Have you been experiencing pain in your hip in recent days?

If the hip pain just started, there might not be anything to worry about. There are about two dozen muscles in your hip area and lots of different nerves. So your hip pain could be caused by something as simple as a slight hip strain resulting from everyday activities.

However, if the pain in your hip persists and doesn’t clear up after a little while, this could be a cause for concern. There are all kinds of conditions, including spinal stenosis, peripheral neuropathy, and even hip arthritis, that could be to blame for your hip joint pain.

Generally speaking, it’s always a good idea to get hip joint pain checked out just in case. Here are some signs that’ll let you know it’s definitely time to see a doctor about the hip pain that you’re experiencing.

Ice and Over-the-Counter Medications Don’t Help the Pain

When hip pain first starts to set in, the best thing that you can do for it is to apply ice to it and take over-the-counter pain medications to dull the sensations you’re feeling. You should also get plenty of rest and avoid any strenuous activities.

As long as you take it easy for a few weeks, your hip should recover from whatever was bothering it. At that point, you should be able to get back to your normal routine without dealing with pain in your hip all the time.

But if you notice that ice and OTC pain medications are having very little effect on the pain in your hip, you might want to consider reaching out to a doctor right away. This could be a clear sign that there is a more serious issue going on.

Pain in Your Hip Persists For More Than a Month

While it’s OK to rely on ice and OTC pain medications to treat your hip pain for about a month (provided you’re healthy enough to take OTC pain medications, of course), you shouldn’t use them as a crutch for too long. It’s never good to take OTC pain medications regularly for an extended period of time.

Plus, a month should give your hip more than enough time to heal if it’s going to heal on its own. So if you make it to the one-month mark and your hip still hurts day in and day out, it’s time to bring a doctor into the mix.

Hip Pain Seems to Disappear But Returns When You Work Out

Does your hip feel fine for the most part…except for when you exercise?

This can obviously put a damper on your workouts. It’s hard to burn calories without moving around a lot. And you won’t be able to move as much as you want to when your hip is hurting throughout your workout regimen.

If you feel the pain in your hip creep up almost exclusively when you’re exercising, it could indicate a stress fracture. It could also indicate one of the other conditions that we mentioned earlier.

Whatever the case, there is a long list of procedures that could potentially get you back up on your feet and into the gym again. Talk to a doctor about which ones might be right for your hip condition.

You Lose Range of Motion in Your Hip Suddenly

It’s not terribly uncommon for people to lose range of motion in their hips as they get older. But they tend to lose range of motion gradually over the course of several years, not in a matter of just a few weeks or even months.

Have you lost range of motion in one of your hips suddenly? This might force you to walk with a limp or to feel a great deal of pain when you’re walking.

Either way, you shouldn’t continue to limp or walk around in pain all the time because of the limited range of motion in your hip. You should make an effort to have a doctor take a look at your hip to see what the problem with it is.

Your Hip Gets Stiff When You Sit or Lie Down For a Long Time

Research has suggested that more than 90 million Americans suffer from some form of arthritis at this time. And while not everyone who has arthritis suffers from pain in their hips, there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who are forced to deal with pain in their hips as a result of hip arthritis.

If you notice that your hips get very tight when you sit down or lie down for a long period of time, it could be a sign that you have hip arthritis. Experiencing pain in your hips when you tie your shoes is another sign of hip arthritis.

Many people ignore this pain and chalk it up to inactivity. But it could be much deeper than that and will often require medical attention.

You Experience Pain in Your Groin at Night

When you’re lying in bed at night, do you feel pain in your groin?

Believe it or not, this is yet another indication that hip arthritis might be setting in. Those who have hip problems often feel pain in other parts of their bodies outside of just their hips. Their groins are also sore a lot due to their hip conditions.

Stop letting hip joint pain keep you up at night. A doctor can evaluate your hips and see if they’re the reason you can’t sleep because of groin pain.

Get Help With Your Hip Pain Today

If you don’t take care of it, hip pain can make your life miserable. It can make it hard for you to walk, cause you to get stiff when you sit down, and even make sleeping more challenging than it has to be.

By visiting with a doctor, you can get to the bottom of your hip joint pain and stop it from ruining your life. You can also avoid problems in other parts of your body that might start to set in due to a condition affecting your hips.

Schedule an appointment with one of our doctors today to address the pain in your hip.