Does Hip Pain Always Worsen with Age?

Hip pain is common in older adults, affecting up to 15% of people over the age of 60 at any given time. However, hip pain can affect anyone at any age, and is more likely you’ve suffered a traumatic injury or other type of damage to your hip joint.

When your hips hurt, you may find yourself avoiding or curtailing your normal daily activities. If the pain is chronic, you may wonder if it will ever go away — or if it will just get worse.

At McPhilamy Bone and Joint in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, our fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon Dr. Austin McPhilamy wants your hips to feel comfortable and mobile no matter what your age or situation. 

If you have hip pain today, you may be able to take steps to prevent it from progressing and getting worse tomorrow. Here’s what you should know. 

What caused your hip pain?

Before you can figure out what to do about your hip pain, you should know what’s causing it. If you’ve lived with hip discomfort for a significant amount of time already, or if you’re older, you may just assume that it’s arthritis. 

But in addition to osteoarthritis, or “wear-and-tear” degenerative joint disease, a variety of conditions can cause persistent hip pain, including:

• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Bursitis
• Sprains or strains
• Dislocations
• Fractures
• Congenital abnormalities

If you suffer from acute, recent hip pain, be sure to limit use of your hip to avoid further injury. You may adopt the RICE protocol (rest, icing, compression, elevation) for a few days to see if you feel better.

In general, though, it’s always better to move an achy joint than keep it still. Movement releases lubricating fluids; inactivity leads to increasing stiffness and pain.

After we conduct a thorough investigation of your hip pain and its possible causes, we can design a fully tailored treatment plan. Trying to treat your hip pain without a diagnosis may not do any good, and in a worst-case scenario, could actually interfere with healing.

Build up hip strength and flexibility

In almost all instances, we recommend strengthening and stretching exercises for hip pain. Whether you have arthritis, bursitis, or another condition, you can take some pressure off your hip by building more strength in the surrounding and supporting muscles, including your core.

If you’re new to exercise, be sure to work with a personal trainer. If you have severe hip pain, you may need expert guidance from a physical therapist. 

Keep active during the day to stop your hips from stiffening. Take the stairs, if it’s safe, and try to walk as much as possible. 

If you’re an athlete or you work out regularly, be sure to warm up and cool down after every exercise session. Take time off from your sport if you need to heal; pushing through the pain can worsen your injury and lead to complications.

Eat an anti-inflammatory diet

Whether you have arthritis or not, a healthy diet helps nourish the tissues that support your hip joint and turns down the inflammation that can degrade important tissues, such as cartilage. Adopt a Mediterranean diet, the DASH eating plan, or a Paleo diet that emphasizes:

• Fresh and cooked vegetables
• Fresh, whole fruits
• Lean proteins and fatty fish (i.e., salmon)
• Healthy fats such as avocados and olive oil

If you have a chronic hip condition, you may need to create a food diary to help you identify triggers to your pain. For example, some people with arthritis find that it helps to avoid or limit FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) such as tomatoes and eggplants.

Get help for hip pain

You don’t have to suffer with hip pain. If it doesn’t resolve with lifestyle adjustments, or if you’re diagnosed with a chronic condition such as arthritis, we may recommend medications or joint injections to ease hip pain and stiffness, improve comfort, and safeguard your mobility.

If your pain is severe or worsening, you may benefit from either hip resurfacing or a total joint replacement. Dr. McPhilamy usually recommends Birmingham hip resurfacing to younger and physically active patients because it’s less invasive and can last for 20 years. Over 94% of Birmingham devices are still working well after 15 years. 

Don’t suffer through hip pain. Find out why your hip hurts and get the treatment you need by contacting our expert team at McPhilamy Bone and Joint in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, today — you can reach us via phone or with our easy online form.