Osteoarthritis of the Hip — Understanding Your Condition

What is osteoarthritis of the hip?

Hip osteoarthritis is the gradual breakdown of the cartilage that lines the hip joint — the ball and socket joint where the top of the thigh bone (femoral head) meets the pelvis (acetabulum). As cartilage wears away, the joint loses its smooth gliding surface. Movement becomes painful, stiff, and progressively limited.

Unlike knee arthritis, which patients often describe as pain directly at the joint, hip arthritis frequently presents as groin pain, deep buttock pain, or even pain that radiates down to the thigh or knee. This can lead to delayed diagnosis — patients sometimes spend months treating what they think is a back problem or a knee problem when the source is actually the hip.

What causes hip osteoarthritis?

In my practice at NHS Hospital Jalandhar, the most common causes I see are:

• Age-related wear: The most common cause overall. The hip joint bears significant load over a lifetime and cartilage gradually thins with age.
• Previous hip injury: Fractures, dislocations, or damage to the acetabulum in younger years accelerates arthritis in that joint.
• Developmental abnormalities: Conditions like hip dysplasia or a mis-shaped femoral head (femoroacetabular impingement) create uneven loading that leads to early cartilage damage.
• Obesity: Excess body weight increases hip joint load and accelerates cartilage wear.
• Rheumatoid arthritis: Inflammatory joint disease that damages the hip cartilage through a different mechanism than mechanical wear.

What are the symptoms of hip osteoarthritis?

• Groin pain: The most characteristic symptom, often described as a deep ache.
• Pain in the buttock, outer hip, or thigh.
• Stiffness: Particularly first thing in the morning or after sitting for a prolonged period.
• Limping: The body naturally shifts weight away from the painful hip.
• Difficulty with rotation: Putting on socks or shoes, getting in and out of a car.
• Reduced walking distance over time.
• In advanced stages — pain at rest and disturbed sleep.

How is hip osteoarthritis treated without surgery?

My approach is always to use non-surgical treatment for as long as it genuinely helps:

• Physiotherapy: Strengthening the muscles around the hip reduces joint loading and improves stability. Water-based exercises are particularly well tolerated by hip arthritis patients.
• Weight management: Even modest weight loss reduces hip joint load significantly.
• Oral anti-inflammatory medications: Provide pain relief and allow patients to remain more active.
• Walking aids: A walking stick used in the opposite hand to the affected hip can significantly reduce pain during walking.
• Intra-articular injections: Corticosteroid injections into the hip joint provide temporary but meaningful relief in selected patients.

These measures manage the symptoms. They do not reverse the arthritis. When they are no longer providing adequate relief, surgery becomes the appropriate next step.

When is hip replacement recommended?

The decision to recommend hip replacement is made when:

• Pain is constant and significantly limits daily activities.
• Sleep is disturbed by hip pain.
• Walking distance has become severely restricted despite conservative treatment.
• X-rays confirm significant joint space loss consistent with the level of symptoms.
• The patient's overall health makes surgery safe and the expected benefit justifies the procedure.

Hip replacement, particularly robotic hip replacement, offers one of the most reliable and satisfying outcomes in all of surgery. The vast majority of patients describe the result as life-changing — and mean it.

Robotic hip replacement at NHS Hospital Jalandhar

At NHS Hospital Jalandhar, hip replacement is performed using the CORI Surgical System — an advanced imageless robotic platform that maps your hip anatomy in real time and guides implant positioning with precision that manual surgery cannot consistently achieve.

Dr. Aggarwal has performed over 1,000 robotic hip replacements using the posterior approach — a technique refined over 24 years. Most patients walk the morning after surgery and are discharged within 48 hours.

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