Hip Pain

When you have hip pain, walking is often difficult and painful. Everyday activities such as climbing steps or standing from a seated position can be a challenge. At University of Missouri Health Care, we’re here to help improve your quality of life. 

The team at MU Health Care’s Missouri Orthopaedic Institute specializes in comprehensive care for hip pain, including surgical and nonsurgical treatment options. From diagnosis through treatment and physical therapy, our experts are committed to relieving your pain. 

Nonsurgical Treatments

When managing hip pain, our providers will explore a variety of options for pain relief before discussing surgical options. Nonsurgical options include:

• Physical therapy, which may include blood flow restriction therapy, a leading-edge therapy designed to increase strength.
• Medicine injections
• Weight loss support  

Surgical Treatments

If nonsurgical options don't work for you, our orthopaedic surgeons provide a full spectrum of options and will help you choose the right procedure for your situation.

Hip Preservation

When your hip cartilage is healthy, surgeons can provide treatments to repair or remove damaged tissue and corrective surgeries to preserve the joint cartilage and delay the progression of arthritis.

Whenever possible, we use minimally invasive techniques that offer smaller incisions and shorter recovery time. No matter which type of hip treatment you receive, you’ll participate in physical therapy after surgery to help rebuild strength and improve your mobility.

Hip Arthroscopy

Hip arthroscopy can help you if you have sustained damage to the tissues around the hip joint or have minor deformities to the hip bone structure. During minimally invasive arthroscopy surgery, your surgeon repairs or reshapes the joint to restore normal function and delay the development of arthritis in the joint. Your surgeon will use specialized tools to remove bone deformities or damaged cartilage and repair your cartilage.

Hip Osteotomy

If you have hip pain due to a structural deformity (hip dysplasia), our orthopaedic surgeons can realign the hip joint and decrease the damage to your cartilage. These procedures can extend the life of your hip joint and restore normal joint function.

During hip osteotomy, your physician removes part of the bone on either your pelvis or femur (the thigh bone). The surgeon then realigns the joint, holding it in place with screws so it can heal properly.

Hip Replacement Surgery

When your hip cartilage is damaged, you might need hip replacement surgery to relieve your pain. During this surgery, your damaged joint is replaced with an artificial joint.

There are multiple hip surgery techniques, and your doctor will talk to you about the best approach.

Learn more about hip replacement surgery

Outpatient Hip Replacement Surgery

Having a hip replaced once required several days in the hospital to recover. Now, some patients can have an outpatient hip replacement, either going home on the day of surgery or the next day less than 24 hours after surgery. Learn more.