Hip joint injections are among the treatments offered here at Lone Star Pain Medicine. They are minimally invasive, so any patient who does well with other types of injections shouldn’t have a problem with them.
As a medical procedure, a hip joint injection relies on medication injected directly into the affected joint for one of two purposes: confirming the source of a patient’s pain or relieving pain and inflammation caused by a known condition.
Most hip joint injections utilize a solution comprising anesthetic and anti-inflammatory medications. The anesthetic provides immediate relief while the rest of the medications reduce inflammation over time. The idea is to keep inflammation under control for as long as possible, offering long-term pain relief.
Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures
A diagnostic procedure uses hip joint injections to confirm the source of a patient’s pain. If the injections work, then the hip joint is confirmed as the pain source. A doctor can then advise the patient on various treatment options.
A therapeutic procedure is offered after the hip joint is confirmed as the pain source. A patient receiving therapeutic hip joint injections could experience significant pain relief lasting from several weeks to several months. Most importantly, relieving hip pain through an injection procedure could allow a patient to resume physical therapy that will ultimately make the injections unnecessary.
A Simple, Outpatient Procedure
Hip joint injections are offered as a simple, outpatient procedure. After the patient is prepped, the doctor will utilize imaging equipment to guide needle placement to the right area. If necessary, a contrast dye might be injected to confirm needle placement.
Next, the medication is injected directly into the joint. The needle is removed and the injection site bandaged. In most cases, a 10–30-minute observation period follows the injection. If all is well, the patient is discharged and able to go back to their daily routine.
Potential side effects are limited. Patients can expect to feel at least some pain at the injection site for a day or two. It should resolve itself. There is also the risk of infection at the injection site. It is a risk that comes with every kind of injection.
Conditions the Injections Can Treat
At this point, you might wonder what hip joint injections are used for. You want to know the exact conditions we can treat with the injections. At the top of the list is osteoarthritis. This degenerative joint disease is arguably the most common form of arthritis.
Osteoarthritis aside, other conditions that could potentially be treated with hip joint injections include:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Bursitis
- Hip labral injuries
- Tendonitis
- Sacroiliac joint problems
As with any other medical procedure, we cannot offer a 100% ironclad guarantee that hip joint injections will relieve your pain. They work for most people. When they do, patients experience:
- Targeted pain relief that’s more effective than medication
- Improved mobility and reduced inflammation
- The ability to take part in physical therapy
Most importantly, hip joint injections could make it possible to delay or completely forgot invasive surgery. That’s not a bad outcome. If hip joint injections can keep you from having to go under the knife, they are worth at least thinking about.
We invite you to make an appointment with Lone Star Pain Medicine if you are experiencing pain that you believe is originating from one of your hips. Our pain medicine doctors will work with you to diagnose the problem and come up with potential treatments. It could be that hip joint injections are exactly what your painful hip needs.
