Women’s Hip Health: When Delayed Diagnosis Or Treatment Causes Avoidable Harm

Women’s Hip Health

Pink October is an opportunity to raise awareness of breast cancer and the importance of early diagnosis, while encouraging women to speak up when something does not feel right and to feel confident that their concerns will be heard. It also opens the door to a wider conversation: women can face many other health issues throughout their lives, and these too deserve timely attention, proper investigation and year-round awareness.

At Bond Turner, we champion women’s health all year round by highlighting conditions that can be overlooked, misunderstood or not properly investigated. Hip health is a prime example and one that people usually overlook or fail to consider. Developmental conditions, pregnancy-related pain, osteoporosis, fractures, osteoarthritis and complications after hip replacement surgery; all of those are potential complications that timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment can prevent.

Why Can Hip Health Affect Women Differently?

The hips support much of the body’s weight and play a central role in walking, balance and everyday movement. A problem affecting the hip can therefore have a significant impact on a woman’s ability to work, care for her family or live independently.

Women may be affected by different hip conditions at different points in adulthood:

• Hip dysplasia that was not identified during childhood may begin causing symptoms during adolescence or adulthood.
• Pregnancy can place additional strain on the pelvis, hips and surrounding muscles.
• Hormonal changes following the menopause can accelerate the loss of bone density.
• Osteoporosis can make the bones more vulnerable to fractures.
• Osteoarthritis and other degenerative conditions may eventually make hip replacement surgery necessary.

For women experiencing persistent pain, stiffness or reduced mobility, being listened to and receiving an appropriate assessment can make an important difference.

Women’s Hip Health in Numbers

• The NHS estimates that pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain affects up to one in five pregnant women to some degree.
• Around 76,000 hip fractures occur in the UK each year. They mainly affect older people and are more common in women.
• The National Joint Registry recorded 113,472 primary hip replacement procedures during 2025.

These figures demonstrate the range and scale of the hip-related conditions that can affect women throughout adulthood.

Women’s Hip Health Issues to Be Aware Of

Several hip conditions can affect women at different stages of life. If your symptoms were missed, dismissed or treated too late, have you considered whether your diagnosis could have been avoided? At Bond Turner, that is exactly what we can help you understand.

Hip dysplasia in teenagers and adult women

Hip dysplasia develops when the hip socket does not fully support the top of the thigh bone. It can be missed in childhood and only start causing pain, clicking, instability or difficulty moving during the teenage years or adulthood.

Early diagnosis may allow treatment such as physiotherapy, pain management or joint-preserving surgery. If symptoms were not properly investigated and the delay led to joint damage, earlier osteoarthritis or more extensive surgery, you may well have a claim to make.

Menopause, osteoporosis and hip fractures

Bone density can fall more quickly during and after the menopause, increasing the risk of osteoporosis and fragility fractures. A hip fracture can cause severe pain, an inability to stand or bear weight, or make the affected leg appear shorter or turned outwards, so it needs urgent assessment.

Persistent hip pain or reduced mobility should not automatically be put down to ageing, especially when a woman has repeatedly sought help because something did not feel right. If a suspected fracture was missed, further imaging was not arranged, treatment was delayed or osteoporosis risks were not assessed, and this caused additional harm, we may be able to help you understand whether you could make a claim.

Osteoarthritis and hip replacement surgery

Hip osteoarthritis can cause pain, stiffness and reduced mobility that affects sleep, work and everyday independence. When other treatments no longer help, a hip replacement may be recommended; while surgery is generally successful, complications can include infection, blood clots, dislocation, nerve or tissue damage, leg-length difference and implant problems.

A complication does not automatically mean there was negligence. However, if care fell below a reasonable standard – for example through an avoidable surgical error, poor implant positioning or a failure to recognise and treat a complication – and this caused additional harm, a legal assessment can help confirm whether a claim may be possible.

Warning Signs that Should not be Overlooked

Hip problems can present in different ways. Symptoms that may require medical assessment include:

• Persistent pain in the hip, groin, thigh or lower back
• Pain that affects sleep or normal daily activities
• Stiffness or a reduced range of movement
• Clicking, catching or feelings of instability in the hip
• Increasing difficulty walking or using stairs
• Pregnancy-related pain that makes it difficult to move around
• Severe pain or an inability to bear weight following a fall
• Worsening pain, redness, swelling, fever or wound discharge following surgery

Severe hip pain following an injury, particularly where the person cannot stand or put weight on the leg, requires urgent medical attention.

When Can Hip Care Go Wrong?

Possible examples of poor hip care include:

• Hip pain being dismissed or inadequately investigated
• A failure to diagnose hip dysplasia in an adult woman
• Appropriate X-rays, scans or follow-up appointments not being arranged
• A fracture or other abnormality being missed on medical imaging
• Unreasonable delays in referral, diagnosis, surgery or other treatment
• A failure to assess osteoporosis or the risk of further fractures when clinically indicated
• Inappropriate treatment or an avoidable error during corrective or replacement surgery
• Incorrect positioning of a hip implant
• Avoidable damage to nerves, muscles or blood vessels
• An excessive and avoidable difference in leg length after surgery
• A failure to recognise or treat infection, dislocation or another postoperative complication
• Inadequate falls precautions resulting in a patient fracturing her hip while in hospital

Whether any of these circumstances amounts to medical negligence will depend on the individual facts and the findings of independent medical experts.

The Possible Consequences of Delayed or Inappropriate Treatment

When a hip condition is missed or treated incorrectly, the consequences can extend well beyond the original injury.

A woman may require more invasive surgery than would otherwise have been necessary or experience a longer and more painful recovery. Delayed treatment may contribute to earlier arthritis, continuing pain, restricted movement or the need for revision hip surgery.

The effects can also include:

• Loss of mobility and independence
• Additional care or rehabilitation requirements
• Time away from work and loss of earnings
• Mobility equipment or adaptations to the home
• Difficulty caring for children or other family members
• Loss of confidence, anxiety or low mood
• Reduced participation in social and recreational activities

For some women, these consequences can continue for many years.

Breast Cancer Treatment and Hip Health

With breast cancer awareness being the focus of Pink October, it should also be noted that breast cancer treatment can also influence women’s health, including the bones and joints. Certain hormone therapies reduce oestrogen levels, which may cause joint pain or stiffness and, over time, weaken the bones. Chemotherapy can also bring about an earlier menopause, increasing the risk of osteoporosis and fracture. In rare cases, steroid medication used alongside treatment can damage the blood supply to the hip joint.

As Pink October reminds women to be alert to changes in their bodies and seek advice when something does not feel right, hip pain during or after breast cancer treatment should not be ignored. It does not necessarily indicate a serious problem, but persistent, severe or unexplained pain should be reported to an oncology team or GP. It may be linked to the effects of treatment and, less commonly, can be a sign that breast cancer has spread to the bones.

When Could Someone Have a Hip Negligence Claim?

A poor outcome or recognised complication is not, by itself, evidence of medical negligence.

For a claim to succeed, it will generally be necessary to establish that the care provided fell below the standard reasonably expected of a healthcare professional and that this caused or materially contributed to an avoidable injury.

Independent medical evidence will usually be needed to assess what treatment should have been provided and whether appropriate care would probably have produced a better outcome.

There is generally a three-year time limit for beginning a medical negligence claim. This usually runs from the date of the negligent treatment or the date on which the person first became aware that negligence may have caused a significant injury. Exceptions can apply, so anyone with concerns should seek legal advice as soon as reasonably possible.

How Bond Turner can help

At Bond Turner, our commitment to championing women’s health throughout the year includes supporting women who feel their symptoms were not taken seriously or whose medical care may have caused avoidable harm.

Our specialist medical negligence solicitors can listen to what happened and provide an initial assessment of your circumstances. You do not need to determine for yourself whether the treatment was negligent before contacting us.

Where appropriate, our team can:

• Obtain and examine medical records, scans and treatment notes
• Instruct independent medical experts
• Investigate whether your treatment fell below an acceptable standard
• Determine what additional harm may have been caused
• Assess the financial and personal consequences
• Seek compensation for pain, lost earnings, treatment, rehabilitation and care
• Explore interim payments and early rehabilitation where appropriate