Hip
We prioritize conservative treatment to relieve your pain without surgery. When everyday movement stays difficult and surgery is necessary, our surgeons use precise, minimally invasive techniques to get you back on your feet.
The Team
Most people with hip pain never need surgery. Depending on your diagnosis, your treatment plan may include physical therapy, pain management, injections, activity changes, surgery, or a combination of these. For patients who do need an operation, our surgeons use minimally invasive techniques that reduce postoperative pain and recovery time.
Our team also includes physical therapists and physician assistants who work closely with our surgeons throughout your course of care.
When to give us a call
Hip pain will often settle down with rest, ice, and over-the-counter medication.
If it persists for several weeks, gets worse, or you find yourself taking more and more medication to manage it, that’s your cue to make an appointment with one of our hip specialists.
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Speak with our team today.
Acute Injury
If a fall, collision, or other trauma has caused sharp pain, an inability to put weight on the leg, or a leg that looks shortened or turned outward, seek evaluation right away. A hip dislocation or fracture needs prompt care.
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Stiffness or Limited Motion
Trouble putting on shoes and socks, getting in and out of a car, or rising from a low chair often points to a treatable hip condition. It is not something you have to live with.
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Pain with Walking or Weight Bearin
Groin pain that shows up when you walk, a limp, or a hip that feels like it grinds or gives way can signal a problem in the joint itself. Earlier evaluation generally leads to better outcomes.​
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Night Pain
Hip pain that wakes you from sleep, or pain over the outer point of the hip when you lie on that side, is common with arthritis and bursitis and warrants evaluation.
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Persistent Pain Despite Treatment
If pain has lasted more than a few weeks and is not improving with rest and conservative care, a specialist can assess whether a different treatment approach is needed.
Common Hip Issues
Arthritis
Osteoarthritis, the “wear-and-tear” type, is the most common cause of hip arthritis. Cartilage in the joint breaks down over time, and pain and stiffness build gradually, most often after age 50. Inflammatory arthritis is another cause, where an overactive immune system attacks the joint and tends to affect both hips at once.
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Bursitis
Bursae are small fluid-filled sacs, similar to bubble wrap, that cushion the bones and soft tissue around your joints. When the bursa over the bony point of the hip becomes inflamed, it causes pain and tenderness on the outer hip. Repetitive stress, a fall, or a related condition such as arthritis can bring it on. Bursitis usually gets better on its own with rest, ice, compression, and elevation (R.I.C.E.).
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Labral Tears
The labrum is a ring of cartilage that lines the socket and helps hold the ball-and-socket joint stable. Overuse or injury can tear it, leading to pain, stiffness, a catching or clicking sensation, and loss of motion. Many people improve with physical therapy, though some tears are repaired with arthroscopy.
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Femoroacetabular Impigement (FAI)
FAI happens when extra bone forms along the ball or socket and the two rub together during movement. It often causes groin pain and stiffness with activities that bend the hip, and over time it can damage the labrum and cartilage.
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Tendonitis
A tendon is the connective tissue that attaches muscle to bone. Hip tendonitis, often called hip flexor tendonitis, develops when a tendon becomes inflamed, usually from overuse.
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Strains and Sprains
A pulled or torn muscle (strain) or ligament (sprain) around the hip usually responds to rest and the R.I.C.E. approach. Physical therapy helps in more stubborn cases.
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Hip Fractures
A hip fracture is a break in the upper part of the thighbone. It happens most often in older adults with osteoporosis, but a hard fall or high-force injury can fracture the hip at any age. Treatment depends on the type of fracture and your overall health.
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Hip Dislocation
The hip is a deep, stable joint, so it takes considerable force to dislocate, which makes it a very painful injury. Because of the force involved and the risk of further damage, a dislocation is treated as a medical emergency, and surgery is sometimes needed.
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Snapping Hip Syndrome
Snapping hip is a snapping or popping sensation, often felt at the outer hip or in the groin, when a tendon moves over bone as you walk or stand up. It is usually harmless, but when it comes with pain it can point to a tendon or labral problem worth evaluating.​​​​​
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Hip TREATMENTS AND PROCEDURES
We start with non-surgical care and turn to surgery only when it is needed. When a hip replacement is the right choice, our surgeons routinely use the anterior (ASI) approach, a minimally invasive technique that reduces postoperative pain and shortens recovery.
Non-Surgical Treatment
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Physical therapy and rehabilitation
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Activity and lifestyle modification (low-impact exercise, weight management)
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Anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs)
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Image-guided intra-articular injections
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Assistive devices (cane or walker) as needed
Surgical Treatment
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Anterior (ASI) minimally invasive total hip replacement
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Total and revision hip replacement
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Hip arthroscopy (labral repair)
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Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) correction
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Fracture repair (open reduction and internal fixation)
Treatment for hip Pain
In most cases, patients can expect our hip specialists to suggest non-operative treatment — such as lifestyle changes, physical therapy, or pain management — before considering surgery.
Physical therapy
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Hip pain can often be treated with physical therapy, a non-invasive approach that is focused on strengthening muscles, increasing flexibility, and maintaining your joint’s fullest possible range of motion. Physical therapists are advanced practitioners (many of whom have earned doctorates and/or additional certifications) who thoroughly assess your physical condition and create an individualized program that addresses the underlying hip condition.
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Pain Management
Depending on the source of the pain, therapeutic intra-articular injections may also be an effective non-operative approach to treat hip pain. Our highly-skilled pain management team here at Blue Ridge Orthopaedic uses real-time x-ray imaging to guide injections to exactly the right spot within the hip joint.
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Lifestyle Modifications
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Another viable non-operative treatment for some patients is to make modifications to their activities and/or lifestyle. Switching to low-impact (or non-weight-bearing) exercises, quitting smoking, and making dietary changes are all common modification that can help reduce hip pain. Your orthopedic specialist can help you determine which changes will be most helpful.
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Total joint replacement​
Good news! Total hip replacements reliably relieve joint pain for years to come.
Our surgeons use the minimally invasive Anterior Supine Intermuscular (ASI) approach for less post-op pain and a quicker recovery. Many younger patients go home the next day, skipping formal PT.
We’re among only a handful of Virginia practices that perform it routinely.
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Hip Arthroscopy
Arthroscopic surgery is an effective, minimally-invasive treatment used by orthopedic surgeons to treat certain types of hip conditions. Labral tears, for example, are a fairly common hip injury that can be treated with arthroscopy.
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Arthroscopic hip surgery is performed with two or three small (2-½ centimeter) incisions which allow the surgeon to put a small a camera inside the hip joint along with other instruments needed to fix things inside the joint. The small incisions result in a relatively quick result from surgery.
“Patients generally undergo a period of time where they’re not putting a lot of weight on the leg and we call that basically toe touch weight bearing so they’re on crutches and a hip brace as well. And that’s anywhere from a period of two to six weeks.”
Hip CARE ACROSS NORTHERN Virginia
Our hip specialists see patients throughout Northern Virginia and the surrounding Piedmont region. We have three locations serving:
Warrenton, VA
Fauquier County · Marshall · Remington · Bealeton · Midland · The Plains
Gainesville, VA
Prince William County · Haymarket · Manassas · Bristow · Nokesville · Centreville · Aldie · Chantilly · Catlett
Culpeper, VA
Culpeper County · Sperryville · Orange · Rapidan · Stevensburg
Patients in Haymarket, Aldie, and surrounding communities can access fellowship-trained hip care without traveling to Fairfax or Washington, D.C.