Hip Pain

Hip pain is an umbrella term, which encompasses a variety of conditions which all cause pain around the hip. These range from soft tissue conditions such as trochanteric bursitis, hip tendonitis and labral tears to bony conditions such as femoro-acetabular impingement and hip osteoarthritis.

Symptoms of Hip Pain

Pain can be felt either over the front of the hip or on the outside of the hip. The pain may be felt only with certain movements or all the time. Associated symptoms could be stiffness of the hip or painful clicking.

Treatments for Hip Pain

The treatment is aimed at the underlying cause. An assessment would include a consultation with one of our experts with a physical examination aimed at getting a working diagnosis of the possible causes. The definitive diagnosis often requires further investigations such as x-rays, ultrasound or MRI scans. Once the diagnosis is established, a definitive treatment plan would be discussed and the treatments could range from physiotherapy to injections or possibly surgery.

Hip Osteoarthritis

Hip osteoarthritis, also known as “wear and tear” arthritis is a common condition, particularly in older patients. The joint becomes roughened and this leads to both pain and stiffness of the hip.

Symptoms of Hip Osteoarthritis

The initial symptoms are usually mild with an ache felt in the groin on walking. As the hip gets more worn, increasing stiffness and pain are noticed and the pain becomes more frequent. When severe, pain can be felt at rest and at night, disturbing sleep. The stiffness often is noticed as increased difficulty with simple tasks such as putting on shoes and socks or cutting toenails.

Treatments for Hip Osteoarthritis

In mild cases, often the symptoms can be controlled with painkiller tablets or anti-inflammatory tablets. A stick can be used to aid mobility and activity modification or losing weight may also help. Physiotherapy can help to maintain the movement around the hip.

Injections can sometimes be useful for short-term relief of symptoms but don’t usually provide long-term improvement.

When simple measures such as these are no longer working, a hip resurfacing or replacement should be considered. This is an operation to replace the worn-out part of the joint with artificial components, which can be metal, plastic or ceramic, depending on the anatomy and patient requirements.

Both operations take about 2 hours and for either operation an inpatient stay of 4-5 days is required. Crutches are required for about 4 weeks and once the wound pain has settled, most patients find that they are left with a hip with greater movement and a lot less pain than previously. As with a natural hip, the replacement doesn’t last forever and can wear out or become loose over time. This could require a further procedure, a revision hip replacement. The great majority are however good for ten years or more.

Should you require additional information or would like to make an appointment with Dr. Ishrat Khan please e-mail us at westminsterclinicAbu Dhabi@gmail.com

Disclaimer: All contents on this site are for general information and in no circumstances information be substituted for professional advice from the relevant healthcare professional, Writer does not take responsibility of any damage done by the misuse or use of the information.