The exact cause of hip osteoarthritis varies, but degenerative changes are often associated with factors like aging, genetics, previous joint injuries or pathology, obesity, and increased mechanical stress on the hip joint.

• Joint Pain: Hip osteoarthritis typically causes pain in the hip joint. The pain may be felt in the groin, buttock, thigh, or even sometimes in the knee. The intensity can range from mild to severe. It often worsens with activity and improves with rest.
• Stiffness: People may experience stiffness in the hip joint, making it difficult and painful to move the hip through its full range of motion.
• Reduced Range of Motion: As the condition progresses, the range of motion in the hip joint may become limited, causing difficulty with performing activities like walking, bending, or climbing stairs.
• Crepitus: Some people may notice a grinding or grating sensation in the hip joint. This is known as crepitus.
• Decreased Function: The pain and dysfunction resulting from hip OA can affect a person’s ability to perform activities of daily living and participate in physical activities.
• Muscle Weakness: The muscles around the hip joint may become weakened due to the reduced activity that results from a painful hip.
• Bone Spurs: As the degenerative changes progress, the body may respond to the damage by forming bony growths or bone spurs around the edges of the joint.

Physical Exam

After obtaining a complete history of your symptoms, a comprehensive physical exam will be conducted to assess the hip function. The physical exam will focus on range of motion in the hip joint, signs of inflammation or swelling, and feeling for areas of tenderness or crepitus (grating or grinding sensations). A gait assessment will also be performed to evaluate any abnormalities in the way you walk.

Imaging

Diagnostic imaging is necessary to definitively diagnose hip osteoarthritis.  X-rays will reveal joint space narrowing, the presence of bone spurs, and the extent of cartilage damage. Though sometimes an MRI may be ordered, it is not necessary to confirm the diagnosis of arthritis.

Hip Injection

An intra-articular hip injection can be both diagnostic and therapeutic in the evaluation of hip osteoarthritis. The injection can be performed in the office at the time of your office visit under ultrasound or x-ray guidance. If most of the pain goes away, even temporarily, following the injection, then it confirms that the source of the pain is due to intra-articular hip pathology. The medication in the injection can also provide relief of the symptoms associated with hip OA, though the relief may be temporary.