When you begin your day, your hip is sore and stiff, and it takes a little while for the joint to loosen up. Or, you’re not sleeping all that well due to an achy hip that objects to certain sleep positions. These are just two examples of signs that point toward a brewing problem in your hip that can benefit from early intervention.
At the ready is the highly qualified and experienced team of musculoskeletal experts here at Genesis Orthopaedic and Spine. We specialize in the many conditions that can affect your hips, and we offer solutions that reestablish your ability to move without pain — and the sooner you seek our help, the faster we can accomplish this.
Here’s a look at when (and why) you shouldn’t ignore hip pain.
A pain in the hip
Pain is your body’s way of alerting you to a problem and it’s one call that you should heed, especially when it comes to major joints like your hips.
Pain in your hip can present itself in many ways, such as:
- Pain in the morning when you take your first steps
- Pain and soreness after being active
- Discomfort when you sleep on your side
- Pain when climbing or descending stairs
No matter how your hip pain presents itself, our point here is that any ongoing pain in these major joints warrants further investigation.
Beyond the pain
While we’re focusing on hip pain, problems in your hip can also lead to stiffness, weakness, and instability. If you’re experiencing hip discomfort alongside any of these other issues, it’s time to seek our help.
Identifying and treating your hip pain
When you come in, our first goal is to identify what’s behind your hip pain. We start by reviewing your symptoms and your medical history, as well as your lifestyle. Once we have this crucial background, we turn to advanced imaging to get a closer look inside your hip.
If the problem still isn’t clear, we have an orthopaedic surgeon on our team who can pinpoint the problem using arthroscopy. During this minimally invasive procedure, we insert a tiny lighted camera through a small incision to gather high-definition images of the inner structures in your hips.
After we determine what’s behind your hip pain, we take the steps necessary to help the joint heal. If we can intervene early enough, we typically treat most hip problems, such as arthritis, through more conservative measures, including:
- Regenerative medicine, including platelet-rich plasma therapy and LipogemsⓇ adipose/fat therapy
- Physical therapy
- Rest
- Corticosteroid injections
- TenJetⓇ tenotomy
If the damage in your hip is great, we may recommend hip replacement surgery. More than 450,000 people in the United States undergo this procedure each year in order to regain pain-free mobility.
Rather than describing any more potential treatments for hip pain, we want to stop here so that you can take the most important step toward relieving your hip pain — seeking expert help. To schedule an appointment at one of our offices in Westfield or West Orange, New Jersey, simply click here.
