Expert Sports Injury
Care in San Diego

You still want to surf at sunrise, hike the trails above Laguna Beach, or squeeze in a few games of pickleball after work. Lately, though, your hip aches after every outing and feels stiff when you climb out of bed. Hip osteoarthritis can make you wonder whether your active years are winding down and whether a hip replacement is the only way forward.

Researchers estimate that about one in four people will develop painful hip osteoarthritis in their lifetime. When you catch it in the early or middle stages, however, you have several treatment options that can help you avoid or delay a total hip replacement.

Read on to learn how hip arthritis progresses, which non-surgical treatments can keep you moving, and what to look for when searching for the best hip surgeon in Orange County.

What Happens to the Hip Joint as Osteoarthritis Progresses

Smooth cartilage covers the ball and socket of your hip, allowing them to glide easily. Osteoarthritis slowly wears that cartilage down, and doctors usually describe it in three stages.

• In the early stage, small areas of cartilage begin to thin. This is when you may feel morning stiffness or a dull ache after a long run or hike.
• In the middle stage, the joint space narrows, and bone spurs may form. This is usually when you experience pain during everyday activities.
• In the advanced stage, most of the cartilage is gone, and bone rubs against bone. Pain during this stage can interfere with sleep, walking, and basic daily tasks.

For active adults, old hip injuries, labral tears, and femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), a condition where extra bone on the ball or socket rubs during movement, can all speed up cartilage wear.

How to Adjust Your Workouts to Reduce Hip Arthritis Pain

Staying active helps your hip. Movement keeps the surrounding muscles strong, and people who stop moving altogether tend to feel worse over time. The goal is to choose activities that work with your hip instead of irritating it further. Some activity modifications you can try include: 

• Swap some running for cycling, swimming, or rowing, which put less pounding on the joint
• Walk or jog on trails or a track instead of concrete
• Warm up before you play and build in rest days between hard sessions
• Limit deep squats and other positions that bend your hip sharply when they cause pain

Non-Surgical Treatments That Ease Hip Arthritis Pain

Most modern treatment plans for hip pain combine several non-surgical approaches, including:

• Physical therapy to strengthen the glutes, core, and thigh muscles that support the hip
• Weight management, since extra body weight adds pressure to the joint with every step
• Anti-inflammatory medication for flare-ups
• Steroid injections, which can calm a painful flare for a limited time

Best Orthobiologic Injections for Hip Osteoarthritis

Several injectable treatments, many made from your own body, can help reduce symptoms of hip osteoarthritis:

• SynoJoynt, a hyaluronic acid injection that mimics the natural fluid in your joint to lubricate and cushion it
• Arthrex ACP, a form of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) that concentrates healing factors from your own blood to calm inflammation
• Interfyl, a placental tissue matrix injection that delivers growth factors to support tissue repair
• Bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC), which uses cells from your own bone marrow to reduce pain and may help slow joint wear

These treatments can’t regrow a worn-out joint, and results vary. They tend to work best in early and middle-stage arthritis, and many patients use them to stay active longer and put off hip surgery. If you're comparing the best hip osteoarthritis treatment in Orange County, ask whether a clinic offers several regenerative options, so your plan fits your hip.

Can Hip Preservation Surgery Help Avoid a Full Hip Replacement?

When arthritis is still mild, your pain may come from a structural problem that surgery can fix. Hip arthroscopy uses a tiny camera and small instruments inserted through a few small incisions. With this technique, top orthopedic surgeons in Orange County can:

• Repair or reconstruct a torn labrum
• Reshape extra bone that causes FAI
• Smooth damaged cartilage and remove loose fragments

Hip arthroscopy works best before arthritis becomes advanced. Once cartilage has worn thin across the whole joint, arthroscopy offers little benefit.

Signs That It’s Time to Consider a Hip Replacement

A hip replacement becomes a reasonable option when arthritis reaches the advanced stage, and other treatments no longer control your pain. Signs include:

• Pain that wakes you at night or lingers while you rest
• Trouble walking, putting on shoes, or getting in and out of the car
• Little or no relief from injections, therapy, and activity changes
• X-rays that show bone rubbing on bone

Though a hip replacement sounds daunting, many people return to normal activities after recovery, including surfing, running, walking, cycling, and golfing. 

Searching for the Best Hip Surgeon in Orange County?

Dr. Sanjum Samagh, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and hip preservation specialist, leads our team at San Diego Performance Orthopedics & Regenerative Therapy. He trained in hip arthroscopy during his sports medicine fellowship at Northwestern University, where he also served as an assistant team physician for the Chicago Cubs. Today, he serves as vice chair of orthopedic surgery at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas.

Dr. Samagh’s care for hip osteoarthritis starts with the least invasive option. He offers SynoJoynt, Arthrex ACP, Interfyl, and BMAC injections, and performs minimally invasive hip arthroscopy for labral repair, labral reconstruction, and cartilage damage when a structural problem drives your pain. If a hip replacement is the right choice, he can also help you plan your next steps.

Our clinic in Encinitas sits a short drive down the coast from Orange County and is trusted by patients across Leucadia, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Cardiff, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Torrey Pines, and throughout North County San Diego and Southern California.

For those looking for the best hip surgeon in Orange County, Dr. Samagh will build a plan around those goals, from regenerative injections to a smarter training routine. Ready to learn more about your treatment options?