# Hip replacement alternatives: what to try before an operation *Hip replacement alternatives | non-surgical knee treatment queen creek* > Hip replacement alternatives for soreness and stiffness, with clear home steps, visit details and limits on what knee research can tell you. Getting out of bed can bring a deep ache near the hip. Movement may ease the stiffness before a longer walk brings it back. ## How to ease a hip that stays sore Joint wear is common, but nearby muscles and tendons can hurt too. The soreness location and exam separate joint wear from muscle or tendon trouble. Start with steady exercise that keeps the hip moving and strengthens nearby muscles. Shorter walks and a cane can keep you active without forcing a limp. Heat before movement may ease stiffness, and cold can settle swelling later. Ask whether an anti-inflammatory gel or tablet is safe with your medicines. Don't copy a knee exercise if it makes the hip worse. A physical therapist can fit each movement to your balance and strength. ## What to expect when you go in A clinician will ask where the soreness sits and when it began. The exam checks motion, strength, walking, and soreness coming from the back. For hip soreness, QC Kinetix offers surgery alternatives called regenerative treatments. Medical providers perform these blood-based procedures after examining you in the clinic. Spinning a blood sample separates a platelet-heavy portion called platelet-rich plasma, or PRP. The clinician puts it into the hip and may discuss concentrated PRP. The clinic hopes to calm the ache and make motion easier, but results vary. The exam can instead point to a talk with a surgeon. ## When to ask about hip replacement Hip research supports exercise, but there's less of it than knee research. One study found that guided exercise delayed surgery for some people. That result doesn't mean exercise will prevent every hip replacement. It means steady work may ease walking while you consider surgery. Ask for a surgery opinion when sleep, walking, or dressing keeps getting harder. If exercise and medicine haven't helped, delay may take away more daily ability. ## Sources 1. In a long-term follow-up of a randomised trial in 109 patients with symptomatic and radiographic hip osteoarthritis, adding exercise therapy to patient education raised 6-year survival of the native hip from 25% to 41% (p=0.034; HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.96), with median time to total hip replacement of 5.4 years versus 3.5 years. The authors describe this as an explanatory finding suggesting exercise therapy can reduce the need for hip replacement by 44%. Svege I, Nordsletten L, Fernandes L, et al. — [Exercise therapy may postpone total hip replacement surgery in patients with hip osteoarthritis: a long-term follow-up of a randomised trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24255546/). *Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases*, 2015. DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-203628. 2. The Cochrane review of land-based therapeutic exercise for HIP osteoarthritis included 10 randomised trials, seven of which the authors judged to have a low risk of bias, though results remain vulnerable to performance and detection bias because participants could not be blinded and all primary outcomes were self-reported. The evidence base for hip is substantially thinner than for knee. Fransen M, McConnell S, Hernandez-Molina G, et al. — [Exercise for osteoarthritis of the hip.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24756895/). *Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews*, 2014. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007912.pub2. 3. The Cochrane review of land-based therapeutic exercise for knee osteoarthritis extracted data from 54 randomised trials, assessing pain, physical function and quality of life immediately after treatment and the sustained effect at 2-6 months and beyond 6 months. Only 19 of the included studies (20%) met all three low-risk-of-bias criteria the authors applied. Fransen M, McConnell S, Harmer AR, et al. — [Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25569281/). *Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews*, 2015. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004376.pub3. 4. A 2021 JAMA review states that osteoarthritis affects an estimated 240 million people worldwide including more than 32 million in the US, that 33% of people older than 75 have symptomatic and radiographic knee OA, that diagnosis is clinical despite widespread overuse of imaging, that people with OA are more sedentary and carry a 20% higher age-adjusted mortality, and that the cornerstones of management are exercise, weight loss where appropriate and education, complemented by topical or oral NSAIDs, with opiates to be avoided. Katz JN, Arant KR, Loeser RF. — [Diagnosis and Treatment of Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Review.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33560326/). *JAMA*, 2021. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.22171. 5. In 63,158 hip and 54,276 knee replacement patients in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, the lifetime risk of requiring revision surgery was about 5% for patients operated on after age 70 with no sex difference, but rose to 35% (95% CI 30.9-39.1) for men having surgery in their early 50s, with women's risk about 15% lower at the same age. Median time to revision for patients operated on younger than 60 was 4.4 years. The authors state their evidence challenges the trend toward more replacements in younger patients. Bayliss LE, Culliford D, Monk AP, et al. — [The effect of patient age at intervention on risk of implant revision after total replacement of the hip or knee: a population-based cohort study.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28209371/). *The Lancet*, 2017. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30059-4. 6. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 89,996 patients (60.6% female, mean age 67.4) awaiting primary elective total hip or knee replacement found a significant deterioration in joint function (mean difference 0.0575% per additional day of waiting, 95% CI 0.0064 to 0.1086, p=0.028) and in health-related quality of life per additional day of waiting. Meta-analysis could not detect a relationship with post-operative outcomes, and patient responses to delayed surgery were unanimously negative. Cooper GM, Bayram JM, Clement ND. — [The functional and psychological impact of delayed hip and knee arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 89,996 patients.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38580681/). *Scientific Reports*, 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58050-6. 7. The 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation guideline makes STRONG recommendations for exercise, weight loss in people with knee and/or hip OA who are overweight or obese, self-efficacy and self-management programs, tai chi, cane use, tibiofemoral bracing for tibiofemoral knee OA, topical NSAIDs for knee OA, oral NSAIDs, and intra-articular glucocorticoid injections for knee OA. Radiofrequency ablation for knee OA, acupuncture, thermal modalities, acetaminophen, duloxetine and tramadol are only CONDITIONAL recommendations. Kolasinski SL, Neogi T, Hochberg MC, et al. — [2019 American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip, and Knee.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31908163/). *Arthritis & Rheumatology*, 2020. DOI: 10.1002/art.41142. 8. OARSI 2019 designates arthritis education plus structured land-based exercise (with or without dietary weight management) as CORE treatments for knee OA, and education plus structured land-based exercise as core for hip and polyarticular OA. Topical NSAIDs are strongly recommended for knee OA (Level 1A). Intra-articular corticosteroids and hyaluronic acid are Level 1B/2 for knee OA depending on comorbidity and are NOT recommended for hip or polyarticular OA. Oral NSAIDs are not recommended for people with cardiovascular comorbidity or frailty, and oral and transdermal opioids are strongly not recommended (Level 5). Bannuru RR, Osani MC, Vaysbrot EE, et al. — [OARSI guidelines for the non-surgical management of knee, hip, and polyarticular osteoarthritis.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31278997/). *Osteoarthritis and Cartilage*, 2019. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2019.06.011. 9. In 100 adults with mostly moderate-to-severe knee OA who were judged NOT eligible for knee replacement, a 12-week individualised non-surgical programme (neuromuscular exercise, education, insoles, dietary advice, pain medication if indicated) beat usual care at 12 months by 9.6 KOOS4 points (95% CI 4.4 to 14.8), with a number needed to treat of 7.2 for a 15% improvement and no serious treatment-related adverse events. Skou ST, Rasmussen S, Laursen MB, et al. — [The efficacy of 12 weeks non-surgical treatment for patients not eligible for total knee replacement: a randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25937024/). *Osteoarthritis and Cartilage*, 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2015.04.021. 10. At 2 years across two parallel randomised trials (200 patients, mean age 66), total knee replacement plus non-surgical treatment beat non-surgical treatment alone by 18.3 KOOS points (95% CI 11.3 to 25.3), and non-surgical treatment in turn beat written advice by 7.0 points (95% CI 0.4 to 13.5). Among patients eligible for replacement, 16 of 50 (32%) in the non-surgical group had surgery within 2 years - meaning two out of three delayed it for at least two years. Skou ST, Roos EM, Laursen MB, et al. — [Total knee replacement and non-surgical treatment of knee osteoarthritis: 2-year outcome from two parallel randomized controlled trials.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29723634/). *Osteoarthritis and Cartilage*, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2018.04.014. ## When to call the clinic or a surgeon The people who own this site also own the Phoenix-area QC Kinetix clinics. Chandler is the nearest office, about 20 to 35 minutes away. There is no charge for the consultation. A clinician examines the joint and reviews the care already tried. The clinician may say a clinic procedure fits the soreness. The answer may instead be that it's time to discuss surgery with a surgeon. For the urgent warning signs described here, don't book a routine consultation. Get assessed the same day. Book a free consultation: --- Plain answers for knee soreness. A plain guide to knee soreness, treatment choices, home steps and surgery timing near Queen Creek. Straight help with knee soreness, daily care, and surgery timing near Queen Creek. This site is operated by the owners of the QC Kinetix Phoenix-area clinics, including the Chandler office named throughout these pages. Read it as first-party: we have a commercial interest in you calling, which is exactly why every claim here is tied to a study you can open yourself. (c) 2026 Knee in Context, Queen Creek, Arizona. Educational content only, and not medical advice for any individual person.