Oftentimes people can suffer from hip pain intermittently and may not realize they have a problem. But, in this recent video, David H. Michel, MD, Orthopedics at ARC Medical Park Tower Orthopedics and ARC Round Rock, says "When pain is recurrent and does not improve within a few days that's when it's best to reach out to your health care provider as you may need some evaluation."
Dr. Michel outlines evaluation steps and both surgical and non-surgical treatments for hip pain. Find out why he says, "Hip replacement surgery has come a great distance in the last 20 to 30 years." Watch his video, or read the full transcript here:
There are a number of causes of hip pain which may or may not slow people with their normal daily activities. Oftentimes the pain is only noticed with higher level activities like jogging or hiking. When pain is coming directly from inside of the hip joint, oftentimes people will mistake it for groin pain; thinking they've pulled a muscle. There's also pain along the side of the hip that we see very commonly.
When pain is recurrent and does not improve within a few days that's when it's best to reach out to your health care provider as you may need some evaluation. A primary care provider may find arthritis on an x-ray which would prompt sooner referral to an orthopedic surgeon. Oftentimes even if there's not arthritis after long periods of conservative management your primary care doctor may suggest referral for these lagging causes.
Evaluation and treatment
When you come visit me for hip pain, the first thing I'll want to know is about your symptoms, when they started and when they bother you. Depending on this I'll search for some certain physical exam findings, and putting that together with your radiographs or other imaging studies we have available to us, we'll determine the cause of your pain and then discuss the many possible treatments we have at our disposal.
Some of the treatments for hip pain include:
- stretching
- injections
- physical therapy and eventually
- surgery
Hip replacement surgery has come a great distance in the last 20 to 30 years. Instead of one week in the hospital, almost 30 percent of patients are going home the same day. For those that do stay one night, you're up and working with physical therapy immediately after surgery and you're able to put all of your weight on the hip. The therapist will get you up and moving and help you learn how to do the things that you normally do and protect the new hip that we've placed. Golfers are chipping and putting at six weeks and within three months they have no restrictions and are back to full activities.
I'm honored to be an orthopedic surgeon. It's really a pleasure to take care of patients and help them improve their pain so that they're able to get back to their daily activities and the other activities that they enjoy.
Make an appointment today
If you would like to make an appointment with Dr. Michel, you can do so by calling ARC Medical Park Tower Orthopedics at 512-454-4561 or ARC Round Rock at 512-244-9024, or online.