As persons age, arthritis can become a major part of limiting their activities and lifestyle. While arthritis can attract new victims of nearly any age, the majority of persons developing hip arthritis symptoms are over the age of 50. Typically, osteoarthritis is the common cause and in many patients the pain and stiffness may be helped with simple lifestyle changes. Since the disease is degenerative in nature, changes will not eliminate the disease, but they can be helpful in managing the pain associated with the hip arthritis symptoms.

The hips carry a lot of weight and take a lot of punishment, especially during many daily activities. Some of the hip arthritis symptoms include pain the hips, stiffness, limited range of motion as well as possible causing the person to limp when they walk. If the sufferer is overweight, dropping some of the excess may help relieve some of the pain in the hips as will limiting excessively physical activities.

Many times the hip arthritis symptoms will appear worse following strenuous activities but can also develop with no activity at all. For example, a person may suffer hip arthritis symptoms after sitting in one position for an extended time and when they first rise, pain and stiffness in the hips will be present. Additional activity may also be painful, but in the early stages, symptoms of arthritis in the hips may disappear after a few minutes of movement.

Waking Up Can Be Painful Experience

With pain and stiffness the most common hip arthritis symptoms when a person first wakes up in the morning, they may be stiff from lying in one position throughout the night and the pain may be worse when they first try to move. After a short term, usually less than an hour, many of the hip arthritis symptoms will seem to disappear. Many times hips problems may also be present with knee arthritis symptoms, making early morning movement nearly impossible.

There are many drugs on the market that claim to ease the pain of hip arthritis symptoms, many include Glucosamine, chrondroitin or corticosteroids. Additionally, in patients suffering from severe pain, doctors might prescribe narcotics to relieve the pain.

Osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease that eats away at the cartilage in the joints, typically strikes smaller joints in the hands and feet, but attention should be paid to the hip arthritis symptoms even when they are present without affecting other joints. Without heeding the warnings, the hip joints can degenerate to a point where replacement is the only remaining option.