Are You A Woman Struggling With Hip Pain? Important Information About Hip Replacement Surgery

Hip pain is more than just an inconvenience. Depending on the cause and severity, pain radiating from the region where the hip socket is located can make walking, sitting, standing, or doing even minor activities painful, uncomfortable, or increasingly impossible to perform. Like many back pain sufferers, those who must deal with debilitating hip pain often rely heavily on pain medications to retain some degree of function in their daily lives. If you are currently enduring this type of serious, ongoing pain with little hope of improvement, the following information can help you determine whether hip replacement surgery is a good option for you to consider. 

What are some of the common causes of hip pain experienced by women?

From the moment a female human child begins to crawl or stand upright, their hips are put into use to support the majority of the weight of their body. By the time they are in their twenties or thirties, the hip sockets, joints, tendons, and muscles of the area may have been subjected to the stress of extreme physical activity, the pressures of carrying and delivering children, or some type of damage from an illness or injury.

Some of the most common causes of hip pain in an adult female include: 

• some type of arthritis 
• inflammation of the tendons that support the hip joint
• femoral or inguinal hernias 
• fractures of the hip 

However, since hip pain can also be a secondary effect of other serious medical issues, such as a spinal or gynecological problem, it is always important to have any ongoing hip pain assessed by your medical care team. 

When is hip replacement a viable option to consider? 

Hip replacement surgery can help restore mobility and alleviate hip pain but it may not be appropriate for every patient. The procedure is usually considered to be major surgery and is typically followed by physical therapy, and a lengthy recovery period, therefore it should not be approached casually.

Although there are no hard and fast rules regarding when a hip replacement can be done, having one performed too early in life can mean having to undergo another replacement surgery later, at the end of the first one's lifespan. 

There are many types of artificial hip joints available today to help hip pain sufferers live a more normal, active life. Your physician will be able to help you determine the actual cause of your hip pain and whether hip joint replacement surgery is something you should consider now or in the future. 

For more information, contact a doctor like Orthopedic Surgeon Paul Eliot Hughes, M.D.