Muscle and Joint Pain

Hips are designed to be rotated and to let you walk freely, but even such a versatile part of the body can still become painful.

When people experience hip pain, there is usually a simple cause, such as overdoing an exercise. This discomfort is usually caused by strained or inflamed soft tissues like muscles and tendons. In most cases, the pain clears up within a few days. Long-term hip pain can be caused by a number of conditions, with one of the most common being osteoarthritis.

The symptoms of osteoarthritis can vary from person to person, but if it affects the hip it will typically involve:

• mild inflammation of the tissues in and around the hip joint
• damage to cartilage or bony growths called osteophytes that develop around the edge of the hip joint
• joint pain, stiffness and difficulty doing certain activities.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for osteoarthritis, but there are different treatments available and surgery is often not necessary.

If you have hip pain, try not to rest too much; the hip can start to become increasingly uncomfortable after too much rest. Simple exercises can help to: 

• restore your range of movement
• promote strength
• relieve pain and stiffness and get your hip back to normal.