If the injury is relatively minor you may be able to treat it at home. You should rest the hip, apply a cold compress to the area and keep it elevated. Painkillers and anti-inflammatories can be taken to relieve pain and reduce swelling.

Physiotherapy may help to relieve stiffness, improve flexibility and increase movement. By strengthening the muscles surrounding your joint it can help to relieve pressure and reduce pain.

For more severe injuries, or if self-help treatment does not relieve the problem, you may require surgery. Among the surgical treatments offered for cartilage injuries are:

• Hip arthroscopy – this is a minimally invasive form of surgery – also called keyhole surgery – which involves making a small incision in the skin and inserting a thin flexible instrument called an arthroscope, which has a camera at one end. This enables the consultant to see inside your joint and tiny surgical instruments can be inserted to carry out some of the surgical procedures described below.
• Lavage and debridement – this involves removing any loose cartilage and trimming the edges of the damaged area to make them smooth. If possible, damaged areas of cartilage will be repaired.
• Microfracture – this is a procedure that involves drilling small holes in the bone to release bone marrow into it. The bone marrow encourages new cartilage to grow.
• Mosaicplasty – this involves replacing damaged cartilage with small plugs of healthy cartilage taken from another part of the joint.
• Autologous chondrocyte implantation – this entails removing a small piece of cartilage and growing more cartilage cells in a laboratory. After a month, these cells are implanted into the damaged joint where they will grow into healthy tissue.
• Hip replacement may be necessary for the most severe types of cartilage injury. This entails replacing the joint with a prosthetic implant.
• Regenerative treatments