7 Common Causes of Hip Pain

Hip pain can be debilitating and becomes all-consuming, significantly impacting daily activities like walking. Knowing the causes of hip pain is crucial for proper diagnosis and treatment. At Pain Management NYC, Dr. Leon Reyfman specializes in diagnosing all types of hip conditions and provides personalized hip pain treatments to suit your needs. With his experience and expertise in sports injury, Dr. Reyfman recommends the most advanced treatments and techniques to improve your quality of life so you can enjoy unrestricted mobility as soon as possible.

Hip pain is the general term for pain in or around the hip joint. It is essential to know that hip pain is not always felt in the hip itself but may be experienced in the groin or thigh instead. It can stem from several underlying causes, each with its symptoms and treatment approaches.

Identifying the potential causes behind your discomfort helps you take the right steps to alleviate pain and improve your quality of life.

Read on to find out why you experience hip discomfort as you walk or stand and what treatment options can help.

Here are the 7 common causes of hip pain:

Core Muscle Injury

Core muscle injuries involve a tear or a series of micro-tears of the muscles of the core, which includes all of the muscles from the chest to mid-thigh. If you are having pain in your groin area, it might be a core muscle injury, such as a strain or tear of muscles or other soft tissues in the lower abdomen. Many core injuries involve more than one muscle in the core, which ranges from mid-chest to just above the knee.

Also known as sports hernia or athletic pubalgia, it is a common injury among people who are not professional athletes but only play occasionally. It can result from overstretching abdominal muscles by over-extending at the waist or over-stretching inner thigh muscles while performing a split. Repetitive motions can cause a core muscle injury.

Individuals who play sports that involve a lot of twisting and turning but are not in good physical shape end up with abdominal or groin pain.

Treatment options for core muscle injuries depend on several factors, such as the severity of the injury and the performance levels you want to achieve.

Treatment options include:

• Modification in activities
• Physical therapy for core stability
• Anti-inflammatory medications
• Hot or cold therapies
• Massage and yoga
• Acupuncture

In case of severe core muscle injuries, surgery may be needed to repair the torn muscles. Timely treatment can help you get back to your previous level of activity.

Bursitis

It usually occurs during sports that require extensive use of hip flexors, such as uphill running, soccer, jumping, hurdling, ballet, repetitive movements at work, hip injuries, or bad posture. Most people with bursitis have pain when they move their hip or put weight on it. Though walking for a long time, climbing stairs, and standing up after sitting can worsen it, you can feel pain even when you are lying on the affected side.

Bursitis becomes more common as we age. It is especially prevalent in people who have arthritis, diabetes, and thyroid disease.

Treatment options include:

• Taking a break from activities that put pressure on your hip to give the bursa time to heal
• Icing the affected areas
• Anti-inflammatory and pain medications
• Physical therapy and light stretches to strengthen the area around your injured hip and improve hip function
• Using a cane or crutches to reduce the pressure on your hip when you move or walk

If these treatments don’t help, you may need cortisone injection to reduce pain and swelling. In rare cases, you may need to have fluid taken out of the bursa to treat inflammation.

Tendonitis

Tendons are thick cords that attach your bones to the muscles. These tendons allow muscles to use our bones as structures in movements. Tendonitis occurs when a tendon becomes inflamed or irritated, usually due to overuse or repetitive movements. It is also called hip flexor tendonitis or tendonitis of the hip.

Straining or overusing tendons creates repeated minor injuries that eventually lead to muscular imbalances in the hip. People who repeat specific activities, like kicking a soccer ball, running, bicycling, or swimming, can develop severe pain. The most common symptom of hip tendonitis is hip pain that happens gradually. It can also cause tenderness at the point where the tendon is. People with iliopsoas tendonitis often feel pain in the front of their hip.

If hip tendonitis is left untreated, the pain worsens over time. It can also limit your ability to move your hip.

Treatment options include:

• Reducing the physical activity that is causing the pain and giving rest to muscles
• Icing the affected area to keep the pain and inflammation down
• Taking over-the-counter pain medications
• Light exercises that help stretch and strengthen the hip area to improve muscle flexibility

If the pain does not go away or is the outcome of some injury, seeing a doctor is necessary. Hip pain management and physical therapy help with healing and provide long-term relief.

Labral Tears

A hip labral tear involves the ring of cartilage, known as the labrum, that follows the outside rim of the hip joint socket. The labrum cushions the hip joint and acts like a rubber seal or gasket to help hold the ball at the top of the thighbone securely within the hip socket.

Athletes who participate in sports such as ice hockey, soccer, football, golf, and ballet are at higher risk of developing hip labral tears. Participating in certain activities that involve repetitive or twisting motions can increase the risk of a hip labral tear, such as ballet, golf, and swimming.

It causes pain in the hip or groin and limits movement, creating a sensation that the hip is locking, catching, or clicking. Sometimes, injury, dislocation, and structural problems can also lead to a hip labral tear.

Treating hip labral tears:

• The most common treatment for hip labral tears include over-the-counter pain-relieving medications to reduce inflammation and alleviate the pain.
• Your pain doctor may prescribe corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory medications for severe pain and inflammation, and inject a corticosteroid directly into your hip joint.
• Physical therapy also strengthens the muscles around the affected hip joint and increases flexibility.

If these treatments fail to provide relief, your doctor may recommend surgery to ease your pain. A minimally invasive surgery can repair a more serious labrum tear, shave down the misshaped bone in case of hip impingement, and protect the joint.

It is also important to note that the pain you are experiencing in your hip could actually be coming from somewhere else in the pelvis.

Other causes of hip pain may be due to:

Gynecological or Pelvic Floor Issues

The hip joint connects the pelvis and femur, the thigh bone. The pelvis contains many systems, and everything is close together. It often becomes difficult to determine whether the pain you are experiencing is a result of a hip problem or resulting from pelvic floor issues.

If the pain is limited to your groin area and coincides with ovulation or your period, it could be endometriosis or fibroids rather than a problem with the hip. At times, urological and gastrointestinal issues such as gastroenteritis and prostate cancer can also cause pain that is mistaken for a hip injury.

It is essential to visit your doctor for a checkup to determine where the pain is occurring and identify its root cause. Treatment methods vary based on the condition causing the pain. Depending on the diagnosis, your doctor will come up with the right treatment plans that help you find relief from pain or may refer you to a specialist if needed.

Hip Impingement

Your hip is the joint where the thigh bone meets the pelvis. It is called a ball-and-socket joint, as the top of the bone fits into a cup-like area within the pelvis. Hip impingement occurs when the ball of the hip pinches against the cup of the hip. It can damage the labrum, or the cartilage, that surrounds the hip ball, causing hip stiffness, pain, and limited range of motion.

People who participate in high-intensity athletics or activities that involve a lot of hip twisting and squatting are more likely to experience hip impingement. A problem with the ball or socket rim can interfere with smooth hip motion and lead to pain in the groin or front of the thigh. The pain worsens when you are up at the hip or the waist, such as when riding a bike, tying shoes, or sitting for long periods of time.

Also known as femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), this condition not only hurts but also increases the risk of premature osteoarthritis.

Treatment options include:

• Modifying activities to avoid moving the joint in a way that causes pain
• Resting the affected hip
• Anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving medications
• Physical therapy for strengthening muscles around the hips and to improve mobility

If these treatments do not work and the pain and inflammation persist, your doctor may recommend surgery to repair or remove the damaged tissue and correct the abnormal shape of the hip joint.

Osteoarthritis

It is a very common cause of daily, dull pain in the hip. The joints become stiff and swollen due to inflammation and breakdown of cartilage, causing pain and deformity. In most cases, osteoarthritis results when the hip bones are not formed perfectly, due to which they do not fit together neatly. It eventually causes them to rub against each other, resulting in inflammation and pain.

Wear and tear caused by aging, obesity, or traumatic injury can affect the joint surfaces and result in severe hip pain and limited mobility. Excessive running and playing high-impact sports like basketball increase your chances of osteoarthritis.

Treatment options include:

• Controlling your weight to prevent joint wear and tear
• Over-the-counter pain and anti-inflammatory medications
• Regular exercises that are appropriate for your age and physical condition
• Stretches and exercises to strengthen your core and increase hip flexibility

If your hip pain is intense or long-lasting, your doctor may recommend stem cell therapy and surgery. In rare cases, total hip replacement is the only option to relieve pain and regain mobility.

Most hip joint pain and stiffness result from simple issues that can be treated with physical therapy and other options. Any type of hip pain that does not go away with rest, pain-relieving medications, or other conservative treatments indicates a serious problem and needs medical attention.

Are you worried about your hip pain and want to know more about it – Call Pain Management NYC today and schedule an appointment with Dr. Leon Reyfman for the best pain relief treatment. Dr. Reyfman focuses on diagnosing the causes behind your hip pain and recommends the safest, most effective pain relieving techniques to ease your discomfort and restore mobility. He understands how hip conditions can impact your life and worsen if they are not treated timely and comes up with the best approaches to help you manage it successfully.

Leon Reyfman, MD, is a top-rated, best-in-class interventional pain management doctor. He is a nationally recognized pain relief specialist and is among the top pain care doctors in New York City and the country. He is an award-winning expert and contributor to prominent media outlets.

Dr. Leon Reyfman has been recognized for his thoughtful, thorough, modern approach to treating chronic pain. He has been named a “top pain management doctor in New York” and one of “America’s Top Doctors™” for advanced sports injury treatments. Among other accolades, he was voted by peers as a “Castle Connolly Top Doctors™” and “New York Super Doctors™”. Dr. Leon Reyfman was a part of the medical team at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.