My husband had sudden onset of hip pain upon awakening almost 3 weeks ago. He hobbles, in pain -- sometimes one hip, now often both. Dr. thinks arthritis. Does that come on suddenly, with no inflammation, redness or swelling?

My husband had sudden onset of hip pain upon awakening almost 3 weeks ago. He hobbles, in pain -- sometimes one hip, now often both. Dr. thinks arthritis. Does that come on suddenly, with no inflammation, redness or swelling?

Well it doesn't actually come on suddenly, but you suddenly notice it one fine day when its gotten bad enough to cause pain. There are diff kinds of arthritis. I am takeing it for granted you are asking about Osteoarthritis (the most common one)
I have it in my knees, pelvic bone, lumbar and Dorsal spine. There is no visible redness, inflamation nor swelling.

An X-ray will easily tell the tale if its osteoarthritis.

Of the x-rays don't show anything - your doctor may order an MRI. There are some forms of arthitis that in the early stages won't show up on x-rays