When you have hip pain, even walking can be difficult. Everyday activities such as climbing steps or standing from a seated position can be a challenge, and sports and recreation activities can feel impossible. MU Health Care is here to help you get back to doing the activities you love.
Our team is made up of experts who specialize in hip joint health and offer surgical and nonsurgical treatment options. From diagnosis through prevention and treatment, our specialists are committed to guiding you through options to relieve your pain and restore your function and quality of life. At MU Health Care, our team approach includes many different specialists, such as musculoskeletal radiologists, sports medicine doctors, joint reconstruction specialists and physical therapy and rehabilitation experts, all working together to find and treat the cause of your hip pain.
We also use scientific innovation and research to improve the care you receive. As part of mid-Missouri's only academic medical system, our team is made up of global leaders in evidence-based patient care. These experts constantly pursue better and more effective techniques, treatments and strategies aimed at restoring and preserving hip joint health and function.
Hip Pain Causes
Although arthritis is the most recognized cause for hip pain, our team is focused on early recognition, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the hip conditions that lead to arthritis, including:
- Hip dysplasia, or improper development of the hip joint
- Hip impingement, or pinching and restricted motion in the joint due to abnormalities in the ball (femoral head) or socket (acetabulum), also called femoroacetabular impingement (FAI)
- Muscle injuries, tendon tears and overuse injuries
Hip Preservation
Our team uses hip preservation strategies to provide you with options that don't replace your hip joint. These treatment options restore function to your natural hip after injuries, accidents and developmental or overuse problems. These treatments include nonsurgical and surgical options designed to keep your hip joint healthy and working well. Although some patients may eventually need artificial hip replacement surgery, our goal is to preserve the function of your natural hip for as long as possible.
Our hip preservation options are patient-specific, so our team of hip preservation specialists will work directly with you to get a definitive diagnosis for your hip pain and learn about your treatment goals. These conversations will include discussing all the available options to help you decide if you need specialized physical therapy, joint injections, arthroscopic repair, hip joint reconstruction or biologic resurfacing surgeries. All of these treatment options are evidence-based procedures that are covered by health insurance and performed regularly by our experienced team of experts.
Nonsurgical Hip Pain Treatments
Our hip preservation experts will work with you to diagnose your hip problem and determine if nonsurgical treatment options can effectively address your hip problem.
- Physical therapy. Moving through specific exercises under observation from a physical therapist (PT) can help you address muscle strength imbalances, damaged muscles and tendons, muscles that are too tight or muscles that don’t provide enough support.
- Blood flow restriction therapy. An extension of physical therapy, blood flow restriction therapy is a leading-edge therapy that — as part of a personalized physician- and PT-guided rehabilitation program — can increase muscle strength with less strain on joints, relieving pain and improving function.
- Nutrition and exercise support. An imbalance in body weight and strength can overload the hip joints and cause pain. For those who aren't at an ideal body weight, nutrition and exercise programs can significantly ease hip pain and improve joint health and function. As part of our hip preservation program, MU Health Care offers a Joint Health Program that provides guidance and support from start to finish, tailored to each patient's goals for body condition, lifestyle and activity level.
Our hip preservation team also includes doctors and nurse practitioners who have specialized training in injection treatments for hip pain. Using image guidance, our specialists can apply anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving and tissue repair medications and biologics to the targeted area to address problems in and around the hip joint.
Surgical Treatments for Hip Pain
Hip Arthroscopy
Hip arthroscopy can help you if you have sustained damage to the tissues around the hip joint or have minor deformities to the hip bone structure. This is a minimally invasive surgery done with a camera and small incisions. During the surgery, your surgeon repairs tissue or reshapes the joint to restore function and delay the development of arthritis in the joint. Your surgeon
will use specialized tools to remove bone deformities, repair damaged tissues and stimulate tissue repair.
Hip Osteotomy
If you have hip pain due to a structural deformity (hip dysplasia or FAI), our orthopaedic surgeons can realign and reshape the hip joint to improve its health and function and prevent further damage. Different types of hip osteotomy all your surgeon to move the bones on either side of your hip and hold the bones in the correct position with surgical implants to create a better ball-and-socket joint. These procedures can reduce your risk of needing an artificial hip replacement in the future.
Hip Replacement Surgery
If your hip cartilage is significantly damaged, or hip preservation techniques have not fully restored your function and arthritis has set in, hip replacement may be the most appropriate surgery. During this surgery, your damaged joint is replaced with an artificial joint.
There are multiple hip surgery techniques, and your doctor will talk to you about these options.
Learn more about hip replacement surgery
Hip Pain Care at MU Health Care
At MU Health Care, our hip experts are recognized as leaders in caring for hip pain. Our surgeons, nurses, physical therapists, patient care coordinator and researchers work together to make sure that you receive the best possible care tailored to your individual needs.
Related Conditions & Treatments
- Chiropractic Care
- DEXA (DXA) Scan
- Elbow Pain and Injuries
- Foot and Ankle Pain
- Bone Health Program
- Hand and Wrist Pain
- Hip Pain
- Joint Health Program
- Knee Pain
- Limb Preservation Center
- Orthopaedic Oncology
- Orthopaedic Rehabilitation
- Orthopaedic Trauma
- Pediatric Orthopaedics
- Physical Therapy
- Regenerative Orthopaedics
- Sarcomas
- Shoulder Pain and Injuries
- Spine Care & Back Pain Treatment
- Sports Medicine
