HIP CARE AT THE ORTHOPEDIC INSTITUTE

AT POMONA VALLEY HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER

Maybe you don’t think much about your hips, that is, until they don’t feel “right” and the fully active life you formerly led is no longer that active. You may think it’s time to consult an orthopedic surgeon to find out what’s bothering your hips—and you.

The hip is a major weight-bearing joint in your body that consists of two major components:

• Ball or femoral head, positioned at the top of your thigh bone or femur—which is the longest, heaviest bone of all
• Socket, which is round, also called the acetabulum, positioned in your pelvis

The ability of the multitasking hip joint to produce many types of motion is remarkable, since it provides balance, stability and support for the legs that hold up your body. This joint can move backward, forward, sideways, and can rotate. Also think abduction, adduction, extension, and flexion, all thanks to your hips.

Assessing Your Hips

The first step in determining what might be causing your hip problem begins with your medical history. Then your orthopedic surgeon will do a physical examination, which with hips, may involve a few steps specific to hip diagnoses:

• Gait analysis and stance assessment
• Range-of-motion testing
• X-ray
• Computerized tomography or CT scan
• Ultrasound
• Magnetic resonance imaging or MRI

Hip Symptoms And Conditions We Treat

For your hips, our orthopedic surgeons can help if you have:

• Arthritis
• Developmental dysplasia
• Femoral-acetabular impingement
• Fractures
• Infections
• Sports-related hip injury
• Trauma-related hip injury

Nonsurgical Treatments for Hip Conditions

As always, our expert orthopedic surgeons want to help reduce your pain, while also helping you retain maximum function. Sometimes, if certain hip conditions aren’t treated in earlier stages, they can progress into arthritis or other joint damage, which may lead to a hip replacement later. They may also increase the risk of injury, even causing a fall, or prompt you to need a mobility aid such as a walker or cane.

Our orthopedic surgeons carefully consider the latest research and data, the most current treatments, their own vast experience, along with your needs, as they develop the most effective and personalized care plan for you.

At the Orthopedic Institute at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, your doctor may initially recommend:

• Over-the-counter pain relievers: Those most often used include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as naproxen or ibuprofen. Acetaminophen can ease pain but not inflammation.

• Corticosteroids: These may be injected into the hip joint to provide temporary pain relief and reduce swelling, but these are not always successful. Injections are usually limited to four times annually.
• Physical therapy: Committing to a program and following directions may increase knee range of motion and flexibility and diminish pain.
• Platelet-rich plasma: This injection is made from your blood cells called platelets, that contain growth factors to help injured tissue heal faster. The blood is taken from your arm.
• Weight loss: If you are obese, losing weight can also relieve stress on your joints, including your hips.

What’s Causing Hip Discomfort?

You’ve come here because maybe you’re experiencing:

• Inflammation
• Pain
• Stiffness
• Swelling
• Inability to move the way you used to move

Although this may surprise you, hip problems can be felt first in your groin—where the abdomen ends and the legs start, or put another way, the junction of the upper body and the thigh. You may even have lower back or knee pain. But usually, you’ll feel discomfort on the inside of your hip. It’s easy to say, “This is where my hip pain is,” when it’s not the hip joint, but an issue with muscles, ligaments, or tendons around that joint.

Sometimes, pain on the side of the hip isn’t the hip at all, and could be caused by issues with the spine, overuse of certain muscles, or tight muscles.

Experts In Hip Replacement Surgery

Should reconstructive surgery be necessary, our highly experienced orthopedic surgeons will address your problem in a comprehensive and holistic manner to ensure you achieve the very best results.

At the Orthopedic Institute at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, we perform the following hip surgeries:

• Total hip replacement or arthroplasty
  • Anterior hip replacement
  • Posterior hip replacement
• Hip revision surgery
• Hip preservation surgery
• Hip fracture repair
• Core decompression

Minimally Invasive Surgery

If your surgeon performs a minimally invasive procedure, that means less of the tissue around the hip will be cut, using smaller incisions that disturb less of that tissue. Your surgeon will determine if you are a suitable candidate for this type of procedure, which provides you these advantages:

• Fewer days in the hospital to recover
• Less postoperative pain
• Less trauma to the tissues around your hip joint
• Less scarring and less blood loss
• Quicker rehabilitation

After Your Surgery

Our orthopedic team is dedicated to helping you get back on your feet faster after hip replacement surgery, and ensuring your post-operative experience goes smoothly. We even offer a joint replacement preparation class, and you can learn more about it here.

You can be sure our expert orthopedic surgeons will give you the personalized care you need and develop the appropriate treatment plan for your hip that relieves your discomfort, works in the most effective way, and allows you to resume doing the things you used to do soon.