Hip Pain & Treatment

Expert Care for Injuries of the Hip

Orthopedic specialists at the Chicago Center for Orthopedics at Weiss are experts in treating disorders and injuries of the hip.

Relieve your Pain and Restore your Mobility.

The hip joint is a weight-bearing joint that undergoes a lot of stress during daily activities. If you experience hip pain, it can affect your ability to walk, bend, stoop, and kneel. If left untreated, chronic hip pain can lead to avoidance of normal daily activities and even disability.

If joint pain is affecting your quality of life, contact us to evaluate how well your knee or hip joints are functioning and learn about options to manage joint pain.

Are you suffering from a hip injury or fracture leading to pain and lack of mobility? Whether caused by a degenerative joint disease such as osteoarthritis or by trauma, the orthopedic specialists at Weiss Memorial Hospital can provide treatment to relieve your pain and restore your mobility.

The Chicago Center for Orthopedics at Weiss offers highly trained orthopedic surgeons, therapists and pain specialists to provide top quality treatment for your hip condition. Treatment options include advanced technologies and techniques, including minimally invasive hip replacement surgery and nonsurgical options.

Don’t suffer any longer. Get the comprehensive care you need from one of the top orthopedic specialists at Weiss. For an appointment with a Weiss orthopedic specialist, call 773-564-7770.

Common Causes of Hip Pain

Normal wear and tear or injury to the hip joint can lead to osteoarthritis, the most common cause of hip pain. Osteoarthritis most often affects people over the age of 40 and is also known as degenerative joint disease. With osteoarthritis, the cartilage between your hip bones wears away, causing the bones to rub against each other. Another common cause of hip pain is bursitis, what happens when a bursa becomes inflamed. A bursa is a small, fluid-filled sac that acts as a cushion between a bone and other moving parts: muscles, tendons, or skin.

A much less common cause of hip pain is inflammatory arthritis, known as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA can affect multiple joints in your body, as well as other organs. RA is an inflammatory disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of function in the joints. It occurs when the immune system, which normally defends the body from invading organisms, attacks the membrane lining the joints.

Weiss Orthopedic specialists are experts in the treatment of many common hip injuries and diseases and conditions that affect the hip.

Treatment Approaches to Hip Pain

• Exercise
• Weight control
• Rest and relief from stress on joints
• Nondrug pain relief techniques and alternative therapies
• Medications to control pain
• Surgery– arthroscopy for the removal of loose pieces of bone and cartilage from the joint
  – osteotomy or repositioning of bones
  – joint resurfacing (smoothing out) bones or joint replacement

Joint replacement advances in recent years have included the ability, in some cases, to replace only the damaged part of the joint, leaving undamaged parts of the joint intact, and the ability to perform hip replacement through much smaller incisions than previously possible.

Is Surgery Right for My Hip Pain?

For many people, surgery helps relieve hip pain. The decision to use surgery depends on several factors. You and your doctor will discuss your age, level of disability, pain intensity and the degree to which arthritis interferes with your lifestyle. Weiss orthopedic surgeons and nurses understand that you have a variety of goals for your surgery, including reducing pain, regaining mobility, improving quality of life and regaining the ability to participate in work and recreational activities.

Weiss Specialists offer state-of-the-art treatment for hip pain, including:

• Hip Arthroscopy
• Femur Fracture Repair
• Hip Dislocation Repair
• Total Hip Replacement

Hip Arthroscopy

With a small incision, a surgeon can insert a pencil-sized optical device into the hip joint to see into the joint and correct problems.

Femur Fracture

A hip fracture is a break in the femur (thigh bone) of the hip joint. The hip joint is a “ball and socket” joint where the femur meets the pelvic bone. The ball part of the hip joint is the head of the femur, and the socket is a cup-like structure in the pelvic bone. Hip fracture is a serious injury and requires immediate medical attention.

About 90 percent of hip fractures happen to people over age 60. The incidence of hip fractures increases with age, doubling for each decade after age 50. Osteoporosis (loss of bone tissue) is a disease that weakens bones.

Women are more prone to osteoporosis than men; therefore, hip fracture is more common among women. They experience about 80 percent of all hip fractures. More than 1.5 million Americans have fractures annually because of osteoporosis.

Symptoms

• hip pain and/or pain that can be felt in the knee
• low back pain
• inability to stand or walk
• bruising or swelling
• foot turned out at an odd angle, making the leg look shorter

Treatment

A fracture of the hip is generally treated with surgery. Your doctor may use metal devices to strengthen and stabilize the joint. In some situations, a total hip replacement may be performed. The type of surgical repair will depend upon the type of hip fracture. Your doctor will determine the best procedure for you, based on your individual situation.

Hip Dislocation Repair

A dislocated hip is an emergency that requires immediate treatment. It occurs when a great amount of force pushes the head of the thighbone (femur) out of its socket into the hip bone (pelvis). In approximately 90% of cases, the thighbone is pushed out of its socket in a backwards direction (posterior dislocation). The hip then becomes bent and twisted toward the middle of the body. Hip dislocations most commonly occur from motor vehicle accidents and falls, but can also be a complication of hip replacement surgery.

Symptoms

• severe pain
• inability to move one leg
• no feeling in the foot or ankle (a result of nerve damage)

Treatment

The first step is usually to try and reposition the hip joint by applying force to the leg without surgery. Called a closed reduction of the hip replacement, it is performed under anesthesia.

If the dislocation occurs with additional damage such as a fracture, or involves a hip implant, an open reduction surgery may be needed. In this procedure surgeons must go in and manipulate the femur and hip and/or reposition the implants.

Total Hip Replacement

Joint replacement, also called arthroplasty, is a surgical procedure to replace a damaged joint with a prosthesis, or artificial joint. This surgery may be considered following a hip fracture (breaking of the bone) or for someone who has severe arthritis, though the most common condition needing a hip replacement to relieve symptoms is arthritis.

The following are the various forms of arthritis that can occur:

• osteoarthritis, a degenerative, joint disease that affects mostly middle-aged and older adults, causes the breakdown of joint cartilage and adjacent bone in the hips
• rheumatoid arthritis, which causes inflammation of the synovial membrane and results in excessive synovial fluid, can lead to pain and stiffness
• traumatic arthritis, arthritis due to injury, can cause damage to the articular cartilage of the hip

Symptoms

• bone fracture from a fall or injury
• joint soreness after inactivity or periods of overuse of a joint
• joint pain which increases with activity throughout the day
• muscle atrophy around joints caused by inactivity can increase pain
• pain and stiffness affecting posture, coordination and ability to walk
• pain in the groin, inner thigh, or buttocks and a pronounced limp

Treatment

• anti-inflammatory medications
• pain medications
• limiting painful activities
• assistive devices for walking (such as a cane)
• physical therapy
• hip replacement surgery
• Surgery and Prostheses

A traditional hip replacement involves an incision (cut) about 10 to 12 inches long over the hip joint. Newer approaches are being developed that use one or two smaller incisions to perform the procedure, called minimal incision hip replacement or minimally invasive hip replacement.