How Orthopedic Specialists Can Help with Your Hip Pain
There are many causes of hip pain, but they all produce similar results- limited ability to move freely. Treatment for mild pain can include resting your joints and avoiding various physical activities. However, if the pain in the hip comes and goes without subsiding, you might want to have your hips checked. Muscle injury, joint damage, and arthritis are common causes of hip pain. Seeking professional help from an orthopedic specialist will be the best thing to do. In this post, we’ll look at how these specialists alleviate your hip pain.
Who is an Orthopedic Specialist?
Orthopedic doctors are professionals who specialize in diagnosing and tailoring treatment solutions to problems involving your muscles, ligaments, joints, and other connective tissues. Injuries and degeneration often caused by repetitive motion in your hips, ankles, shoulders, and knees are the primary causes of these conditions.
Hip Pain Diagnosis and Treatment
An orthopedic professional can help you alleviate mild or chronic hip pain. They start by diagnosing your problem through physical exams and various lab tests. After confirming your diagnosis, the specialist will explain your symptoms and the causes of your condition. They provide this information to help with setting goals for your recovery. Regardless of the cause of your pain, your practitioner will work diligently to mitigate it and restore your ability to function without pain. Some of the standard treatment approaches used include:
Medications and Injections
Orthopedic specialists often recommend nonsurgical treatments to control your pain and other hip pain symptoms. They’ll advise you to have adequate rest and prescribe pain relief medications. You might have to take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants, tricyclic antidepressants, or serotonin-based on your condition. Your practitioner may also recommend viscosupplementation, which is often used for arthritis patients. It gives you up to six months of pain relief and improved mobility. It is essential to inform your practitioner if you have other medications to avoid adverse side effects.
Therapy and Rehabilitation
Orthopedic treatment also involves physical therapy programs that alleviate your hip pain and set you on the path to recovery. An occupational, physical therapist teaches you how to move efficiently. That means changing how you move to ease pain and minimize pressure on your hips. The best thing about physical therapy is that it speeds up your recovery and helps you regain strength. Through your specialists’ guidance, you’ll utilize your joints to prevent your condition from worsening. The advantages of physical therapy include:
- Gaining more strength: Orthopedics believe that it’s crucial to strengthen all the components within your hip joint to spread out the workload evenly. For instance, if you have a fracture, physical therapy helps to ensure that your muscles provide extra support for the weakened bones.
- Preserving mobility: Some conditions have no cure, especially when it comes to damage to the cartilage. Luckily, physical therapy slows the progression of the disease by encouraging mobility. It helps to alleviate the inflammation.
- Increasing range of motion: Physical therapy is equally vital in ensuring flexibility and range of motion. A specialist uses targeted exercises to keep the soft tissues healthy and supple. This way, you’re equipped to maintain the full range of motion within your hips.
- Preventing further problems: Physical therapy focuses on preventing re-injury and other issues. An orthopedic professional beefs up the support systems around your hips to ensure they can safely handle the workload.
Surgery
Orthopedists provide the best treatment options but are keen to track your healing progress. If there’s minimal progress, they can suggest modifications to your treatment for better results. They can suggest surgical intervention, such as hip replacement. With the advancement in technology, hip replacement surgery can be done with an open procedure and is minimally invasive. Your specialist can also recommend hip arthroscopy to help them look inside your joint, diagnose the problem, and identify the best treatment option. The benefits of minimally-invasive surgery include:
- Smaller Incisions: The incisions needed in minimally invasive hip surgery are smaller than those in traditional hip replacement surgeries. Smaller incisions mean reduced scarring, less internal tissue exposure, and quicker healing time.
- Minimum Muscle andSoft Tissue Disruption: Orthopedics carefully design minimally invasive hip surgery to avoid cutting through or releasing many muscles and tendons surrounding the hip joint. That means patients can immediately use their hip after the procedure with a speedy recovery and minimum postsurgical discomfort.
- An Outpatient Procedure: Because the surgery is minimally invasive, it’s often possible to perform it on an outpatient basis. The ability to be up and moving after the procedure creates a positive mindset throughout recovery.
Choosing the Right Orthopedic Doctor
Visits with a healthcare practitioner can be stressful, especially when you’re dealing with hip pain. Luckily, your distress is eased if the practitioner expresses empathy towards you. The provider will acknowledge what you’re going through and help you navigate the emotional situation. A good practitioner will also have excellent communication skills. They should explain all medical terminologies in layman’s terms to ensure you understand your condition and the best treatment options. They should also take the time to address your concerns and help you make informed decisions. Above all, an excellent orthopedic doctor should have the training and experience required to provide top-quality orthopedic treatment. They should have the licensing, certifications, and other necessary documents to prove their expertise in this field.
In conclusion, hip pain stems from an array of sources. It can be due to arthritis, tendonitis, or fractures. If your pain in hip comes and goes, consult with Benjamin Domb, M.D, a top-rated orthopedic surgeon in Greater Chicago, IL. Our team has the skills to provide safe and effective orthopedic treatment options. Our approach focuses on addressing all the problems associated with your hip pain while treating the source of the pain. We have a multidisciplinary team of specialists, therapists, and chiropractors, allowing us to take a comprehensive approach that sets you on the road to a safe recovery. Better still, we take part in educating, innovating, and advancing the minimally invasive treatments for hip pain. You can reserve a virtual or in-person appointment, and we’ll be at your service.