Arthritis in the hip is a condition that affects millions of Americans every year. With every step in walking, the hip has to absorb more than one times body weight due to the pressure of going through the joint as it supports all the person's weight and then some with each step. Due to either genetics, or an accident with post-traumatic arthritis, or just repetitive use, arthritis may set in one or both hips, making every day difficult for patients to simply get around, much less participate in activities such as tennis, golf, skiing, or whichever recreational activities the patient likes to accomplish.
Although a hip replacement represents one of the top 5 quality of life improving procedures in the world, there are significant risks associate with the procedure. One is the significant incidence of needing a secondary procedure within the next 10 to 15 years. A hip replacement revision has results that are not nearly as good as a primary surgery. Therefore either avoiding or pushing back the time necessary for hip replacement in the 1st place is a good idea.
1. The 1st method involves simply living with the pain. If the pain is not incapacitating and it is bearable on a daily basis, this treatment option is simply called benign neglect. A person who is really active with an activity such as jogging may also utilize activity modification, which means either limiting the activity, or switching over to an activity that can be tolerated, in this case that might be swimming. At the end of the day, surgery for hip arthritis is truly a quality of life decision. As the arthritis is not going to ever be fatal it's not mandatory for patient to have surgery. In this case, all legitimate nonsurgical methods should be tried prior to opting for the joint replacement.
2. Weight loss - being overweight places significant stress on the hip joints. This may either enhance the formation of arthritis, or exacerbate existing arthritis pain. Losing weight can decrease this extra pressure, hence decreasing the amount of pain the patient is experiencing.
3. Physical therapy - PT can strengthen the muscles surrounding the hip joint, thereby converting pressure off of the hip joint into those muscles, and reduce the pain the patient is experiencing. This may allow surgery to either be avoided or severely delayed by getting the patient into shape, specifically around the arthritic joint.
4. Tylenol and anti-inflammatories - these medications are predominantly over-the-counter. They can be extremely effective, especially if taken within the manufacturers dosing recommendations. That way there's a low incidence of causing problems with either the liver, kidneys, or the gastrointestinal tract. Special care should be taken not to combine different anti-inflammatories at the same time and also not to take them with prednisone, as this can lead to an ulcer. These medications may allow patients to significantly push back the need for a joint replacement and make them much more functional.
5. Hip injections - injections into the arthritic hip can substantially benefit with pain relief. Typically these injections consist of cortisone material, which does not alter the course of arthritis. It merely provides a hefty dose of pain relief which can give the patient weeks to months of analgesia. There are some new regenerative medicine substances, such as those made from amniotic fluid, which do have the potential to help replenish some of the lost cartilage. These are in research status currently.
These 5 options may help patients significantly push back the need for hip replacement and make them much more functional at the same time.
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