Hip Pain Injections

Your hip joints are ball-and-socket joints that are connected to the pelvis. They allow for movement from your upper legs and are responsible for supporting the weight of the human body. Your hip joints are the largest weight-bearing joints. The “ball” part of the hip joint is covered in cartilage. This cartilage absorbs the body’s shocks from everyday movement. But with regular wear and tear, the cartilage can be worn down and damaged, causing pain.  

When pain is experienced in the hip joints, it may be due to several reasons. However, the pain can make it difficult to participate in daily activity. Lack of mobility may prevent you from living a fully functioning life. Individuals suffering from hip pain should seek treatment from a trained medical professional. Symptoms of hip pain to look out for are: 

• Lack of mobility 
• Stiffness 
• Limping 
• Swelling in the hip 

The type of pain you experience in your hips and the location can determine the type of damage you may have experienced or an underlying health condition. Hip pain can radiate to other regions of your body as well, such as your outer hips, groin, and upper thighs. An effective treatment that your doctor may recommend are hip injections. A hip injection can help relieve pain and operate as a diagnosis for your cause of pain.  

How Do Hip Injections Work?

A hip injection is a therapeutic approach to treating your pain symptoms. The injection is a solution of steroid (cortisone) and anesthetic. A hip injection can provide relief from your pain symptoms when directly administered to your hip joint. Inflammation pain is reduced and the pain subsides.

Hip Injections: What To Expect

Injections for hip pain management can accomplish many things. First, Hip Injections can operate in a diagnostic fashion and also operate as a treatment. When receiving a hip injection, the speed in which the anesthetic provides relief can confirm if that area of the hip join is the source of pain. The steroid present in the medication may take a few days to become fully effective, but if the patient is able to maintain relief from their symptoms, the injection can be determined to be successful.  

The procedure is performed in a sterile environment. You will be positioned according to the location of your pain. The injection site will be cleansed using betadine or alcohol. Your physician will anesthetize your skin using local anesthetic. A small needle with medication will deliver the anesthetic to the site of pain. You may experience pressure at the site. The process may take up to 15 minutes to administer. You may begin to notice immediate relief, but it may take a day or two for the medication to take full effect.  

The nerves, muscles, and tissue surround the affected area of the hip are bathed in the solution from the injection, reducing inflammation and pain. This allows patients to experience better mobility and help them return to a fully functioning life. Some patients may even benefit from the short term relief because it allows them to participate in physical therapy (another treatment method for hip pain) for long term relief.  

What Conditions Do Hip Injections Treat

Because the hip joints are responsible for movement in your body, it is important to receive treatment when pain symptoms are no longer manageable. This will prevent long-term, permanent damage from occurring. Injections for hip pain can help alleviate many symptoms associated from other underlying health conditions: Some of these conditions include: 

• Arthritis: A degenerative disease where the cartilage in the joints becomes thin and causes inflammation 
• Bursitis: When the small fluid filled sacs that cushion the bones and joints become inflamed 
• Muscle or tendon strain: Usually occurring from regular wear and tear 
• Hip labral tear

Immediately after an injection for hip pain, a patient may also experience a temporary increase in pain before the anesthetic is experienced. You will need to take precautions to not overexert yourself and injure the injection site. You will also be asked not to sit in any pools or tubs for 48 hours after the injection to prevent infection. The steroid medication may take 2-3 days to start having a full effect. Patients can use an ice pack applied to the area to alleviate any discomfort.  

Pain and Spine Specialists offers progressive treatments like X-Ray guided fluoroscopy injections for hip pain, as well as other therapeutic approaches. Our experienced and skilled medical professionals can help establish effective treatments to help reduce your pain symptoms to improve the quality of your life. You can call (301) 703-8767 (Pain Management Maryland locations), (724) 603-3560 (Pain Management Pennsylvania locations), or (540) 433-1905 (Pain Management Virginia locations) and schedule an appointment today.