Hip pain is a common problem that can limit your activities and decrease your quality of life. It’s important to see an experienced hip relief doctor in Los Angeles for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.
Medications like acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) reduce swelling and pain. NSAIDs may also help treat some hip conditions such as muscular tears, bursitis, and arthritis.
Nonsurgical Treatments
Often, hip pain is caused by activities that increase friction between the bones of the hip joint. This can make performing simple movements like climbing stairs or sitting down from a chair difficult and painful.
Commonly, over-the-counter pain relief medication such as acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can offer temporary relief. If these methods fail to provide lasting relief, a physician should be consulted.
The physician can administer a hip injection using ultrasound guidance to ensure the injection reaches the site of the problem. The numbing agent is typically a cortisone injection that can relieve the inflammation of the hip joint, reducing the discomfort. Injections of hyaluronan can also help to lubricate the hip and alleviate pain by reducing stiffness in the joint.
In cases where the underlying condition cannot be treated with nonsurgical methods, a physician can perform hip arthroscopy through a small incision. This procedure allows the doctor to remove debris from a hip joint, correct bone deformities, and repair damaged tissue without the need for surgery.
Physical Therapy
Hip pain can result from problems in the joint itself or the muscles and ligaments that support it. We provide comprehensive physical therapy to reduce or eliminate your hip pain and restore normal functional mobility.
Your first visit starts with a detailed evaluation to understand what is causing your hip pain and how it has affected your life. We ask about the aggravating and relieving factors, and X-rays and MRI may be recommended to gather additional information about your hip joint.
Our team creates a personalized hip injury treatment plan that includes muscle-strengthening exercises, range of motion movements, modalities (like heat or ice), and stability training. We also instruct you on proper posture and body mechanics. Your therapist will also develop an at-home exercise program that you can use to keep the benefits of your sessions alive outside the clinic. Performing these exercises daily is the best way to prevent your hip pain from returning.
Steroid Injections
Steroid injections work to reduce hip pain by reducing inflammation over time. They can also help decrease the need for prescription pain medication.
During the procedure, the doctor will clean the injection area and might use a type of X-ray called fluoroscopy to guide a needle into the hip joint. You might feel some pressure when the needle is inserted, but it shouldn’t be painful. You should let your doctor know if you do experience a lot of pain.
Once the needle is in place, a mixture of anesthetic and cortisone will be slowly injected into the hip joint. The injection site will likely feel sore for a few days as the numbing medicine wears off, but applying ice can be helpful. The injections can provide relief that lasts for weeks or months, depending on the condition being treated. This can allow you to begin physical therapy and return to daily activities sooner. You should avoid using a hot tub or bath after having a steroid injection in your hip.
PRP & Stem Cell Therapy
Both PRP and stem cell therapy work to amplify the body’s natural repair system by boosting the concentration of platelets at the injury site. Platelets are blood cells that help form a blood clot to stop bleeding and release growth factors to promote healing.
Stem cells are unspecialized cells that can change into other cells to replace damaged or diseased tissue. They’re found throughout the body and can be used to restore cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and bones.
For this treatment, your doctor will clean and numb the area where the injections will be administered. A special syringe will then be inserted into the hip area (iliac crest) to extract bone marrow blood. The sample is then sent to the laboratory, where it is concentrated by centrifugation. This results in a high-concentration of platelets, which is then injected into the hip region under live X-ray or ultrasound guidance. You may feel soreness immediately after the procedure, but ice packs and over-the-counter pain-relievers can help.