When one of the largest joints in the body starts to act up, discomfort and reduced mobility come a-knocking.
While many of us take it for granted, the hip joint plays a hugely critical role in movement and the support of our body weight.
For a whole number of reasons, from overuse when playing sports to not moving the body enough (especially when sitting at a desk all day, every day!), the hip can flare up and bring our daily activities to a halt.
It’s not uncommon either. The hips are one of the five most common sites of chronic pain that people experience.
So you’re definitely not alone if the pain strikes. But to counteract this and get the hip back fighting fit, we’ve outlined some of the very best non-surgical hip pain remedies and why hip pain treatment without surgery is possible.
What Is Hip Pain?
Hip pain is an umbrella term, used to cover pain in and around the general hip area, extending as far as the groin or thigh.
Due to the sheer amount of movement expected of our bodies every day, and the typical aging process, pain in this area is common.
In fact, 14.3% of adults aged 60+ experience significant hip pain.
Aside from the natural process of aging, there are lots of other causes of hip pain.
Common Causes
Hip pain is most often a symptom of one of the following conditions:
Sprain or strain
A sprain/strain is caused by overstretching (or even tearing) ligaments in and around the hip.
There are several potential causes, ranging from excessive repeated use, not warming up properly before physical activity, and/or direct trauma to the hip.
Osteoarthritis
This is a degenerative joint disease, where tissues in and around a joint gradually deteriorate. It’s most commonly found in the hips, knees, hands, and back.
Many people attribute this to wear and tear of joints, but it’s (in fact) due to structural changes in body tissue. However, certain factors can increase your likelihood of experiencing osteoarthritis, including but not limited to old age, excessive weight, repetitive overuse, and genetics.
Rheumatoid arthritis
This form of arthritis develops when the immune system attacks healthy body tissue in the joints. It’s not yet understood what triggers it.
Fracture
This refers to a break or cracks in a bone that usually occur because of trauma or the application of excessive force. Nearly 76,000 people experience a hip fracture each year in the UK.
Infection
When bacteria, viruses, or fungi enter bone tissue and reproduce, this creates an infection. An infection sometimes develops after bone surgery (though it can start elsewhere in the body and spread to the bone/s).
Bursitis
This is inflammation of the bursae, fluid-filled sacs in a joint that reduces friction. Bursitis can develop from repeated pressure on a certain area of the hip, i.e. after undertaking repeated activities like standing, walking, or climbing stairs.
Labral tear
A labral tear is an injury to the labrum (a ring of cartilage inside the hip joint.) It’s usually the result of an underlying problem in the hips that puts added strain on the labrum, though it’s sometimes due to trauma or a sports injury.
Is Hip Pain Serious
Although hip pain should be taken seriously, it could be an indicator of several different ailments, so should also be treated with caution and without coming to any rash judgment.
The kind of hip pain you may experience varies greatly. Any issues relating to the hip joint or bone itself will manifest as pain inside the hip or groin. Any problems with ligaments, tendons, or muscles connected to the hip will present themselves as pain in the upper thigh or bottom.
If you begin to experience hip pain, or any pre-existing pain worsens, you should seek professional medical advice as soon as possible.
Some questions a medical professional might ask at a consultation include:
- Where is the pain?
- When and how did the pain start?
- Does the pain move around or come and go?
- What makes the pain better or worse?
Why Choose Non-surgical Hip Pain Treatments?
Surgery is usually only required when the hip injury is severe or if a replacement is necessary.
Medical professionals will be able to tell you whether your pain would fit the usual criteria for surgery. For many, this simply isn’t a viable option.
In elderly patients, surgery can present several risks. To put it plainly, the older a patient is, the more susceptible they are to potential complications post-procedure.
This is typically because of weakened areas in the body or pre-existing health conditions (as a result of aging) that might mean a patient can’t bounce back as quickly after surgery. Such conditions include increased blood pressure, diabetes, lung disease, and dementia.
Not only can recovering from surgery be difficult, but recovery after anesthesia is also harder among older people.
There is a higher risk of postoperative delirium - a temporary state of confusion after surgery, which can have a delayed manifestation - and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) - a condition that can cause longer-lasting problems like memory loss and short attention span.
In short, non-surgical hip pain remedies can help soothe your pain with the added benefits of:
- Little to no risks
- No waiting times to start the healing process
- No recovery periods where you have to take time off work and be absent
- Can take control of your own health
- Most are non-invasive
- Often much cheaper to begin or carry out hip pain treatment without surgery
Whether surgery is right or not for you can be determined via a joint discussion with your healthcare professional.
Common Non-surgical Treatment Options
Non-surgical remedies have many benefits. For anyone paying for their healthcare, budget is the most obvious first positive, though notions of quicker improvement/return to normality and no prescribed recovery window are also high on the list.
Lifestyle Adjustments
Perhaps the most immediate changes that can be made are to a person’s lifestyle, particularly their diet and physical activity.
Since carrying excess weight puts unnecessary stress on the hips and knees, losing some weight and concentrating on eating a balanced diet can begin to make a difference very quickly.
General movement is a great way to utilize the full motion of the hip area (there’s a reason they say ‘use it or lose it!’) but increased physical activity is also great for…
- Burning calories
- Boosting circulation (also promoting healing)
- Improving weight distribution in the body and on the joints
- Enabling mindfulness - generally but also because the hips have been claimed to be ‘a potential storage vessel of emotions’
Stretches And Exercise
Stretches are brilliant for the body. Incorporating gentle hip exercises into your pre-existing schedule doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming.
It’s important to harness stretching to target all key areas: hip flexors (front), abductors (side), and external rotators (back).
Read our handy guide on 7 of the best exercises when faced with hip pain or mobility problems.
Whatever stretches and exercises you do try, remember to test them first at a slow speed, making sure to have the correct form to ensure your safety. They should be controlled movements too, so as to not put any further sudden strain on the joint.
Tailor any activities you do have in speed and frequency to suit your lifestyle and your pain.
If any exercises increase your pain, consult a medical professional before continuing further.
Physical Therapy
As much as we like to fix issues on our own, sometimes it’s best to consult the experts.
Ahead of getting started, a physical therapist will conduct a thorough assessment of your pain and will gather all the necessary information to provide you with a plan that is perfect for you.
This could include education around the condition, strategies for self-management and prevention of future issues, as well as functional training so you can regain the ability to perform daily activities with ease.
Medication And Injections
There are always the common over-the-counter medications that can subside pain. However, these can have addictive traits, meaning prolonged use should be avoided.
Analgesics can be used topically to help temporarily from the outside. And some people turn to hydrocortisone injections to help with joint pain.
The hydrocortisone (a kind of steroid) is injected straight into the joint of concern and it relieves pain and swelling there for a few months.
These can only be accessed via prescription. It’s important to know, though, that these injections can affect the immune system so should be avoided by those who are already immunocompromised.
For specific hip issues, injection options are also available to specifically target bursitis and osteoarthritis.
Does Red Light Therapy Help With Hip Pain?
Red light therapy helps with hip pain and is one of the best non-surgical hip pain remedies.
It uses specific wavelengths of light to allow healing, pain reduction, and the improvement of movement.
When the red light is applied, it triggers the production of ATP, leading to improved cellular metabolism - meaning your body’s natural healing abilities are sped up, to bring you quicker relief.
With certain hip conditions, like bursitis, arthritis, or an injury, inflammation can be present in the area. This lowers the ability to move properly, brings on pain, and can even cause chronic diseases.
Red light has anti-inflammatory effects due to the modulation of cellular processes and immune responses.
For those with arthritis in the hip:
Researchers from the University of Ottawa reviewed five placebo-controlled studies that examined the effects of red light therapy on Rheumatoid arthritis patients. [1]
The researchers found:
- Red light therapy reduced pain by 70%
- Red light therapy reduced morning stiffness by 27.5 minutes
How Does Red Light Therapy Help With Pain Management?
One of the most well-documented and widely recognized benefits of light therapy is its pain-relieving capabilities.
It promotes the body’s natural pain-killing endorphins, which can bring relief after surgery or if you’re struggling with chronic pain.
Light therapy also helps block pain signal transmission through two actions: it alters nerve cell membrane permeability to sodium ions, and it modifies nerve thresholds, making nerves less excitable to pain stimuli.
Due to the reduced nerve irritation and short-term endorphin release, a rapid reduction in pain can be felt with the use of red light therapy.
How to Incorporate Red Light Therapy Into Your Daily Routine
As soon as you feel the twinge of pain in your hip, or even before, you can begin to integrate red light therapy into your daily routine.
Kineon’s MOVE+ Pro can be used daily and ideally in 15-minute sessions. To get into the habit of using the device, weave it into your morning or nighttime routine.
It’s super easy to set up and you can even move around and complete errands whilst it’s working in the background. You simply need to:
- Adjust the strap to be as tight or as wide as you need and click the 3 modules into place.
- Then, press and hold the power button to choose a treatment time from 5 - 15 mins.
- The device will vibrate when the treatment is finished. It’s as easy as that!
There’ll be a user manual to help with any burning questions and support whenever you need it.
You’ll also have access to our online community via a private Facebook group where people worldwide help one another through a journey of recovery.
Get started with the MOVE+ Pro for the ultimate non-surgical hip pain remedy.
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