What to expect when your hip is checked

What to expect at the first visit

The doctor will ask how the soreness first appeared and which tasks now feel hard. Walking, turning, rising, and bending help locate the trouble, while the exam may also find a movement that eases it. You’ll discuss earlier care as well.

Joint wear may appear on an X-ray, but the X-ray can’t show your daily troubles. The doctor compares it with the exam and what you report. Please mention lost sleep or trouble dressing, driving, and walking. Those facts help the doctor understand the soreness.

What to try while movement still helps

A doctor or physical therapist can plan exercises for strength and easier movement. The aim might be leaving a chair more easily or walking farther. Feeling better doesn’t mean every ache must disappear, and small gains can show whether the exercises are worth continuing.

Outer-hip soreness may come from a tendon, a tough cord linking muscle and bone. It often hurts more when you lie on that side. A catch in the groin during a deep bend needs its own exam. Please tell the doctor exactly where each movement hurts.

When to seek urgent care

Please get prompt care for severe soreness after a fall, especially if you can’t stand on the leg or the leg looks shorter or turned outward. An early X-ray can miss some breaks, so return for another check if severe soreness remains. You’re not making a fuss.

A fever with a hot, swollen hip may mean a serious joint infection. Sudden leg weakness or numbness while you can’t control your bladder or bowels needs emergency care. Night soreness with weight loss you can’t explain also needs a prompt medical visit. Don’t wait for a normal appointment with these warning signs.

Sources

1. UK FASHIoN, a 348-patient pragmatic multicentre RCT, found hip arthroscopy improved hip-related quality of life more than a personalised physiotherapist-led programme at 12 months (adjusted mean iHOT-33 difference 6.8, 95% CI 1.7-12.0; p=0.0093), just exceeding the 6.1-point minimum clinically important difference. Both groups improved substantially, and five of six serious adverse events in the surgical arm were treatment-related.

   Griffin DR, et al. — Hip arthroscopy versus best conservative care for the treatment of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (UK FASHIoN): a multicentre randomised controlled trial.. The Lancet, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31202-9.

2. In a single-surgeon RCT of 90 patients OVER 40 with MRI-confirmed symptomatic labral tears and limited radiographic OA (Tonnis 0-2), arthroscopic labral repair plus physical therapy beat physical therapy alone at 12 months (iHOT-33 +12.11, P=.007; mHHS +6.99, P=.04). 63.6% of the physical-therapy-alone group crossed over to surgery, which both supports the result and limits it.

   Martin SD, et al. — Hip Arthroscopy Versus Physical Therapy for the Treatment of Symptomatic Acetabular Labral Tears in Patients Older Than 40 Years: A Randomized Controlled Trial.. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2021. DOI: 10.1177/0363546521990789.

3. A meta-analysis of 28 studies covering 480,532 patients found a significant association between pre-operative intra-articular corticosteroid injection and periprosthetic joint infection after TOTAL HIP arthroplasty (OR 1.55, P=.001), with higher risk when the injection was given within 3 months of surgery (OR 1.20, P=.045). No such association was found for knee arthroplasty. Timing of a hip injection matters if replacement may follow.

   Albanese J, et al. — Infection Risk Increases After Total Hip Arthroplasty Within 3 Months Following Intra-Articular Corticosteroid Injection. A Meta-Analysis on Knee and Hip Arthroplasty.. Journal of Arthroplasty, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.arth.2022.12.038.

4. A JAMA review of hip and knee osteoarthritis reports OA affects more than 240 million people worldwide and more than 32 million in the US, names pain elicited with internal hip rotation as a diagnostically useful hip examination finding, identifies exercise, weight loss where appropriate and education as the cornerstones of management complemented by topical or oral NSAIDs, notes intra-articular steroid gives short-term relief, and states that opiates should be avoided.

   Katz JN, Arant KR, Loeser RF — Diagnosis and Treatment of Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Review.. JAMA, 2021. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.22171.

5. The AAOS 2024 clinical practice guideline summary for management of osteoarthritis of the hip is based on a systematic review of studies in adults 18 and older and contains eight recommendations and nine options; it also explicitly highlights gaps in the literature and areas needing future research.

   Hannon CP, et al. — American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Clinical Practice Guideline Summary: Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hip.. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2024. DOI: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-24-00420.

6. Hip dysplasia is a leading precursor of hip osteoarthritis and is present in 20% to 40% of patients with hip OA; associated femoral deformities occur in more than 50%, so the structural anatomy of a dysplastic hip must be assessed in multiple planes. Acetabular osteotomy is the usual treatment in the pre-arthritic dysplastic hip.

   Gala L, Clohisy JC, Beaule PE — Hip Dysplasia in the Young Adult.. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (Am), 2016. DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.O.00109.

7. FDA states verbatim that regenerative medicine products including stem cells, stromal vascular fraction, umbilical cord blood, Wharton's jelly, amniotic fluid and exosomes have NOT been approved 'for the treatment of any orthopedic condition, such as osteoarthritis, tendonitis, disc disease, tennis elbow, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, neck pain, or shoulder pain.' The only FDA-approved stem cell products in the United States are blood-forming (hematopoietic progenitor) cells derived from umbilical cord blood, approved only for disorders affecting blood production.

   U.S. Food and Drug Administration — Consumer Alert on Regenerative Medicine Products Including Stem Cells and Exosomes.. FDA, 2026.