeon use alternative and surgical options to restore your range of motion.

A small sac filled with fluid that reduces friction between muscle and bone, greater trochanter bursa overlies the outside hip bone (femur). It can become inflamed, causing pain in the outer portion of the hip and thigh. This problem can result from repetitive movement of the hips, or from surgery to the hip. Anti-inflammatory medications, ice, stretching, and physical therapy can help relieve the pain caused by this condition. Properly fitting shoe inserts for leg-length discrepancies can also alleviate the pressure on the greater trochanter bursa.

If conservative treatments don’t relieve your pain, we can perform a minimally-invasive procedure called hip arthroscopy to remove the inflamed bursa. This procedure is performed on an outpatient basis and requires no overnight stay in the hospital. Preventing trochanteric bursitis includes avoiding activities that make symptoms worse, wearing proper shoes with inserts, losing weight, and avoiding repetitive motions in the hip. Regular stretching of the IT band and strength training for hip muscles can also help, as can massaging the hip area with a foam roller.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common Hip pain that affects people of all ages. OA occurs when cartilage, the soft tissue that covers ends of bones where they meet to form joints, begins to wear out. This causes pain, stiffness and a build-up of bony growths called bone spurs. OA usually affects the weight bearing joints of the hips, knees and spine.

Symptoms include pain in the affected joint, which may feel stiff after rest or vary depending on what you are doing. You may also hear grating or crackling sounds when the joint is moved. OA generally gets worse over time but not everyone experiences the same level of symptoms.

Treatment may include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen, exercise programmes to help you move more easily and assistive devices to help you with everyday activities. You may also benefit from injections of a special fluid containing platelet-rich plasma, which speeds up healing and draws regenerative cells to the damaged area.

Osteonecrosis occurs when a bone’s blood supply is cut off, depriving bone tissue of oxygen and nutrients. The condition most commonly affects the ends (epiphyses) of long bones such as the hip bone, thigh bone, and knee bone. Osteonecrosis is more common in the weight-bearing hip and knee joints, where pressure from walking, running and other activities can cause damage to the blood vessels that supply these areas.

The hip is a ball-and-socket joint in which the socket is formed by the acetabulum of the large pelvis bone and the ball is the upper end of the femur (thighbone). Articular cartilage covers the surfaces of the ball and socket to create a smooth surface that helps the bones glide easily over each other.

If osteonecrosis is caught in the early stages before the head of the femur collapses, pain medications, using crutches and limiting activities that put weight on the hip can help prevent the disease from worsening. In some cases, surgical procedures such as core decompression can be used to relieve pressure in the bone and restore blood flow to the area.

Tendinitis and bursitis are common conditions that affect soft tissue, including muscles and tendons, located around the hip. Often, pain from these conditions is mistaken for arthritis and is aggravated by movement. A Los Angeles Hip Pain Relief Doctor can diagnose both tendinitis and bursitis with a physical exam, X-rays and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. If infection is suspected in the bursa, a needle aspiration will be performed to obtain fluid and send it for testing.

Once a correct diagnosis is established, treatment may include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), resting the affected area, applying heat or ice, a steroid injection to reduce inflammation and pain, and a custom physical therapy plan that reduces pressure on the bursa. Depending on the root cause of the injury, your doctor may also recommend lifestyle changes, such as reducing activity or using assistive devices. Bursitis can lead to a condition called avascular necrosis, which reduces blood flow to bone ends and causes them to die.