The hip is an area of the body that aids in a lot of movement that you don’t even think about. However, when it comes to pain, the hip can hurt just as bad, no matter if you’re standing or sitting down. So, how do you deal with hip pain that you experience when you sit? Should you see an orthopedic surgeon? Here is everything you need to know.
Why Does My Hip Hurt While Sitting?
If your hip hurts a lot when you are sitting, then that is quite alarming. Here are some of the causes that can lead to immense pain when sitting down.
Wrong Posture
The first thing you want to look at when you’re dealing with hip pain is your posture. Not all of us walk or even sit with our backs straight. The backs are mostly hunched with the neck lunging down, either focused on phones or something else. The right posture is a straight back, shoulders straight pointing sideways, and no pressure on the hips.
When you hunch your back, it puts a lot of unnecessary strain on the hip, which is not what you want. Over time, it is going to turn into a disaster and you will be in pain when you sit every single time.
Sciatica
Sciatica is a condition that affects the sciatic nerve. It is the longest nerve in the body and if you sit for long periods, whether it be because of your job or you travel a lot, then it can lead to numbness, weird sensations in the legs, and pain in the hips.
A person can only sit for so long and sitting in weird positions can cause the sciatic nerve to compress, hence leading to immense pain. This can also radiate all the way down to your knees since the sciatic nerve ends right on top of the knees.
Osteoarthritis
With old age or even familial history, osteoarthritis can be really common and this can attack the major bones and joints in your body, and the hip bone is no exception. Osteoarthritis is the breaking down of cartilage, which is a spongy tissue that covers the bones and prevents friction between them.
Well, when there is no protective layer on the bones, then they will rub against each other, not only leading to bone deterioration, but it will also cause excruciating pain. When you sit down, the pain will be extremely sharp and you won’t be able to find a relieving position.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases or disorders cause the immune system of your own body to go against you. Think of having security for yourself and it attacks you instead. In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system attacks the joints and weakens them, so this leads to stiffness in the bones, making you prone to fractures, bone dislocation, and a lot of pain.
Rheumatoid arthritis can attack all sorts of bones, and when it sets sight on the hip bone, you’ll be in for a painful ride, even when you’re sitting.
Bursitis
There are several joints in the hip and where there are joints, there are also small sacs of fluid known as Bursae. These bad boys are like cushions for the bones and they keep the joint from rubbing against other bones or poking into the muscles.
Well, the inflammation of Bursae is known as bursitis and this can also lead to immense pain. The pain usually starts at one point of the hip and then it aggravates all the way around. The pain is sharp and it can also radiate down the thighs.
Pinched Nerves
Your spine and hips contain a lot of important nerves. Well, as nerves are responsible for transmitting signals from the body to the brain, it is also common for them to become a victim of compression.
Pinched nerves, also known as radiculopathy, is a condition in which either your posture or an injury can cause the nerve to compress.
When a bone or muscle or other nerves put pressure on one nerve, it can collapse and become pinched, hence leading to a lot of pain, especially when you sit down, because that is when the compression hits your nerve the most.
How To Treat Or Manage Hip Pain?
Now that you know why hip pain is caused and aggravated when you’re sitting, here are some things you can do to alleviate it.
Go To A Doctor
First things first, if you experience any of the symptoms mentioned above or if you have a history of a hip injury and you feel the pain shooting up, then you don’t have to wait. Go and see a doctor immediately. They will run a bunch of tests and x-rays on your hip to pinpoint exactly what is wrong and what is causing the pain in the first place.
For further clarification, you can also talk about the symptoms you’ve been experiencing. After this, the hip or back pain doctor Woodbridge will be able to make a treatment plan of action for you and then you’ll feel much better in a couple of days.
Give Your Back Support
This has to do with alleviating the pain when you’re sitting down. While medication is always there to help you out, you want to go for chairs and seats with back supports. This is going to correct your posture and it is going to help in reducing the stress on your hip by dividing it all along your back.
Back supports are amazing and they’re also quite comfortable, so you can put it on any chair and say goodbye to hip pain for good. At least now, you’ll be able to sit without experiencing shooting pain in your hips.
Stretching Helps
If you want non-medicinal ways of relieving pain from your hip, then you can go for physiotherapy or even light exercises focusing on the core and the hip. Light stretching is going to relieve the tension from the body and it is going to make the pain go away.
You can do floor exercises like hip rotations, side-to-side movements focusing on the core, and even light leg and hip stretching to see the difference. You will feel the pain diminish in no time, which is amazing.
Intervention
Depending on your injury and the way your hip is under stress, surgical intervention might become necessary. Hip surgeries can take a long time to heal, but sometimes they are the only solution if you want to get rid of the pain for good. This is why you need to consult all possible bases with your doctor.
This will open up avenues for consideration and you can go about ways to bring your hip back to normalcy. Some hip surgeries are less grueling than others, so the bottom line is to discuss things with your healthcare practitioner.
Conclusion
Hip pain is excruciating but manageable and it doesn’t mean that you have to spend the rest of your days in pain. If you experience hip pain in any position or posture, you should not ignore it and consult an orthopedic hip surgeon Woodbridge.
