What treatments are effective for hip arthritis?

There are many treatment options for hip osteoarthritis, but one of the most effective of these options is physical therapy. 

There are plenty of people who can benefit from physical therapy for hip osteoarthritis; it’s estimated that 18.5% of men and 28.6% of women develop this condition in their lifetime. A physical therapist can evaluate your hips to determine the severity of your symptoms. They can also build you a unique treatment plan for hip osteoarthritis that includes several therapy methods.  

Three treatment methods physical therapists can use for hip arthritis

Physical therapists are trained to treat the entire human musculoskeletal system. This means that they know exactly which hip structures could be causing your hip arthritis symptoms. Additionally, their training allows them to pick the most effective treatment techniques for your hip arthritis.

Three techniques that are commonly included in hip osteoarthritis therapy plans are: 

1. Aquatic therapy — This type of therapy takes place in a heated pool. Aquatic therapy is designed to take advantage of water characteristics like buoyancy. It can help reduce pressure on sore joints. This technique can also improve patients’ stability during therapy exercises. One aquatic therapy study found that it helped: 

• Reduce pain by 5% on average compared to control group patients. 
• Improve disability scores by 5% on average compared to the control group.
• Increase quality of life by 7% on average over control group scores. 

2. Dry needling — This technique involves the physical therapist inserting very thin needles into soft tissue around the hip. The goal of dry needling is to promote a local twitch response. Such a response can help break down myofascial trigger points and reduce pain. A study on this technique reveals that 80% of patients who had it reported improvements in their hip arthritis symptoms. 

3. Therapeutic exercises — Therapeutic exercises are what most people think of when they think of physical therapy. Specific exercises can help stretch and strengthen the hip muscles; in turn, this can lead to improvements in hip arthritis symptoms. One study reports that 12 weeks of therapeutic exercises helped reduce hip osteoarthritis pain by 30%. 

Peak Performance offers top-notch hip arthritis treatment

Have you struggled to find effective hip arthritis treatment? Our team at Peak Performance can help you find the treatment you’re looking for. We offer free screenings intended to help us learn how your arthritis is affecting you. Additionally, our physical therapists are adept at building individualized therapy plans designed to: 

• Reduce arthritis pain.
• Improve joint range of motion.
• Increase joint function.
• Help you manage symptoms better in the future. 

You can even use our virtual therapy service to get at-home treatment for your arthritis symptoms. 

Contact us today for more information about our arthritis treatment options or to schedule an initial appointment.