The reason I declined the offer for the pain meds for my hip was I thought that the pain was warning me to rest it. I only have pain when having to walk up slight up hill grades or for long periods of time. Like walking around in a Wal Mart super store. I figured the pain meds would let me just ignore the pain and let me do more damage to my hip. The pain goes away if I set down and rest for a few min.
Your rice in a sock sounds like a good idea. I guess it could be used as a cold pack also?
I had an issue with my left hip and couldn't go up and down the stairs. Finally it was painful enough, that I noticed it when laying down on the couch to watch TV. That couch didn't have much support in the cushions.
I reoriented it, added a therapeutic layer of cushion and bought a wedge so that I could watch TV leaning back or laying on my right side. So I would lay on my right side and put the heat pad or rice sock on the left hip.
It cleared up and I was able to resume going up and down the stairs without a ton of pain. Had I taken pain meds, I would have never figured out what I was doing to contribute to the situation.