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Hip Pain

By: Dr. James D. Fontaine

WHY DOES YOUR HIP HURT?

A healthy hip joint and surrounding tissue is necessary to remain active without pain. Your hips undergo significant stress when you walk, run, cycle and play sports. When there is an injury, you may feel pain in the groin, outside of the hip or at the back of the hip, often associated with a limp and stiffness. A painful hip may be due to joint degeneration, labral tear, bursitis or tendon injury. These conditions cause inflammation and pain.

HIP PAIN TREATMENTS

Common forms of hip pain treatment include physical therapy, medications and cortisone injections. However, these treatments do not treat the underlying cause of the pain. Therapies treat the underlying degeneration or soft tissue problem. If your hip pain is preventing you from doing the activities you enjoy, or you are tired of dealing with daily pain, then medicine may be the right treatment for you.

HIP TENDONITIS

Trochanteric bursitis is a term often used to describe pain on the outside of your hip. The trochanteric bursa is a small sac of fluid between the gluteus maximus muscle and the underlying gluteus medius muscle. However, when painful hips are evaluated with ultrasound it is rare that there is actually inflammation of the trochanteric bursa. The more common cause of pain at the outside of your hip is inflammation or partial tearing of the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus tendons. These tendons are involved in hip motion and form the “rotator cuff” of the hip. At Fontaine MD, we clarify the source of your hip pain with physical examination, imaging study review and ultrasound evaluation of the hip.

PATELLAR TENDONITIS SAN DIEGO

The patellar tendon, which connects the patella (knee cap) to the tibia (shin bone), can develop inflammation or partial tearing where it attaches to the patella, anywhere along the tendon, or where it attaches to the tibia. This results in pain just below the patella. Patellar tendonitis is most common in athletes who frequently jump, such as when playing basketball and volleyball. At Fontaine MD, we clarify the source of your knee pain with physical examination, imaging study review and ultrasound evaluation of the knee area.

TROCHANTERIC BURSITIS

Trochanteric bursitis is a term often used to describe pain on the outside of your hip. The trochanteric bursa is a small sac of fluid between the gluteus maximus muscle and the underlying gluteus medius muscle. However, when painful hips are evaluated with ultrasound it is rare that there is actually inflammation of the trochanteric bursa. The more common cause of pain at the outside of your hip is inflammation or partial tearing of the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus tendons. These tendons are involved in hip motion and form the “rotator cuff” of the hip. At Fontaine MD, we clarify the source of your hip pain with physical examination, imaging study review and ultrasound evaluation of the hip.

* All information subject to change. Images may contain models. Individual results are not guaranteed and may vary.