Hip Joint Injections

Hip joint injections, guided by live X-ray and ultrasound, help find and treat hip arthritis. They also tell true hip pain from pain sent by the lower spine, at Remix Medical in Houston, TX.

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By Raju Mantena, DO · Pain Medicine PhysicianReviewed Jul 9, 20261 min read

Key takeaways

A hip joint injection places local anesthetic — usually with corticosteroid — directly into the ball-and-socket joint under fluoroscopic or ultrasound guidance, serving as both a diagnostic tool and a treatment.
The hip 'lies': its pain shows up in the groin, buttock, outer thigh, and often the knee (via shared obturator nerve supply), so patients are frequently treated for a lumbar spine problem while the responsible joint is never examined.
An intra-articular anesthetic injection is the cleanest way to separate hip pain from lumbar spine pain — relief confirms the joint as the source, while no change redirects attention to the spine, a distinction that changes management before any surgery.
Image guidance is mandatory, not optional — the hip is deep and lies next to the femoral neurovascular bundle, so it can't be reliably or safely entered by landmark alone.
The steroid component typically gives weeks to months of relief (shorter in advanced arthritis), and a good response makes an eventual hip replacement far more likely to relieve pain.

Hip Joint Injections in Houston, Texas

The hip is a deep joint, and it lies. Its pain shows up in the groin, the buttock, the outer thigh, and — with unhelpful frequency — the knee. Patients spend months in treatment for a lumbar spine problem while the joint responsible has never been examined. An image-guided hip injection settles the question.

What is a Hip Joint Injection?

A hip joint injection places local anesthetic, usually with corticosteroid, directly into the ball-and-socket joint under fluoroscopic or ultrasound guidance.

The hip sits beneath thick muscle and adjacent to the femoral neurovascular bundle. It cannot be reliably entered by landmark alone. Image guidance is mandatory, not a refinement.

Stage	What happens
Before	You're positioned, the skin is cleaned and numbed, and live imaging (fluoroscopy or ultrasound) guides the needle
During	The medication is placed precisely at inside the hip joint; most people feel pressure more than sharp pain
After	You rest briefly and go home the same day — arrange a driver if you received sedation

Diagnostic Value

Hip pain and lumbar spine pain coexist frequently, and each can convincingly imitate the other. An intra-articular hip injection is the cleanest way to separate them: if local anesthetic in the joint substantially relieves your pain, the joint is the source. If it does not, attention properly returns to the spine.

This distinction changes management entirely, and it is worth establishing before anyone operates on either structure.

What It Treats

Hip osteoarthritis with groin pain and stiffness
Labral tears and femoroacetabular impingement
Inflammatory arthritis involving the hip
Avascular necrosis in early stages, for symptom control
Unclear hip-versus-spine pain , as a diagnostic tool

Answering the Right Question at Remix Medical

Months of back treatment for a hip problem is a common and avoidable story.

How it's performed

The patient lies supine and the hip is visualized under fluoroscopy or ultrasound. After skin anesthesia, a needle is advanced along the femoral neck into the joint capsule, deliberately lateral to the femoral neurovascular bundle. Contrast confirms intra-articular position, after which local anesthetic and corticosteroid are injected into the joint.

How to prepare

Avoid pain medication immediately beforehand if the injection is being done for diagnostic purposes. Arrange a driver. Hold anticoagulants only as directed by the prescribing physician. Bring recent hip and lumbar spine imaging. Be prepared to record pain scores for several hours afterward.

What to expect after

Record pain scores hourly for 6 hours after the injection — the anesthetic phase carries the diagnostic information. Ice the groin area 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours on the first day. Avoid strenuous activity for 48 hours. Monitor blood glucose if diabetic. Report fever, escalating groin pain, or inability to bear weight immediately.

Outcome

Substantial relief during the anesthetic phase confirms the hip joint as the pain source and reliably separates hip pathology from lumbar spine pathology. The corticosteroid component typically provides weeks to months of symptomatic relief.

Frequently asked

Hip Joint Injections questions, answered

What is a hip joint injection?

It's an injection of anti-inflammatory medication into the hip joint, usually with imaging guidance, to relieve arthritis or other hip pain. It's a quick outpatient procedure.

Are hip injections done with imaging?

Yes, because the hip is deep, they're guided by fluoroscopy or ultrasound to place the medication precisely. That improves both safety and effectiveness.

Does a hip injection hurt?

The area is numbed first, so you'll mainly feel pressure. Some soreness afterward is normal and settles within a day or two.

What can I expect after a hip injection?

Rest the hip that day, then ease back into activity. Report fever, spreading redness, or severe pain, which are rare but need prompt care.

How long does a hip injection last?

Relief commonly lasts from a few weeks to a few months and varies from person to person. It's often used to enable physical therapy and delay or avoid surgery.

Sources

References

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. Arthritis Care Res 2020;72(2):149–162 — https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.24131
Bannuru RR, Osani MC, Vaysbrot EE, et al. OARSI guidelines for the non-surgical management of knee, hip, and polyarticular osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2019;27(11):1578–1589 — https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2019.06.011
Lynch TS, Steinhaus ME, Popkin CA, et al. Assessment and Management of Hip Osteoarthritis. Am Fam Physician — hip OA evaluation and intra-articular therapy — https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2013/0201/p183.html
Foster ZJ, Voss TT, Hatch J, Frimodig A. Corticosteroid Injections for Common Musculoskeletal Conditions. Am Fam Physician 2015;92(8):694–699 — https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2015/1015/p694.html
Khan AM, McLoughlin E, Giannakas K, et al. Hip osteoarthritis: where is the pain? Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2004;86(2):119–121 — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1964146/
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases: Osteoarthritis — https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/osteoarthritis

SpecialtyPain ManagementTypeProcedureBody locationHip joint, femoral head, acetabulum, acetabular labrum, hip joint capsuleCPT code20610 (arthrocentesis/injection, major joint, without ultrasound), 20611 (with ultrasound guidance and permanent recording); 27093/27095 (hip arthrography injection); 77002 (fluoroscopic guidance, when reported separately)

Also called Intra-Articular Hip Injection, Hip Steroid Injection, Hip Arthrogram Injection, Hip Joint Block

This page is for general education and is not a substitute for medical advice. Whether a given procedure is appropriate depends on your individual evaluation. Contact a Remix Medical clinician to discuss your care.

Updated July 9, 2026. Medically reviewed by Raju Mantena, DO.