Hip Pain Surgeons in Nashville

Trauma such as a fracture, dislocation, or soft tissue damage is one cause of sudden hip pain. In most cases, however, hip pain tends to be a chronic problem, which could be due to:

Arthritis

Arthritis is a joint disease that comes in many forms, causing chronic pain, stiffness, and increasing weakness. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, resulting from years of wear and tear and the loss of protective cartilage from the bones in your joints. The inflammatory autoimmune disorder rheumatoid arthritis is the second most common form of the disease.

Bursitis

Bursae are sacs containing liquid inside your joints that help prevent pressure and friction. Sometimes the bursae develop inflammation, causing pain. Trochanteric bursitis on the outside of the hip is a frequent cause of hip pain that can make it impossible to lie on the affected hip.

Labral Tear

Your hip consists of a ball-shape at the top of your femur (thigh bone) called the femoral head and a socket called the acetabulum. Around the edge of the acetabulum is a ring of cartilage – the labrum – that helps keep the femoral head in its socket. Labral tears sometimes occur from acute injuries but are often the result of repetitive strain.

Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI)

Typically, the ball of your femur and the socket fit together seamlessly. Some people have abnormal bone growth in the hip during early childhood, which causes the ball, socket, or both to shape incorrectly. As a result, the bones rub against each other painfully when you move your hip.

Hip Dysplasia

Hip dysplasia is another condition typically present from childhood. In this case, the hip socket does not form correctly and therefore cannot cover the ball. When this occurs, your hip joint can become dislocated. If this problem goes untreated for an extended period, it can harm the nearby cartilage, resulting in a labral tear.

Anyone can develop hip pain at some point in time, but there are certain factors that can increase your risk. Age and weight are common risk factors that increase your chance for hip pain. Someone who does high-impact activities often, or has a previous hip injury, is also at greater risk for developing hip pain. 

Anyone can develop hip pain at some point in time, but there are certain factors that can increase your risk. Age and weight are common risk factors that increase your chance for hip pain. Someone who does high-impact activities often, or has a previous hip injury, is also at greater risk for developing hip pain. 

Hip replacement surgeons are trained to diagnose and treat hip conditions. Some, like our hip doctors in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee, choose to subspecialize in hip surgery. These physicians receive additional experience working with hip conditions and procedures.

Our hip replacement surgeons can help you find the best course of action for handling your pain. Their job is to analyze and develop the least-invasive treatment plan possible that alleviates your hip pain.

Disorders like early-stage arthritis and bursitis often respond well to conservative treatments such as medication and physical therapy. Joint injections might also help. For some conditions, regenerative medicine could encourage new tissue growth.

The Elite Sports Medicine + Orthopedics hip replacement surgeons might need to investigate the condition of your hip joint using hip arthroscopy. An arthroscope is a small, flexible instrument that has a light and a camera at the end. Your hip replacement surgeon inserts the arthroscope through a tiny incision and feeds it into the joint, viewing the images it sends back on a monitor.

The type of surgery you need for hip pain depends on what’s causing the pain. Doctors treat hip fractures, labral tears, and other issues differently. Our hip replacement surgeons work in several forms of surgery, including the following.

Minimally Invasive Hip Surgery

If you have a labral tear, our hip doctors can perform minimally invasive hip surgery. With the same arthroscope they use to assess your hip, they can reattach the labrum with instruments that also go through tiny incisions. The team specializes in using arthroscopic techniques, which cause significantly less tissue damage and reduces postoperative pain. Recovery is also faster with minimally invasive hip surgery.

Hip Replacement

Anterior hip replacement is another specialty of the Elite Sports Medicine and Orthopedics team. It involves accessing your hip from the front of your body to substitute artificial components for diseased or damaged parts of the joint. Another type of hip replacement is the posterior hip replacement. Here, hip replacement surgeons make an incision on the back and the side of the hip, as opposed to the front.

Hip Resurfacing

We also offer hip resurfacing surgery. In this procedure, our surgeons put metal on the ball of your femur where it meets the socket. This surgery is less invasive than a total hip replacement because your doctor removes damaged cartilage instead of bone.

Fracture Surgeries

If you fracture your hip through a fall, vehicle accident, or other blunt trauma to the bone, you will need surgery. Since each hip fracture is slightly different, your surgeon will adjust your procedure based on the break. Regardless of where the surgeon chooses to make the incision, they will need to realign the broken bones.