Hip Arthritis: Managing Pain & Understanding Your Treatment Options

Is your hip pain caused by arthritis?

Hip osteoarthritis can cause pain, stiffness and difficulty with everyday movement. However, pain around the hip can also arise from tendons, bursae, injury or the lower back.

The first step is to understand the likely cause. A treatment aimed at the hip joint may not be appropriate when symptoms originate elsewhere.

What does hip osteoarthritis feel like?

Symptoms may include pain around the groin, hip or thigh, stiffness and reduced movement. Activities such as walking, stairs or getting up from a chair may become more difficult.

Symptoms and their impact vary. Pain intensity does not always match the amount of change seen on a scan, and a scan alone does not determine which treatment you need.

What happens at an assessment?

Your clinician asks about the onset, location and behaviour of symptoms, previous treatment and relevant medical history. Examination may consider hip movement, strength, walking and neighbouring areas.

Imaging or referral may be appropriate when it would clarify the problem or change management. Ultrasound has useful roles around the hip, including guiding procedures, but it is not a complete test for every cause of hip pain.

Tell the clinician what you most want to regain, whether that is comfortable walking, stairs, work or a particular activity.

What helps manage hip osteoarthritis?

Weight-management support may be helpful where appropriate. Pain medicines require an individual discussion about benefit, side effects and other health conditions.

Consider how to pace demanding activities rather than alternating between doing too much and avoiding movement entirely. Swimming or cycling may suit some people, but activity choice should reflect your symptoms and preferences.

Visit our physiotherapy information for related support.

When might a corticosteroid injection be considered?

NICE advises considering a joint steroid injection when other medicines are ineffective or unsuitable, or to support therapeutic exercise. Expected benefit is short-term—typically described as two to ten weeks—and varies between patients.

At The Podiatry Clinics, ultrasound guidance may be used for selected hip injections. It helps visualise the target and guide placement, but does not guarantee pain relief or remove procedural risks.

Local anaesthetic may produce temporary numbness. This is different from the steroid effect, which is not necessarily immediate.

What about hyaluronic acid injections?

The earlier version of this article described hyaluronic acid products as a treatment option. Current NICE osteoarthritis guidance recommends not offering intra-articular hyaluronan injections.

They should not be presented as a proven way to regenerate a hip joint. If you are considering a privately offered treatment, ask how the recommendation relates to current guidance, what evidence supports it and what alternatives are available.

What should you discuss before an injection?

• The diagnosis, intended target and treatment goal.
• The medicine proposed and realistic duration of benefit.
• Relevant risks, including infection, bleeding and a temporary pain flare.
• Allergies, diabetes, infection, other health conditions and medicines such as blood thinners.
• Whether a surgical opinion may be appropriate.
• Costs, aftercare, travel home and follow-up arrangements.

Do not stop prescribed medication without advice. There is no universal rule that everyone should have two or three injections; repeat treatment needs individual review.

What should you do after treatment?

Follow the instructions given for your specific procedure. Ask how to manage discomfort, when to resume exercise and whom to contact if there is a problem.

Avoid assuming that every hip injection requires four weeks away from strenuous activity. Restrictions should be explained by the treating clinician and matched to the procedure.

Increasing pain, swelling or heat with fever or feeling unwell after an injection needs urgent clinical advice rather than waiting for a routine review.

When is hip replacement discussed?

A specialist opinion may be appropriate when symptoms substantially affect quality of life and suitable non-surgical care has not helped enough or is unsuitable.

A discussion can cover the likely benefits, risks and recovery, along with your preferences. An injection is not an obligatory step before referral, and treatment should not be chosen from an X-ray alone.

When does hip pain need urgent attention?

Go to A&E or call 999 for severe pain after a fall or injury, inability to walk or bear weight, or new tingling or loss of feeling after injury.

Contact an urgent GP service or NHS 111 for severe pain starting suddenly without injury, a hot swollen hip, or pain with fever, shivering or feeling generally unwell.

For ongoing concerns affecting daily life or sleep, arrange assessment. The clinic is not an emergency service.