Medically reviewed by Dr. Jen Palmer, ND - Naturopathic Doctor
If you’ve seen a diagram of the anatomy of the hip, you know that it’s both an incredibly simple and yet very complex joint. If you suffer from hip pain, it will help you understand how the hip works and how many things can cause it to hurt.
The simple part? Your hip is a ball-and-socket joint. The top of your thigh bone, called your femur, is in the shape of a ball; it fits into a socket that’s shaped into the side of your pelvis bone. As with any ball and socket, this gives a wide range of motion. The complex part? A network of cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and muscles that cradle, support, and stabilize the hip joints.
All this means is that if you have hip pain – which can radiate from the inner or outer part of the joint and even involve the thigh, groin, and buttocks – can be caused by several reasons. Read on to find common causes of hip pain and ways to relieve hip pain, including how CBDMEDIC™ topicals, a member of Charlotte's Web™ family of topical products, can provide temporary relief of minor aches and pains of muscles and joints.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that osteoarthritis – sometimes referred to as age-related arthritis or “wear-and-tear” arthritis – is the most common source of joint pain in the United States and that it affects an estimated 27 million people daily. It’s a degenerative disorder that mostly affects cartilage and tissue around joints; it can make those joints tender and swollen. (Osteoarthritis is different from rheumatoid arthritis, in which the immune system attacks the membrane that encloses the joints and can later destroy cartilage and bone). While there are other kinds of arthritis, these two are the most common, causing pain, swelling, and stiffness.
There are other reasons you might have hip pain. You might have an injury, especially if you are or were a very physically active person. Some of the most common possibilities:
Tendinitis: Not typically associated with the hips, tendinitis is more common in knees, shoulders, elbows, and wrists (“tennis elbow” is one common kind). It’s caused by inflammation of a tendon and can cause pain, tenderness, and swelling.
Hip fracture: Your chance of getting a hip fracture increases as your bones age. A simple fall in the home or the yard can cause a hip fracture. If you have weakened bones from osteoporosis or due to another reason, you are more susceptible and can sometimes fracture a hip without even falling.
Bursitis: There are small, fluid-filled sacs that cushion our joints; these are called bursae. When they become inflamed, you have bursitis. It occurs most commonly in the shoulder, elbow, and hip and can cause pain, stiffness, and swelling.
Pinched nerves: If you experience pain, tingling, or numbness while walking, you may have a pinched nerve. They can be caused by muscle strain, obesity, pregnancy, a herniated disc, arthritis, or sitting for long periods of time. Sometimes the pain radiates toward the groin or down the inner thigh to the knee.
Muscle Strain: Muscle strains or tendon strains are common causes of hip pain. Doing the same activities over and over can put a strain on the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that support the hips. That tissue becomes inflamed from being overused and can cause pain and prevent the hip from functioning properly.
It’s easy to think, “Well, I’m getting older, pain is just part of it,” and try to go on about your life. And rest, ice, and over-the-counter anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen can help. But you shouldn’t ignore ongoing pain; it could mean that you have a condition that needs treatment to avoid further damage to the joint. Symptoms to which you should pain extra attention:
- Pain that came on suddenly;
- Pain that gets progressively worse;
- Shooting hip pain;
- Pain that prevents you from standing on the leg;
- If easy walking has turned to limping;
- If you feel unsteady on your feet;
- If you hear a click in the joint or feel it “catch;”
- If your pain has significantly altered your physical activity;
- If your hip is noticeably swollen.
You should have your doctor check out any pain that is sharp, ongoing for a period of time, or significantly changes your daily life.
Understanding the source of your hip joint pain will help you know what to do to relieve it. Below are a few methods and remedies for hip pain relief you can do at home:
If you’ve recently been injured, whether in an accident, a sports injury, or a fall, have a doctor check it out and then practice the RICE protocol: rest, ice, compression, elevation. It’s self-explanatory, but rest gives the hip and its muscles a time out, ice controls swelling and inflammation, compression helps limit swelling and reduces blood flow to the area, and elevation (above the level of your heart) also reduces swelling. Pain relievers such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and naproxen sodium can help. If you have rheumatoid arthritis, your doctor might prescribe corticosteroids or anti-rheumatic medicines.
If your pain is ongoing but not due to an injury, you can ice the area for 15 minutes several times a day. Alternating cold with heat – a warm bath, for instance – can also give you some relief.
If you know your pain is caused by arthritis, you can use a topical cream or gel that contains the active ingredients menthol and camphor. Camphor relieves pain; menthol gives a cooling sensation.
In the long term, if you’re overweight or obese, losing some of that weight takes the pressure off your joints, especially your hips and knees. You can increase flexibility and mobility with mild exercises and stretches to help you find hip pain relief, building up slowly as you improve.
Managing Your Hip Pain
Your hip is the largest weight-bearing joint in your body and can cause pain for various reasons, some temporary and others chronic. See your doctor when necessary, rest when you should, do stretching and flexibility exercises when you’re able, lose weight if you need to, and get temporary relief with CBDMEDIC™ topicals.
At Charlotte’s Web, you can trust that each of our CBDMEDIC™ products are crafted with care every step of the way.
