Health

Hip pain and what it is all about

Certain physical activities and exercises may result in your body feeling sore afterward. This is typical for most athletes and physically active people. However, this pain or discomfort may not go away later or may recur at odd moments even when you have not strained your body. This pain may also result from injury and can affect various body parts, including your hip Albany. More about hip pain and how to deal with it is discussed below.

What is Hip Pain?

The joint of your hip contains the largest ball and socket joint in the body. This joint ideally allows for fluid movement and withstanding constant motion over time. A cartilage cushion assists in minimizing friction when you are using your hip, making it only move in its socket.

The hip joint is only durable up to a point as constant use over time can damage or wear out the cartilages. The tendons and muscles around the hip may be overused, or the hip bones may get injured or broken. All these situations result in hip pain.

Causes of Hip pain

Hip pain may arise from multiple conditions that may affect your body, namely:

Hip fractures: bones get brittle and weakened over time. This makes them easier to break during an accident

Arthritis: Older adults are much more likely to experience hip pain due to arthritis. This condition is characterized by breaking down the cartilage cushion and swelling in the hip joint. The pain slowly worsens as a reduced range of movement and stiffness occurs.

Tendinitis is an ailment that irritates or inflames the tendons, which are tissues responsible for the tissue attachment of muscles to bones. Overuse or recurring stress causes the condition.

Bursitis: There are liquid sacs of a substance called bursae located between tissues like muscles, bones, and tendons. They reduce friction between the tissue in contact. Inflammation of bursae due to increased activity may cause irritation and pain in the hip joint.

Signs and Symptoms

The ailment you have may determine where you feel discomfort, such as:

  • Inside the hip joint
  • Thigh
  • Outside the hip joint
  • Groin
  • Buttocks

Activities worsen the pain, therefore, decreasing your movement capabilities. The recurring hip pain may also result in walking with a limp.

Treatment

Over-the-counter pain drugs like ibuprofen and acetaminophen may be used to relieve the pain of the hip caused by arthritis, tendinitis, or muscle strain.

Prescription anti-inflammatory drugs like corticosteroids and others like methotrexate can be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis by focusing on the immune system.

Icing the source of the pain for twenty minutes several times a day may alleviate pain symptoms. A warm shower or bath can also prepare the muscles for stretching exercises.

Your hip joint’s pain may become so extreme that traditional solutions do not work. This may bring the need for total hip replacement.

Your hip joint is one of the most active parts of your body and thus is prone to various injuries and accidents due to its high frequency of activities making hip pain a common issue. For any hip pain questions, visit us online, or call our offices in Albany, GA.