Best Practice Health TV
I first realized how much low back pain can feel…
read moreNo matter what the cause is, dealing with chronic hip pain can be seriously disruptive to your ability to lead a normal, active life. Besides the pain itself, the reduced mobility and function can make it difficult to get things done around the house, spend quality time with loved ones or even get a good night’s sleep.
Hip surgery can become a serious consideration if other treatments have been fully explored and you are still dealing with debilitating pain. If you have been recommended for any type of hip procedure, it’s essential to fully explore your options and understand the full scope of the treatment process. By learning more about who is a candidate for hip surgery, you can reduce the anxiety that so often surrounds this decision and be more engaged with your care providers.
Exploring conservative treatments before hip surgery
Nonsurgical treatments can very often be effective for treating hip pain and improving range of motion, which is why most doctors recommend patients fully explore them before considering surgery. Conservative treatment options for hip pain include:
Hip surgery may be recommended if patients have fully explored these options for a period of weeks or months without finding the relief necessary to engage in the activities of daily living.
How to know if you need hip surgery
Arthritis is the most common condition that patients who undergo hip surgery have been diagnosed with. In particular this means osteoarthritis, which is age-related breakdown of cartilage that causes increased bone-on-bone contact. This increased friction and stiffness can lead to pain and reduced range of motion in the hip.
Other conditions that can be treated with hip surgery include:
To determine if a person is a candidate for hip surgery, common risk factors must first be assessed. Certain patients have a higher risk for complications during the procedure or during the recovery phase. These include people with hip infections, people who are seriously obese and people who smoke.
Infections of the hip must be fully treated before you can be considered for surgery. If you have a body mass index over 40, a weight loss plan must be followed before becoming a candidate. People who smoke are strongly recommended to follow a smoking cessation plan due to the high risk of developing pneumonia during the recovery process.
Determining if you are a candidate
For people in severe pain who have been recommended to undergo hip surgery, the experts at Phoenix Spine & Joint will be happy to review your condition and treatment history to determine if you’re a good candidate for hip surgery. You can expect to discuss your symptoms and how they are affecting your everyday activities while our expert reviews your diagnostic imagery and other information. This will allow him or her to determine if one of our minimally invasive outpatient procedures can help you find the relief you deserve.
Contact our caring and dedicated team today to learn more.
We’re committed to solving your knee pain problems with the least invasive treatment possible.
We use the robot on every knee surgery, which means a personalized implant selection that results in a better outcome.
We utilize the only implant that’s approved to last for 30 years.
No hospital stay means a much lower risk of infection.
Partial knee replacements are half the surgery and recovery time of a total knee.
You should do 3 weeks of physical therapy before considering an MRI—studies show worse results if you get imaging at this point. If you are not better after 3 weeks of therapy, then (6 weeks since the pan began) you should get an MRI and referral to a board-certified anesthesiologist or physiatrist with subspecialty certification and specialization in pain management. They will do a medial branch block and radiofrequency ablation as appropriate. Don’t let anyone talk you into epidural injection; that is not what you need.
You should do 3 weeks of physical therapy before considering an MRI—studies show worse results if you get imaging at this point. If you are not better after 3 weeks of therapy, then (6 weeks since the pan began) you should get an MRI. We can help you find a board-certified anesthesiologist or physiatrist with subspecialty certification and specialization in pain management who doesn’t over-prescribe dangerous narcotics.
They will offer you medial branch block and epidural injection. Those don’t really work for this problem. Your options are (off label) intradiscal injection of stem cell-derived growth factors, denervation with the relevant procedure, and then referral to a spine surgeon for interbody fusion if those fail.
You need an MRI now and referral to a spine surgeon for possible laminectomy decompression surgery. We can help you find one who is board-certified and specializes in minimally invasive surgery.
You need an MRI now and referral to a board-certified anesthesiologist or physiatrist with subspecialty certification and specialization in pain management. Don’t go to one that prescribes a lot of narcotics, they may get you killed. If you’re not better after 3 epidural injection you will be referred at 12 weeks to a spine surgeon to consider microdiscectomy. Note that you DO NOT need radiofrequency ablation; so, don’t let anyone talk you into a medial branch block.
This stuff can be confusing. Don’t sweat it. We’ve got you. Your MRI came with a report by a radiologist which describes the findings. If you don’t have a copy of your report, you can get one from the imaging center where the x-ray was taken. The doctor who prescribed the MRI has a copy as well. Find the section labeled Impression. First, under the impression, look for the word normal. If you see something like “Normal MRI of the hip then you are done. You do not need to check anything.
Next, search the impression section for the words osteonecrosis or avascular necrosis. If you see either one in the report, then ignore the rest of the report and check the osteonecrosis box. If neither of those is in the report, ignore the rest for now and continue.
This stuff can be confusing. Don’t sweat it. We’ve got you. Your x-ray came with a report by a radiologist which describes the findings. If you don’t have a copy of your report, you can get one from the imaging center where the x-ray was taken. The doctor who prescribed the x-ray has a copy as well. Find the section labeled Impression.
First, under the impression, look for the word normal. If you see something like “Normal x-ray of the hip then you are done. Check the box normal. Next, search the impression section for the word hypoplasia. If you see hypoplasia in the report then ignore the rest, and check the hypoplasia box.
If you are still going, then look for the word arthritis. The radiologist should have given the arthritis a grade from 1 to 4. If you see arthritis in the impression section but there is no grade, then look at the rest of the report for a grade 1,2,3 or 4 and check the appropriate box. If there’s no grade then you have every right to call the imaging center and ask them to have the radiologist to do their job and redo the report with a grade.
Not all orthopedic surgeons are the same. You deserve the best. That means a surgeon who is
In my experience less than 10% of orthopedic surgeons meet all five of these criteria. That means if you go to the surgeon you’ve been seeing, or the one recommended by friends or family, there’s a 90% chance you will not be getting the best.
At Phoenix Spine and Joint we make it our business to know the best. Call us for help finding the best surgeon near you who takes your insurance and is accepting new patients.
If you have any of the following red flags you need to see a doctor NOW!
Radiculopathy. This condition is most often due to herniated disc, but can also be caused by bone spurs, or compression of nerve roots as they leave the spinal canal. The traditional treatment is to confirm the herniation or compression by MRI, followed by a trial of epidural injection, with microdiscectomy or laminectomy surgery if all else fails.
Enter below and we will email or text you more information about how to get rid of your radiculopathy due to herniated disc.
Facet syndrome. Your low back pain is most consistent with arthritis. Look for confirmation on your x-ray and MRI reports with discussion about “arthritis.” The traditional treatment is radiofrequency ablation done by a pain management physician.
Enter below and we will email or text you more information about how to get rid of your low back pain due to arthritis.
Discogenic low back pain due to an annular tear. Sorry, this is the least common and the hardest to treat. Traditionally, the recommended procedure is fusion; however, that does not always work and causes adjacent level issues. More recently a denervation procedure was approved called the Intercept procedure from Relievant. Some doctors recommend injection, The two options are stem cell-derived growth factors, and ozone.
Enter below and we will email or text you more information about how to get rid of your discogenic low back pain.
