Hip Pain Treatment and Surgery
Hip Pain Treatment and Surgery
UR Medicine offers the widest range of treatment options in Upstate New York. In many cases, we can treat your hip pain with medication, physical therapy, or injection therapies. In other cases, surgery may be required.
Our surgeons are all fellowship-trained and specialize in joint replacements, minimally invasive arthroscopic surgeries, and the treatment of orthopaedic fractures. If hip pain is interfering with your everyday life, call (585) 275-5321 for a consultation with a UR Medicine joint doctor.
Your hip joint supports most of your body weight. Degeneration of the joint may result in hip arthritis called osteoarthritis. It also can be affected by a number of hip injuries and bone diseases, including avascular necrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis or other metabolic bone diseases.
An unhealthy or painful hip usually results from a degeneration of the cartilage. Without the cartilage present, there is no protection between the bony surfaces of the ball and socket. They become rough and begin grinding against each other, causing pain, stiffness, and discomfort during movement.
In many cases, hip pain can be treated with pain medication, physical therapy, or injection therapies. Others require hip surgery:
Hip Replacement. Your surgeon replaces the damaged or arthritic joint with an artificial one, which might include replacing the hip socket, the head of your thigh bone (femur), and a stem that fits inside your thigh bone for stability. Your surgeon will discuss the most appropriate approach for your surgery. Both the mini-posterior approach and the anterior approach are amenable to rapid rehabilitation.
- Mini-Posterior Approach - In the mini-posterior approach, the hip joint is accessed through an incision along the side of the hip, allowing the surgeon to enter the hip through the back of the joint.
- Anterior Approach - The anterior approach involves accessing the hip joint via an incision more in the front of the hip. During this procedure, a special table is used to position the leg for surgery along with x-ray imaging to visualize the hip.
- Hip Resurfacing. Hip resurfacing places a metal cap over your natural hip ball and an artificial liner inside the hip socket. This method is occasionally used for younger male patients.
Hip Preservation. Your surgeon maintains and protects as much of your natural hip as possible—while reducing your pain and improving your function.
- Arthroscopy. In this minimally invasive procedure, the surgeon makes small portal incisions and inserts a tiny camera to find the problem. The surgeon then inserts instruments through the portal to remove debris or make repairs.
- Osteotomy. Not every hip requires a complete replacement. Your surgeon may be able to reshape the bone and reduce stress on the affected area, thereby reducing or eliminating your pain.
We break down your journey into manageable steps, which we cover in our Guidebook to Hip and Knee Total Joint Replacement and Total Joint Replacement Education Class, and highlight below:
CareSense is an electronic, interactive tool you can use to stay connected with us. You can use it to ask questions whenever you have them and receive a prompt reply. If you haven’t already, just open the email from urmc@caresense.com to register and complete your initial questionnaires.
Identify a support system at home – someone to take you home and stay with you for a few days after surgery. You may also want to consider a private pay aide service for additional help. You are responsible for arranging and providing your own transportation when leaving the hospital. Your ride home from the hospital should be available as early as 8 a.m.
You and your support person are strongly encouraged to download and review together our Total Joint Replacement Education Class presentation to help prepare for surgery.
The presentation materials cover:
- The joint replacement procedure
- How to prepare for surgery
- Anesthesia options
- Your hospital stay
- Pain management
- The recovery process
- Equipment you may need after surgery
You can download the class presentation materials.
If you are not yet scheduled for a surgery, but joint pain is interfering with your everyday life, call (585) 275-5321 for a consultation with one of our joint surgeons or learn more about the Evarts Joint Center experience.
Our scheduler will call you to arrange a Presurgical Screening Appointment, which you will attend approximately 3-4 weeks before your surgery.
Call (585) 262-9150 with any questions about this appointment. Leave a message with your question, name, phone number, best time to call you, and we will call you back. .
Bring the following with you to your Presurgical Screening Appointment:
- Medication names, dosages, how often and time(s) of day you take them; this includes vitamins and over-the-counter medications
- Insurance cards, photo ID, health care proxy or living will (if you have one); if you do not have a health care proxy form, we can provide one
- After this appointment, it is important that you read, understand, and carefully follow your presurgical instructions, particularly any medication changes. The instruction sheet has specific instructions for the day of surgery. Follow up with the nurse navigators with any questions.
Weeks before your surgery, get your home ready!
- Clear clutter out of living areas.
- Remove throw rugs.
- Put nightlights in your hallways and bathrooms.
- Determine if you need to move a bed downstairs.
- If your mattress is on the floor, place it in a frame.
- Check stairway railings to be sure they are secure and stable.
- Stock up on healthy foods, and make and freeze meals to have handy for easy preparation.
- Catch up on laundry and housekeeping.
After your surgery, it will be important to perform the following hip exercises as specified by your surgeon or Highland physical therapist. It can be helpful to become familiar with them before your surgery.
You’ll receive compassionate care in the comfort of a community hospital, backed by the leading-edge technology and research at UR Medicine. Our entire team is focused on your success, made easier by our dedicated state-of-the-art orthopaedic operating rooms, joint surgery recovery unit, and rehabilitation gym.
All UR Medicine joint replacement surgeries are performed in Highland’s dedicated, state-of-the-art orthopaedic operating rooms at the Evarts Joint Center.
On the day of your surgery, you’ll go to the Highland Surgery Center. The elapsed time from operating room to leaving the post-anesthesia care unit is usually about 4 hours.
After surgery, you will go to your room in the Evarts Joint Center, again dedicated to our Orthopaedic patients.
Your companions can track your progress and will be notified when you have arrived in your room.
Once in your hospital room, your nurse will assess your needs and review your individualized care plan. Your nurses will be your primary point of contact and will start you on your road to recovery with understanding, compassion, and a steady drive to get you back to a life in motion.
A Patient Care Technician (PCT) will assist the nurses with vital signs and hygiene routine, and can help you get in and out of bed.
Your Physical Therapist (PT) will help you do your exercises, walk, go up and down stairs, and get in and out of a bed and a chair.
Your Occupational Therapists (OT) will focus on Activities of Daily Living (ADL) that help you achieve independence, such as dressing and personal hygiene. Getting stronger at these activities will help you make a smooth transition to home.
A social worker will work with you to discuss your discharge, and your nurse will review your discharge instructions with you.
The social worker will provide information on home care agencies. Please note that your insurance plan may dictate which agency you choose and what is covered. A Home Care Agency Coordinator from your chosen home care agency will visit with you in the hospital to arrange services and delivery of needed equipment for home use.
Some patients need more care and a skilled nursing facility (a nursing home that provides rehab services) may be recommended. Your insurance plan will dictate whether a skilled nursing facility is an option for you. You should discuss your coverage with your insurance provider.
You Make the Difference! You will play a huge role in the success of your surgery and your recovery. It’s important that you be proactive and participate in your physical therapy program. The more committed and enthusiastic you are, the quicker your improvement will be.
During your first few weeks at home, you will adapt what you’ve learned at the hospital to your own setting.
A few key reminders for when you first return home:
- You must protect yourself from falling and keep your new joint in safe positions while you heal.
- You might need to use adaptive equipment to help you with tasks.
- You should plan for someone to stay with you for several days when you first go home.
- You will not be able to drive until your doctor says it is okay, so you will need someone to take you to your first doctor’s appointment and physical therapy.
It is normal to experience discomfort when doing your exercises and you may need to take pain medication prior to doing your physical therapy exercises. It is important that you perform your assigned exercises exactly as instructed by your physical therapist and with the appropriate number of repetitions. Do not add or subtract any exercises!
Here are the answers to questions we have heard most often about hip surgery.
Your time in surgery is about 2-3 hours, but the actual elapsed time from operating room to the post- anesthesia care unit (PACU), where you will recover from anesthesia, is usually about 3-4 hours.
Though there is an adjustment period, you will get 80% of the benefit in the first three months.
Your surgeon will let you know when it is safe for you to drive. Although everyone heals differently, a safe assumption is that you shouldn’t plan on driving for at least 4 weeks.
The modern replacement joints we use will last at least 15-20 years. Many factors influence the joint’s life, including your activity level and overall health.
To review a longer list of questions and answers about your surgery and your Highland experience, visit our Frequently Asked Questions Page.