What's Causing Your Hip Pain?

As your largest weight-bearing joints, your hips are under no small amount of pressure from the moment you take to your feet in the morning. When hip pain develops, the effects can threaten your ability to make your way through the world, limiting your life in some very serious ways.

At The Woodlands Sports Medicine Centre, our team of pain management specialists has an in-depth understanding of the myriad problems that can affect this joint, causing pain and issues with mobility.

To give you an idea of what you may be up against when it comes to hip pain, here’s a look at some of the more common issues and how we can treat them to restore pain-free movement.

Arthritis in most all its forms

Arthritis is a catchall term for joint disease, and there are many types of the problem that fall under this umbrella. Far and away, the most common form of arthritis to affect your hips is osteoarthritis (OA), which is caused by a breakdown in the cartilage of your joints.

While OA may lead the pack in terms of hip pain, conditions like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can also cause great discomfort in these large joints. RA is an autoimmune disorder in which your body attacks its own joints, which can lead to inflammation and pain in your hips.

There are many other forms of arthritis that can cause hip pain, such as psoriatic arthritis and lupus, but OA and RA account for most cases.

Bursitis

Some of your articulating joints contain sacs of fluid called bursae. While small in size, these sacs provide critical cushioning within certain joints, including your shoulders, feet, and hips.

When the soft tissues that surround your bursae become inflamed, typically due to overuse, it can cause a great deal of pain in your joint.

Hip fractures or dislocations

Each year in the United States, 300,000 people who are 65 or older are hospitalized for a hip fracture. While the elderly are more prone to fractures and dislocations because of bone loss and falls, a hip fracture can occur at any age.

Active issues

If you’re active, the added pressures on your hips can lead to repetitive stress issues, such as tendinitis. When it’s located in your hips, it involves your hip flexors, which join the major muscles in your pelvis to your upper thigh.

When this connective tissue is overstressed or strained, it can lead to pain and inflammation in your hip joints.

Treating hip pain

If you’re experiencing hip pain, our first order of business is to identify the source of the pain so that we can treat it appropriately.

No matter the problem, our goals are twofold: To bring you immediate relief from your pain while also addressing the underlying cause for long-term results.

To do this, we rely on one or more of the following:

• Medications to manage the pain and inflammation

• Regenerative therapies to help rebuild tissues

• Physical therapy to strengthen supporting tissues

If you’re struggling with hip pain, the first step you should take toward pain-free movement is to contact our office in either The Woodlands or Conroe, TX, to set up a consultation.