5 Reasons to Consider Arthroscopy Surgery for Your Hip Pain

When you have hip pain, it can interfere with your daily activities and keep you from doing the things you love. But, even though hip pain is a common problem, that doesn’t mean you have to learn to live with it or turn to risky medications or invasive procedures to relieve your symptoms.

As an orthopedic surgeon in Bellevue, Washington, Dr. Chris Boone specializes in the most advanced, minimally invasive surgical techniques available for musculoskeletal conditions, including those affecting the hip. If you’re living with hip pain, he has five good reasons for you to consider arthroscopy to address your discomfort once and for all.

1. Arthroscopy can help diagnose the cause of your hip pain

Arthroscopy isn’t a surgical treatment alone; it’s also a diagnostic tool. If you have hip pain that isn’t responding to conservative treatments, like medication, therapeutic injections, or physical therapy, Dr. Boone might recommend arthroscopy to locate and identify joint or tissue issues causing your hip pain.

2. Arthroscopy is minimally invasive

Traditional surgeries require a long, single incision to access your hip joint. But, arthroscopic hip surgery only needs 2-5 tiny incisions. After making a small cut, Dr. Boone inserts a scope with a miniature camera into the space so he can view your hip joint and look for the cause of your pain. Then, if needed, he can repair any damage and disease with small, specialized surgical instruments.

Arthroscopy takes 1.5-2 hours, and you can usually go home the same day.

3. Arthroscopy comes with fewer risks

Because arthroscopic procedures involve smaller incisions than traditional surgery, they cause less trauma to the surrounding tissue. This approach offers several advantages, including:

• Less pain
• Less risk of infection
• Reduced blood loss
• Minimal scarring

This minimally invasive technique also comes with fewer chances of complications and little risk to your joint or surrounding blood vessels and nerves.

4. Arthroscopy can eliminate your hip pain

Dr. Boone uses arthroscopy to treat several hip conditions, including femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and labral tears.

Femoroacetabular impingement
When you have FAI, you have extra bone growing in your hip joint. These growths cause your bones to have irregular shapes and interfere with normal joint function, leading to damage.

Labral tears
Labral tissue helps improve stability and protect your hip joint. Labral tears affect the proper functioning of the cartilage lining your hip socket.

Dr. Boone can also use arthroscopy to remove pieces of cartilage from inside your joint. Once you’ve healed, you’ll find your pain much improved.

5. Arthroscopy can help you avoid hip replacement

While arthroscopy can’t solve all of your hip problems, it does offer early treatment options for a wide range of issues. Addressing injury, deformity, and other hip problems as soon as they arise not only relieves pain but also improves your hip alignment and mechanics. These improvements can reduce your risk of cartilage degeneration and arthritis.

If you have significant cartilage damage that requires hip joint replacement, Dr. Boone also offers minimally invasive, robot-assisted surgical options.

To see if hip arthroscopy can help your pain, call Chris Boone, MD at 425-214-4353 or schedule an appointment online today.