![]() Hip pain can be uncomfortable, but how do you know whether it’s a “weekend warrior” injury that will subside in a few days or something more serious? One of the first signs that your hip problem might require medical attention is how long it lasts. How Do You Know If Your Hip Pain Is Serious? And, sometimes pain that feels like it’s due to hip issues is actually caused by injuries, diseases, or conditions in other parts of your body, including your lower back. Generally speaking, however, a problem that’s stemming from the hip will cause pain in the groin area or the inside of the hip.Ĭonversely, pain that affects the upper thigh, outer buttock muscles or the outside of the hip is more than likely a problem with a tendon, ligament, muscle, or other soft tissue that surrounds the hip rather than the joint itself. What Are the First Signs of Hip Problems?īecause the hip joint is a connecting point for bones, muscles, ligaments, and other connective tissues, it may be difficult to tell whether your pain is stemming from your hip itself. Here’s what you need to know, and whether you should consider seeking treatment. The hip is a large joint that helps support your body and all of its supporting structures, so this means there are plenty of causes of hip pain. If you're having hip pain, though, it may be the only thing on your mind. Proper nutrition, including Vitamin D and calcium, may help promote the healing process and rebuilding of bone.If your hips are healthy, you probably don't think about them very often. Water exercises may be helpful not only because they ease movement, but also because they relieve weight bearing. To help maintain strength and flexibility in the muscles supporting your hip, your doctor may also recommend a series of exercises that you can do as the pain lessens. Using crutches, a cane, a walker, or other walking aid, will help relieve the stress of weightbearing on the affected hip, and may prevent a fracture of the temporarily weakened bone. Your doctor may advise you to temporarily limit or eliminate weightbearing activities. Drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen may relieve pain and inflammation. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (NSAIDs).Because of this, MRI is one of the most useful studies to help diagnose the condition.īecause transient osteoporosis goes away on its own, treatment focuses on minimizing symptoms and preventing any damage to the bones while they are weakened by the disorder. In bone marrow edema, the bone marrow is inflamed and full of fluid.Īn MRI scan of a hip affected by transient osteoporosis will usually reveal bone marrow edema. Bone marrow is a spongy substance that produces blood cells and is located in the hollow part of long bones. One of the most common signs of transient osteoporosis of the hip is bone marrow edema. However, blood tests are often very helpful in ruling out other causes of hip pain, such as metabolic (nutritional) disorders, endocrine (hormonal) disorders, and metastatic disease (cancer). Currently there is no blood test that helps to diagnose this disorder. Generally, MRI is safe to obtain in pregnancy, although you should discuss this with your orthopaedic surgeon, your primary doctor, and your obstetrician if you are considering this test. If you are pregnant, your doctor may decide to delay imaging studies until the last stages of your pregnancy, or even until after the delivery. A DEXA scan is a study that tests for general bone density, and while it is the gold standard in testing for age-related osteoporosis, it is not effective in diagnosing transient osteoporosis of the hip.) (A nuclear medicine bone scan should not be confused with a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. MRI scans provide clear images of the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) around the hip.Ī nuclear medicine bone scan can more clearly show changes in bone caused by infection or injury. Because X-rays may not show bone loss until the condition is well-advanced, your doctor may order other types of imaging tests to identify the cause of your symptoms.Ĭomputed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can provide more detailed images. Reproduced from Korompilias AV, Karantanas AH, Lykissas MG, Beris AE: Transient osteoporosis.
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