Hip pain when getting out bed in the morning and standing up after prolonged sitting or a sensation of bone rubbing against bone in your hips with routine daily activities be an indication of hip arthritis.
Hip arthritis refers to the inflammation or injury of the hip joints due to joint degeneration or disturbance in the immune response of the body. Contrary to popular belief, a diagnosis of hip arthritis does not necessarily mean inevitable disability or even surgery. Symptoms of hip arthritis can be kept under control by conservative treatment.
Given below are some conservative treatments to manage hip arthritis:
- Maintain a healthy body weight: The intensity of symptoms depends a lot on your body weight and overall fitness. Therefore, the less you weigh, the less pressure on your hips and the less pain you will experience.
- Physical therapy: Hip arthritis can be managed effectively if you perform physical therapy exercises or walk regularly. These exercises strengthen the muscles that surround and support the hip joint, improve your blood circulation, prevent joint stiffness and help maintain range of motion.
- Application of cold or heat: Joint pain caused due to sports or exercise can be managed with ice application immediately after the activity. For non-sports injuries, you can place a heating pad or apply hot shower spray on the affected hip joint. Heat dilates your blood vessels which improves blood circulation and mitigates muscle spasms.
- Walking assistance & braces: Use of walking sticks or canes reduces load on the hips and slows down the progression of disease. Similarly, special hip braces may also be used optimize load distribution to ease the symptoms of hip arthritis.
- Medications: Take medications for pain relief only under your doctor’s prescription otherwise their misuse may lead to stomach irritation, gastric bleeding or dependence.
- Biologic Therapy: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or stem cell injections are an advanced form of conservative therapy that may help alleviate painful hip arthritic symptoms, promote healing of tissue and delay the need for hip replacement surgeries.
The key of success is early diagnosis when embarking on a conservative course of treatment for management of hip arthritis.
