Hip Arthritis Pain Treatment

Arthritis in the hip joint is one of the most prevalent types of arthritis. It can be debilitating to suffer arthritis in hips because of the limitations it puts on your flexibility and mobility. But you don’t have to suffer. Seek out effective arthritis in hip treatment that not only eases your pain, but also helps strengthen your hip joints. Stem cell therapy is an alternative hip arthritis treatment.

Since your hips form the foundation of your torso, many factors — including your weight, regular wear and tear, your age or an unexpected injury — can eventually lead to arthritis in the hip. This condition compromises your quality of life and can cause constant pain. If you’re suffering from arthritis in hips, seek experienced medical help from a NYC pain management specialist like Dr. Leon Reyfman.

Although you should always start with the most conservative, least invasive forms of hip arthritis treatment available, many traditional treatments only mask your symptoms or require a lengthy time commitment. Stem cell therapy for hip arthritis, while relatively conservative, is the only hip arthritis treatment that targets the underlying causes for this condition.

Painful Symptoms of Hip Arthritis

The symptoms you may experience from arthritis of the hip include:

• Pain in your hip, possibly accompanied by pain in your groin, outer thigh, buttocks and knee
• Pain that’s typically worse in the morning and lessens with daily activity
• A catching or clicking sound within your hip
• Difficulty walking or walking with a limp
• Pain that often worsens after vigorous or extended activity
• Stiffness in your hip or a limited range of motion
• Fatigue and weakness, in some types of arthritis in the hips

Your NYC stem cell specialist takes into consideration all your symptoms. He examines you to measure your mobility and gait, as well as how you carry your weight. He may order scans such as X-rays or MRIs. Occasionally, you need to have a blood test to determine what specific kind of arthritis you have.

Types of Arthritis in Hips

There are five main types of arthritis of the hip. Each type has its own causes and treatments, and they don’t always share symptoms. Your NYC stem cell specialist considers each during your examination:

1. The most common form of arthritis, this involves the wearing away of the cartilage between the ball and socket of your hip joint. The cartilage provides a smooth surface for your joint’s movement. The cartilage wears away occurs when you have structural problems, advancing age, obesity, infection, or previous damage or injury to your joint.
2. Rheumatoid arthritis. If you have this immune system response, it can cause swelling in the synovial lining of your hip. This lining is a fluid-filled capsule surrounding your hip. If inflamed, it can cause pain and mobility issues. Over time, the inflammation can cause deterioration in the bone and cartilage of your hip. This type of arthritis usually occurs in both hips at the same time.
3. Ankylosing spondylitis. This form of arthritis involves chronic inflammation of your spine and the sacroiliac joint, which is where your spine meets your pelvis. The inflammation can spread down to your hip, increasing the chance of damage and loss of cartilage.
4. Systemic lupus erythematosus. Another autoimmune disorder, this condition can affect all parts of your body. Joints become inflamed, which can damage the surrounding cartilage and bone.

Psoriatic arthritis. This form of arthritis is associated with the skin disease psoriasis. In addition to the skin issues, joints can swell, become stiff and painful. Psoriatic arthritis can affect any joint in your body, including your hips.

Hip Arthritis Treatment Options

Arthritis in the hips is a degenerative condition that has no known permanent cure. But you have access to treatment options that help you manage your symptoms and continue to lead a relatively active lifestyle. Arthritis in hip treatment options include:

• Rest
• Losing weight
• A diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids
• Compresses: heat for stiffness, cold for swelling
• Stretching
• Low impact exercising, such as yoga, tai chi, stationary biking and swimming
• Over-the-counter or prescription pain medications
• Alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, hydrotherapy, massage and supplements, including:
  • Capsaicin
  • Glucosamine
  • Chondroitin sulfate
  • Gamma linolenic acid
  • Ginger
• Walking aids to reduce pressure on your hip
• Steroid injections
• Stem cell therapy
• Surgery

Most options have positive and negative aspects associated with the outcome. Getting the rest you need, losing weight, applying compresses, stretching and low-impact exercises are generally most effective for your arthritis when it’s in its mildest stages. Meanwhile, supplements and medications carry various risks to your digestive system, while becoming less effective over time.

Because steroids can cause tendon ruptures or bone weakening, you can only receive so many injections in a year. Surgery has its own inherent risks from the anesthesia, infection, pain and recovery. One treatment option, though, shows definite promise for helping with the underlying causes of some forms of arthritis: stem cell therapy.

Your Stem Cell Therapy Options

Most arthritis in hip treatments just mask your symptoms until the condition gets bad enough to require the most aggressive option: surgery. Stem cells, on the other hand, are immature cells located in your bone marrow. They are your body’s natural healing mechanisms. It’s stem cells that heal everything from cuts and bruises to breaks and infections. Over time, though, your body gets less effective moving your stem cells to sites of injury.

By harvesting these cells from your body, adding stimulating growth factors and injecting them directly into your area of pain, your NYC stem cell specialist is harnessing the most natural form of therapy you can access: your own. There’s virtually no risk of infection or reaction from this procedure. The benefits of stem cell therapy for arthritis in hips include:

• A targeted approach that leaves surrounding tissue unaffected
• A next-day recovery time with minimal bruising and pain
• A more cost-effective procedure, compared to surgery
• Using your own stem cells to treat the underlying cause of the arthritis
• An outcome that helps rebuild cartilage, bone and even fluid