The most common cause for hip pain in elderly people is osteoarthritis. The pain is caused mainly by the degeneration of joint cartilage surfaces, creating bare areas of underlying bone that literally rub together upon each other. This causes mild to severe pain. Several avenues of treatment are available to elderly sufferers of hip pain. They range from the conservative management to surgical replacement procedures.
Oral Anti-inflammatory Drugs
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, are medications that don't contain any steroid but can be very effective in relieving pain from inflammation and swelling. Most are obtained with a prescription, but several over-the-counter varieties are available in lower doses and strength. Typically, these drugs act on a chemical chain of events that surround the formation of inflammation and pain in the body and tissues respectively, blocking certain aspects of that pain-inflammation cycle.
Steroid Injections
Occasionally, steroid injections are used to treat pain as it moves from mild to moderate and severe. By placing the steroid directly into the joint, more concentrated localized effect can be appreciated--with the ultimate goal of pain relief. Depending upon the severity of the hip pain and the degree of pathology involved, steroid injections have been known to give relief for weeks to months.
Aquatic Therapy
Aquatic therapy is physical therapy performed in water. Typically, physical therapy practices either have their own aquatic therapy pools, or they have contractual agreements with institutions such as the YMCA for use of their indoor pools for therapy classes. Aquatic therapy has many benefits. Therapeutic pools have higher water temperatures, which aid in comfort and relaxation. The pressure of the water against the body has benefits as well, such as the reduction of swelling and increasing blood flow to injured areas.
When in water at least 4 feet deep, the body weighs 50 percent less than when on land. This is very important in that by eliminating gravity or greatly reducing its effects, the body can move more efficiently and with less pain.
Joint Replacement
When the degenerative effects of osteoarthritis become severe enough that drugs, injections or therapy are inadequate for offering relief, joint replacement surgery can be a godsend to the elderly who suffer from chronic, severe, disabling hip pain.
