Knee and Hip Pain – What to Expect at the Doctor’s
When knee and hip pain become bothersome enough to seek medical attention, you should expect some routine things. Naturally, your doctor or health care provider will perform a routine physical exam to actually see if there are visible indications of the source of your knee and hip pain. The doctor will look for signs of inflammation, bruising, swelling, joint deformity, and perhaps even spinal alignment. He or she will also watch you walk for signs of changes in your gait. Additionally, your care provider will manually manipulate knee and hip joints to determine if and to what extent your Knee and Hip Pain limit mobility.
Next, he or she will most likely ask a series of questions to further identify the source or sources of your knee and hip pain. Some questions might naturally include the length of time you have experienced the knee and hip pain and if it is localized to one side or affects both sides. In regards to your knee and hip pain onset, the doctor will want to know if the pain came on suddenly, or if it has grown in frequency or severity. Accurate timelines for the progression of knee and hip pain may be good indications of the root cause.
Other questions your healthcare provider may ask in regards to you knee and hip pain include any relief measures you have taken. He or she will want to know what, if anything provides you relief from the knee and hip pain you’re feeling. Does resting the joint help, or does the use of massage or hot compresses change your knee and hip pain in any significant manner? Other helpful information includes what medications you are currently taking and what has provided relief, as well as any other related or seemingly non-related symptoms might accompany the joint pain .
The doctor will most likely order further testing if the source of your knee and hip pain is not easily determined. Blood tests such as a CBC or blood differential may be ordered, as well as joint x-rays. If your knee and hip pain is the result of an injury or infection which has caused fluid to build up, then the procedure called arthocentesis can be scheduled to drain excess fluid from the joint in question. However if physical examination, answers to questions, and laboratory tests reveal a condition such as arthritis, or your knee and Hip Pain suggest the possibility of arthritis, follow up visits are likely.
