If you are struggling with even a minor bit of discomfort or immobility, you may seek out hip pain treatment options without surgery.
Surgery is a very controversial topic when it comes to hip replacement, spine issues, and many other very invasive procedures. Sometimes it can be beneficial, sometimes it may set you back further than before. And whichever the case, it’s always expensive.
Worry not, because we are going to share some of the top non-surgical treatments for hip pain. Some of these can be done from home, and others are a holistic care option from a professional. Let’s start with some of the potential causes of hip pain.
What Are The Most Common Causes Of Hip Pain?
To understand why there are so many different issues that can arise with the hip, we need to explain the anatomy of the hip joint. It’s a ball and socket joint, where our femur connects. This helps us move our legs in a wide rotation.
There are so many different components to the hip: Bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This area is notorious for gathering severe wear and tear with age. Oftentimes, hip pain is caused by nothing more than using your hips over the course of your life. This is far more typical in older populations.
Hip pain is also a problem in younger populations too, however. This is especially common in athletes, as an overuse injury. Here are some of the specific ailments related to hip pain that could be plaguing you:
- Bursitis
- Tendinitis
- Muscle/Tendon Strain
- Arthritis
- Hip Labrum Tear
Whether it be abrupt pain from an injury where you know exactly what happened, or the result of old age or overuse, hip problems suck. So, let’s get into some of the non-surgical treatment options for hip pain.
What’s The Best Hip Pain Treatment Without Surgery?
You may be wondering what the best hip pain treatment without surgery is. Fortunately, there are quite a few different options.
Which one’s best for you will depend on the severity of your problem, your budget, and more. We always recommend speaking with a doctor to hone in on what your exact injury or condition is, and come up with a personalized treatment plan.
But in general, here are some of the hip treatments without surgery you can try to alleviate your immobility and pain. We’ll begin with some of the simple, home remedies and progressively move towards professional care options.
Optimizing Your Lifestyle For Better Hip Health
A lot of the time, hip pain can be caught early before it progresses to arthritis, an impingement, etc. If you are a person who sits a lot, this compression on your hip can be quite painful. Simply altering your lifestyle, and getting out and moving more, will help with some of this inflammation.
There are certain diets & nutraceuticals which lead to better hip health. Making sure to get enough good fats in your diet, along with plenty of glucosamine and chondroitin, will go a long way in helping with hip pain.
Some other improvements you can make to your lifestyle include losing weight if you are overweight, low impact exercise such as walking or yoga, and maybe even using a cane to take some of the load off your hips when you move.
If you don’t mind the extra clothing, there are hip braces designed to be worn throughout the day to keep your hip warm, loose, and pain-free.
Go Easy On The Pain Medication & Anti Inflammatories
Even if a doctor prescribes you painkillers, use them sparingly. These should be viewed as an “in case of emergency, break class” type of relief. Use pain medication only on your worst days, and follow directions carefully.
OTC anti inflammatories like advil, ibuprofen, etc, should be treated the same way. You can use them if you are feeling stiffer than normal, but don’t get in the habit of starting every morning with these.
Physical Therapy
Perhaps the best hip pain treatment without surgery is physical therapy. This professional care option involves using a variety of methods to achieve relief.
Physical therapists will often start a treatment session with deep tissue work, stretching, electric stimulation, to promote healing, blood flow, and decrease tension in the hip joint.
Then, as you progress, you will begin hip strengthening exercises, and attempt to get your joints and surrounding muscles stronger to prevent a future flare up. Physical therapy isn’t always cheap, but it’s effective. And when you compare it to the cost of a surgery, it doesn’t come close.
Steroid Injections
Those who still are unable to find relief, even after changing their lifestyle and undergoing physical therapy treatment for a period of time, may need periodic steroid injections.
A doctor will inject right into your hip joint in an effort to reduce inflammation and promote better blood flow. In some cases, you may even consider platelet-rich plasma injections to your joint to speed up the regeneration of tissue in your hip.
Final Thoughts On Getting Hip Treatment Without Surgery
As you can see, you have lots of hip treatment options without surgery. You can save tons of money and recovery time by opting for one of these more holistic, less invasive options we outlined above.
As we briefly touched on earlier, you should always get a doctor to look at any issue causing you chronic pain. It may be something more serious than just a stiff hip joint, and getting a personalized treatment plan is your best bet.