Nobody wants to deal with any type of pain, especially when it affects your mobility. Hip pain is especially hard to deal with because of the role your hips play in your daily life. Even with conservative treatment, your hips may continue to cause problems. So what can you do?
That’s where SportsMED Orthopedic Surgery & Spine Center comes in. Our skilled orthopedic surgeons can help you figure out what’s causing your hip issues and give you a personalized treatment plan to address your symptoms. In some cases, this means surgical intervention.
Common causes of hip pain
Like many parts of your body, your hip is involved in most of your daily endeavors. When you suffer an injury, or have degenerative disease in your joint, it can throw a wrench in your life.
Understanding the causes of your pain can help you figure out when you might need surgery. Common causes of hip discomfort that may require surgery include:
- Osteoarthritis
- Fractures
- Bursitis
- Damaged cartilage
- Dislocations
- Labral tears
Impingement syndrome in your hip can also require surgical intervention. This is caused by repeated motion of the hip joint, causing cartilage damage and symptoms that include pain in your groin area, pain when you walk, and decreased range of motion in your hip.
No matter what’s causing your hip pain, you want pain relief as soon as possible. If other treatments aren’t relieving your symptoms, surgery may be an option, depending on your condition and its severity.
Are you a candidate for surgery?
Many factors go into deciding if surgery is right for you, including your current health, the condition of your hip, and your medical history. Sometimes, other conditions need to be taken care of before you can undergo the anesthesia needed to perform surgery.
Surgery is usually the last resort, because it’s invasive. Procedures like a total hip replacement involve cutting into tissue and bone, leaving your body vulnerable to infection. We take this into account before offering up surgery as a viable option.
The cause of your hip problems also helps our surgeons determine what type of surgery may be right for you. There are several types of hip surgery, and understanding them can help you decide if you want to take the next step and undergo a surgical procedure to get rid of your pain.
Types of hip surgery
If our surgeons suggest hip surgery, there are several things they go over with you, including the type of surgery that’s best for your condition. Here are the different types of hip surgery and what each entails:
Total hip replacement
This procedure is used if you’ve suffered a broken hip or have a severe form of arthritis. Our surgeons remove the damaged bone from your hip, and replace both the ball joint and socket of your hip with prosthetics. The prosthetics are made from materials like plastic and metal.
Hemiarthroplasty
A hemiarthroplasty is just the medical term for a partial hip replacement. This can also be done if you suffer a fracture or have severe pain from arthritis. In this surgery, only one part of your hip is replaced. Our surgeons remove the damaged part and replace it with a prosthetic.
Hip pinning
A hip pinning surgery is usually performed if you suffer a broken hip that can be fixed without a replacement. We realign the bones in your hip that were broken and stabilize them with pins, screws, or plates.
Hip arthroscopy
This procedure is a minimally invasive surgery that our surgeons use to help diagnose your hip condition. They use a small instrument called an arthroscope to see inside your joint. This not only allows them to diagnose the issue, but possibly to treat the problem.
If you’re plagued by hip pain, call us at one of our four convenient locations in Huntsville, Madison, Athens, and Decatur, Alabama, or request your appointment online.