How do you know when your hip pain is serious enough to get treatment? Everyone, especially active people, want to be able to enjoy their daily activities without stiffness or physical discomfort. So, what is the difference between a pain that will go away on its own and one that needs medical attention? At B3 Medical in Wesley Chapel, FL, we can help you understand the pain and we will recommend a personalized treatment plan just for you.
How Can You Tell When Your Hip Pain Is Serious?
The human body experiences many little aches and setbacks over a lifetime. How do you draw the line between an inconvenient twinge and a condition that you should treat? In short, if the body can heal itself within a reasonable amount of time, you can rest and use over-the-counter meds. However, chronic pain needs the attention of a licensed medical professional.
Understanding Chronic Pain
What is chronic pain? Chronic pain can occur anywhere in the body. If you have a feeling of discomfort that persists despite rest, icing, and the use of non-prescription pain relievers, you have chronic pain.
Your Hips
Like other parts of the body, your hips are susceptible to chronic pain. So, how do they work and what causes them to ache or become stiff?
Hip Anatomy
Did you know that each hip joint has a ball-and-socket design? The ball is called the acetabulum and the socket is called the femur. Between them, a layer of cartilage protects your body from friction. Muscles around the ball-and-socket allow you to move your hips, while tendons attach the bones to those muscles.
Hip Pain
The human body is built to last and be active. That said, over a lifetime it undergoes a lot of wear and tear. With the right attention, however, you can usually restore a healthy level of activity and comfort.
A number of factors can lead to sore hips. Here are some of the most common:
- Overuse
- Osteoarthritis
- An injury, possibly from a fall
- Bursitis
- Tendonitis
- Muscle strain or sprain
- Sciatica
What Happens When You Have Hip Pain?
What actually happens inside your body depends on the source of your pain. It could be that the cartilage between your femur and your acetabulum has worn down. It could also be that the tendons have become irritated and inflamed. Or, perhaps an old injury just isn’t healing correctly.
We can diagnose the source of your pain and come up with a treatment plan according to your needs. We offer many services ranging from chiropractic care to PRP (platelet rich plasma) therapy.
Treating Hip Pain
Whatever the cause of your discomfort, you have a number of options that can improve it. Here is the 101 on our offerings:
Our Goals
At B3 Medical, we specialize in helping people feel better so that they can continue to live actively. In many cases, a total recovery is possible. We strive to:
- Help you avoid unnecessary surgery
- Give you an alternative to addictive pain medications like opioids
- Get to the source of your pain
- Offer you complete care
- Provide treatments that don’t require down time
- Relieve your pain
- Support a healthy, active lifestyle
Your Options
Everyone’s body is different. That’s why some people respond might respond to one kind of treatment while others need a different approach. We offer a variety of different treatments so that every one of our patient is accommodated. Rather than focusing on one particular kind of solution, we are driven by the goal: pain relief.
Here are some of the services we recommend:
- Platelet rich plasma therapy
- Physical therapy
- Neuromuscular therapy
- Chiropractic care
- Massage therapy
- Bracing
- Injection-based treatment
How Our Services Work
When your pain won’t go away on its own, don’t worry. We have a menu of options for treatment and most of our patients enjoy significant recovery. Just because your pain needs some attention doesn’t mean that your body is broken forever. Our offerings range from ancient, time-tested practices to therapies involving advanced modern technology.
Massage Therapy
With a rich history and broad applications, massage therapy is a practice that releases tension within the soft tissue of your body. The goal is to relieve nerve compression and inhibit the spasms that might be causing your pain.
Chiropractic Care
Like massage therapy, this practice has been done with high success rates for centuries. The goal is to realign the spine and restore balance within the body so that natural healing is possible.
Bracing
Sometimes, hip discomfort occurs because your weight is not distributing itself properly when you are active or at rest. In that case, you might benefit from a hip abduction brace. Hip braces secure your thigh and keep your knees at the right angle to your hip socket. With the support of the brace, your body can recover without further disruption.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy focuses on diagnosing the source of pain and educating the patient on how to recover properly. During this treatment, we will evaluate your condition, assessing your posture and range of motion. Physical therapy commonly involves exercises you can do at home, as well as other lifestyle recommendations. It can also involve braces, wraps, and other measures to support the body.
Neuromuscular Therapy
Patients who opt for neuromuscular therapy receive a treatment that works with both the soft tissue and the neurological connections that are responsible for sensation. By bringing these elements into alignment, pain and discomfort can be greatly improved.
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy
This new and advanced approach to healing is a form of regenerative medicine that relies on the body’s natural processes. In the blood, plasma is the liquid that carries red and white cells throughout the body. Platelets, or thrombocytes, are blood cells that are involved in growth and healing.
During PCP therapy, blood is processed in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets. Once extracted, they can be used in areas of the body where healing is needed.
Injection Therapies
Many patients can benefit from safe and targeted injections to relieve their pain. These can be epidural or they can be administered directly to the hips. Often, injection therapy can be combined with other approaches for a comprehensive approach to pain management.
When to Seek Our Care
How do you know when your hip discomfort is serious enough to benefit from the above therapies? First, you should know that you should seek immediate attention in the case of
- Sudden pain
- Bleeding
- Inability to move the hip
- Inability to put weight on the hip
Apart from the above scenarios, you can try resting, icing, and OTC medications at home. If your pain continues even after you have tried at-home remedies, give us a call. We can help you address chronic pain, even when it does not respond to other approaches.
Don’t let chronic hip pain keep you from living your life and enjoying the activities you love. We offer a comprehensive approach to diagnosing pain and finding the right therapy for you. You don’t need to resort to risky surgeries or dangerous drugs in order to get relief. Visit B3 Medical in Wesley Chapel, FL or CALL US at (813) 712-5700 and we will put you on the path to pain relief.
