Chronic Pain Treatment and Hip Pain Tips – They act quickly just like steroids, a substance made in our bodies.
t Is It and How Is It Treated?
Hip pain or groin pain can be excruciating and annoying. When you have this sort of pain, you want nothing but to stop it. Hips can hurt for different reasons, and the exact location of your pain can help your pain management and rehabilitation doctor trace the root cause. Issues within your hip joint itself could trigger the pain deep within your hip or groin. On the other hand, pain on the outside of your hips, outer buttocks or upper thighs could indicate problems with your tendons, ligaments, muscles and other soft tissues neighboring your hip joint.
Each time you use your hip joint, especially, when doing a sport, a cushion of cartilage stops friction as the hip bone in its socket moves. But this friction cannot be stopped forever; as we age and overuse our hip joint, the cushion of cartilage will slowly wear down and pain will begin. Sometimes, soreness in the hip is as a result of a bone fracture or sprain resulting from an accident or a fall. Moreover, pain can result from an underlying disease in another part of your body or a congenital condition that damages joints. To know the exact reason why your hips are aching, visit our Pain Center in New York. It’s only a qualified pain doctor who can offer the right diagnosis.
Signs of hip pain
Depending on the real cause of your pain, you might feel discomfort in your groin area, thigh, outside or inside of your hip joint, or buttocks. It is important to monitor your pain so as to learn when it starts and how it ends. Most people with this problem notice that their pain worsens with activity. Sometimes the hips are just fine and the discomfort is as a result of a problem in another part of the body. For instance, pain from a back or groin hernia may radiate to the hip area. If you notice pain in the areas we have mentioned above, seek professional help.
What triggers hip pain?
Arthritis
Although there are other forms of arthritis that can attack your hip joint, the main types are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The two diseases attack the elderly people the most. They cause inflammation of the hip joint and the damage to the cartilage that cushions the hip bone when there is friction. Pain triggered by arthritis keeps on worsening, limiting the range of motion in the hip due to stiffness. If you have osteoarthritis, the spongy cartilage will continue to deteriorate until the bones begin to rub against each other. Pain will be felt in the groin, although it may attack your buttocks as well.
- Diagnosis – A Pain specialist tests the hip’s range of motion. If there is stiffness, he or she may do an X-ray to confirm the presence of arthritis. An X-ray can also reveal bony spurs, joint-space narrowing and/or bone cysts.
- Home remedies – Hip pain that is triggered by arthritis can be treated at home by being calm. Avoiding strenuous activities and doing low-impact workouts to relieve joint stiffness can help a lot. Additionally, you can take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs to alleviate the discomfort. If pain doesn’t subside, see a pain expert of our Pain Institution in person or ring them.
Tendinitis
Tendinitis refers to the inflammation of the group of tissue that binds bones to muscles. These thick tissues are known as tendons. When they get irritated due to joint overuse, a condition called tendinitis occurs.
- Signs – If you have this problem, your pain will be dull and profound and it will attack your groin. It is easily felt when one is standing up from a chair or climbing a staircase.
- Diagnosis – Your pain specialist might ask you to lie down and bring your knees to your chest. Then he or she may ask you to push each knee against their opposing hands. If this causes you to feel pain in your groin, the pain specialist might conclude that you have tendinitis. This is, particularly, if X-rays do not reveal any degree of joint deterioration that could indicate presence of arthritis.
- Home remedies – The best way to stop harming your hip tendon is to stop doing activities that cause pain. You can take NSAIDs pain reliever and use ice packs to the sore area for about twenty minutes many times a day. If pain persists, especially at night, call your local back pain doctor for minimal invasive procedures available in our Pain Center.
Bursitis
It refers to the inflammation of the bursae. These are sacs of a special fluid that lubricates and cushions your tendons, muscles or bones when there is friction. Due to inflammation, pain is felt in the side of your hip. It’s usually a burning pain.
- Diagnosis – the pain specialist will press the aching area and detect whether your bursae are inflamed.
- Home remedies – The quickest way to eliminate pain due bursitis is to take a pain killer (NSAIDs). In addition, apply a cold compress to the area many times a day and massage it often to boost blood circulation and healing. It is also imperative to stretch the fibrous tissues on the outside of your hip joint (iliotibial band) as it can as well get inflamed. Moreover, you can do easy exercises like crossing your legs, standing up and touching your toes for about thirty seconds. If pain continues, see pain doctor in our New York Center for minimally invasive options of treatment.
Hip fractures
There are many reasons why your hip bone could break. The most widespread reason is aging, as bones become weak and easily broken when we grow older. If you accidentally slip and fall and have weakened bones, you might end up fracturing your hip. This can be so painful.
Hip Labral tear
If the ring of the cartilage, labrum, gets so torn that the outer rim of the hip joint socket is reached, you’ve got a hip labral tear. The labrum is known to provide a rubberlike seal that keeps your hip joint secure and well-lubricated. If you do strenuous activities such as running and sprinting, you twist your hip joint often and are prone to a hip labral tear.
Cancer
If you have metastatic cancer that is so advanced that it has caught up with your bones, you can develop hip pain. Other types of cancers that can trigger the same discomfort include leukemia and bone cancer.
Other causes
Besides the above-mentioned causes, hip pain and lumbar back pain may be provoked by certain injuries: sprains and strains, dislocation and inguinal hernias. Furthermore, the pain can happen due to a pinched nerve condition: Sciatica, sacroiliitis and meralgia paraesthetica. If you have death of the bone tissue as a result of restricted blood flow(avascular necrosis), a bone infection(osteomyelitis), osteoporosis, or synovitis, you can have sore hips.
Treatment – How to heal hip pain and lumbar back pain
The main way to treat hip pain is via medication, for this visit a pain expert. Different drugs can be prescribed to do the following:
- Alleviate pain
- Reduce inflammation
- Slow down bone loss
- Change the course of an inflammatory condition like arthritis
- Stop join damage
Types of medicines provided to patients can vary, but they include the following:
- NSAIDs – Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) are tablets offered to alleviate arthritis pain and irritation. Regardless of the type of arthritis you have, NSAIDs can help. If your pain is triggered by another cause, NSAIDs are so helpful. They are oral drugs, of course, but now there are topical prescriptions (Pennsaid and Voltraren Gel).
- Analgesics – These are rampantly used to treat different kinds of arthritis. Thus, your effective pain management doctor may prescribe them to ease your arthritic hip pain and/or hip pain due to injuries or surgery. These are made only for easing pain, unlike NSAIDs that as well reduce inflammation. If you cannot take NSAIDs for any reason, your pain doctor might prescribe analgesics. These are perfect for arthritic people who feel pain but don’t suffer from inflammation.
- Corticosteroids – These drugs are designed to regulate inflammation triggered by arthritis or another autoimmune disease. They act quickly just like steroids, a substance made in our bodies. If you only have hip inflammation or bursitis, the corticosteroid drug may be administered directly via an injection by pain specialist.
- Gout drugs – These kinds of drugs are given to people who have gouts and they reduce the amount of uric acid in their blood. Hence, joint pain and inflammation are prevented in future. If your best pain management doctor nyc thinks it’s sensible and safe to prescribe these to you due to hip pain, he or she will do it.
- Disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs or DMARDs – These are used to slowly change the course of an inflammatory condition. As there are several different kinds, there are kinds that could heal your hip arthritis.
- Osteoporosis drugs – They are often used to decelerate bone loss or arouse the body to create new bone. While they are not designed for hip issues, osteoporosis drugs can strength your hip bones to make you less vulnerable to fractures. Some kinds of drugs in this category cure a disease (Paget’s disease) that is known to trigger hip pain, although very rarely.
- Biologic response modifiers – These cure rheumatoid arthritis and other types of hip arthritis. These biologic agents are eight and each one of them stops a step in the joint inflammation process without negatively affecting your immunity.
Other ways to seek pain relief
It is extremely imperative to see a pain specialist or seek emergency assistance if you encounter the following:
- Abrupt hip discomfort
- Hip pain due to a fall or another type of accident
- Bleeding around your hip joint or if your joint looks deformed
- If a popping sound was heard during an accident or injury
- If any amount of weight or pressure exerted on a hip causes pain
- You cannot move your hip or the whole leg.
- Your pain is excruciating
When you come home from a hospital or before you see your back and spine specialist doctor, make sure you do simple tricks to control your discomfort. These can include:
- Hold an ice pack or cold compress to the injured or sore area for fifteen minutes several times a day. Sometimes a hot compress might help.
- Rest the painful joint as long as you can manage
- Take a warm shower to relax your muscles and lessen pain.
- Do specific exercises designed only for people who have arthritis of any form. Low-impact exercises for hip pain can be found online for free. They don’t only reduce the pain but also improve joint movements.
- Physical therapy may help decrease joint stiffness. Make sure to follow the pain doctor recommendation or find a trained expert who can offer it.
- Use pain killers that are sold over the counter to reduce your discomfort. These include ibuprofen, acetaminophen or naproxen sodium.
What if drugs fail?
Hip replacement surgery (arthroplasty) may be the ultimate solution if your osteoarthritis has grown so severe that it is not responding to drugs or procedures. Moreover, hip pain may be extreme if your serious fracture has refused to naturally heal. In such a situation, a hip replacement surgery may be recommended to fix the fracture. If your surgeon discovers that you have adequate amount of cartilage to save via arthroplasty, they will recommend the procedure. But if there is a huge cartilage loss, the surgeon might suggest a more extensive surgical process.
Surgery brings relief even to sports people who would like to return to their professions or hobbies. Apart from a few complications that are associated with any type of surgery, there isn’t much to worry about when undergoing surgery. All the same, there is a solution for those who don’t wish to endure an open surgical process: arthroscopy. It is less invasive and effective.
Conclusion
As your hip joint is your body’s biggest ball and socket joint, you should take good care of it. While it can withstand constant motions and twists, this joint may eventually succumb to wear and tear. If this happens, pain will be felt and fluid movement will be replaced by stiffness. If you have severe hip pain, don’t waste any more time; visit your pain doctor nyc for immediate support and care. It’s only a qualified doctor who can examine your hip joint and provide an accurate diagnosis. Accordingly, go to the hospital if you feel it is an emergency without any fear as this could save one of your most useful body joints.