Understanding Your Options
Hip pain doesn't necessarily mean hip surgery. There are many options for you to discuss with your doctor or surgeon to alleviate hip pain.
Non-Surgical Alternatives
Before deciding on hip surgery, your doctor may try several hip surgery alternatives to relieve the pain and inflammation in your hip.
Lifestyle Modification
The first alternative to hip surgery most doctors try is lifestyle modification. This may include weight loss, avoiding activities such as running and twisting which can aggravate the hip injury, modifying exercise to no and low-impact, and other changes in your daily routine to reduce stress on your hip.
Exercise and Physical Therapy
Exercise and physical therapy may be prescribed to improve strength and flexibility. Exercises may include strengthening exercises such as riding a stationary bike, and stretching exercises such as flexing the ankle up and down, tightening and holding thigh muscles, sliding the heel forward on the floor, leg lifts, and hip extensions. Always obtain professional advice before embarking on any exercises if you have hip problems. It is important that exercises be done in the correct way, bearing in mind your specific needs and condition. Exercise can strengthen your leg muscles and reduce your pain. If you really need hip surgery, this may not help, but many forms of hip pain can be mitigated by exercise.
Anti-inflammatory Medications
Arthritis ("literally 'joint inflammation'") pain is caused by inflammation in the hip as the bones rub against each other due to eroded cartilage. Reducing the inflammation of the tissue in the hip can provide temporary relief from pain and delay hip surgery.
Anti-inflammatory medications may be prescribed to decrease swelling in the joint. Medications may also be used to reduce inflammation, reducing pain temporarily. Injections may also be used to reduce pain; in this procedure a powerful anti-inflammatory agent is injected directly into the joint.
Supplements
A dietary supplement may improve the joint’s mobility and decrease pain from arthritis of the hip. A dietary supplement can slow the deterioration of cartilage in the joint, reducing the pain of bone on bone.
CAUTION: do not use any medicine or injection, whether prescription or available at a pharmacy or shop, without discussing it with your doctor. Even products that are labelled "natural" or are available without prescription may have an effect on your health and other medications you may be taking.
Joint Fluid Therapy
While medications and supplements can be helpful in reducing inflammation and pain and help you delay or avoid hip surgery, medicine is not the only alternative, and may not be suitable for you, or provide the relief you require. A further option is fluid therapy.
In this procedure, joint fluid therapy, a series of injections is made directly into the hip joints. This therapy is designed to reduce pain by improving lubrication in the hip, replacing the synovial fluid that lubricates the hip. Hyaluronate is used for the treatment of osteoarthritis hip pain in patients who have failed to get adequate relief from simple painkillers or from exercise and physical therapy.
Solutions can be injected, often made of natural chemicals found in the body and in particular in the synovial fluids.
The body’s own hyaluronan acts like a lubricant and shock absorber in synovial fluid of a healthy joint. Osteoarthritis reduces your synovial fluid’s ability to protect and lubricate your joint.
A doctor will administer the solution into your hip at the frequency set by the specific product used. This helps to re-lubricate your hip and reduce the pain of osteoarthritis, possibly delaying or helping you avoid hip surgery.
As you can see there are several non-surgical options for treating osteoarthritis. These methods can delay hip surgery by providing short-term relief. All treatment options have benefits and risks. Please discuss the options with your doctor, to find the solution, or solutions, that are suitable for you and your healthcare.