Symptoms

Patients with hip osteoarthritis will commonly experience pain, stiffness and loss of movement. Every person’s pain will vary, however classically pain is felt in the groin and sometimes patients present with thigh and knee or buttock pain. As osteoarthritis progresses and the articular cartilage decreases, the joint space also narrows and there is possibility of bone spurs or excessive bone growth around the edges of the hip joint producing more pain.

Causes

Most common in older patients, the exact cause of osteoarthritis is not always known. It is usually slow and characterised by progressive wear and tear of the joint. Some causes of arthritis include:

• Advancing age
• Congenital or developmental hip diseases
• Weight issues
• Previous hip injury or fracture
• Increased stress on the hip due to overuse.
  

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is made by medical consultation and examination, taking the patient's past medical history and confirmed by X-ray of the hip. Sometimes a MRI scan may be offered, this can help determine whether pain is being impacted by other areas of the hip.

Treatment Options

Once damage has been done to the cartilage and tissues within the hip, unfortunately it is irreversible and there is no ‘cure’ for osteoarthritis. Rather it is about managing your symptoms in the initial stages and progressing to more definitive treatment as your symptoms progress and as dictated by medical professionals.

Non Operative Treatment

Your GP or medical physician would probably start you on the most common non-operative treatment for osteoarthritis including pain killers (paracetomol or panadol osteo) and anti-inflammatories if tolerated and not contraindicated. It can also be helpful to manage your osteoarthritis by activity modification ie. limiting the time you are on your feet and regularly partaking in low impact exercise (swimming, cycling, pilates, gym, yoga etc.) to reduce stress on the hip joint and therefore improve your symptoms. 

Consulting a physiotherapist can also be beneficial for specific exercises to help increase range of motion, flexibility and strengthen the muscles in the hip. 

Injections can sometimes be helpful to reduce pain if surgery is not indicated. It is also important to maintain healthy body weight by ensuring a balanced diet and regularly exercising.

Surgery

Following consultation and review, if osteoarthritis has progressed and other interventions have not succeeded, surgical intervention for treatment may be recommended. As with all surgeries, it comes with some risks and should be left as a last resort. 

Total hip replacement is the most common surgery for hip osteoarthritis. It is where the damaged femoral head (ball) and acetabulum (socket) are removed and replaced with new metal, plastic or ceramic surfaces to restore the hip. Find out more about Total Hip Replacement.

If you are concerned about your hip pain, osteoarthritis or if you require surgery, take the Hip Pain Test today.