The hip joint is a large bony joint that connects the femur and pelvic bones, giving the limb the ability to bend, extend, and abduct. Pain in the hip joint is a symptom of many inflammatory, infectious, degenerative and other diseases. The causes of hip pain vary greatly, so a thorough diagnosis is essential.
Causes of hip pain
Pain in the hip joint varies: sharp and regular, constant and periodic. Most often, unpleasant sensations occur in people over 50 years old, although they can occur even in children. The causes of hip pain vary greatly. The most common is coxarthrosis, a degenerative disease with wear and tear of the articular cartilage, in which the bones begin to approach each other and become deformed.
Pain in the right and left hip joint can have other causes:
- injuries: fractures, cracks, dislocations;
- connective tissue damage and autoimmune pathologies;
- osteochondropathy;
- disorders of skeletal development;
- inflammation.
Sometimes the cause of quite severe pain is damage to other parts of the body (for example, the spine, sacrum, intestines). In this case, the treatment must address the underlying problem, only then the hip joint will stop bothering the person.
Injuries as a cause of pain.
Acute pain affecting only one hip joint may be a symptom of a traumatic injury. It is difficult for a healthy person to break a hip joint, but if you have osteoporosis, this happens regularly. Basically, the diagnosis of "femoral neck fracture" is given to women over 60 to 65 years old, whose cause of osteoporosis is menopause and disturbances in the functioning of hormone-producing organs. If the femoral neck hurts after a fall or bruise, you should definitely carry out instrumental diagnosis!
A car accident can cause a pertrochanteric femoral fracture. Sharp pain appears in the hip joint when the nerves are pinched.
Also, pain on the right or left appears against the background of:
- bruise in a bone joint due to a fall or direct blow;
- traumatic hip dislocation;
- Congenital hip dislocation.
Birth injuries and bone deformations during intrauterine development can lead to congenital dislocation. Without treatment, the child's legs may have different lengths in the future and coxarthrosis develops early.
Causing diseases in adults and children.
If symptoms recur or hip joint pain becomes chronic, they are often caused by systemic pathologies or diseases of the hip joint itself.
In addition to coxarthrosis, the hip joint hurts for the following reasons:
- Purulent arthritis.It occurs due to an infection of the thigh area with pyogenic bacteria. Any movement becomes impossible due to acute pain, the affected area becomes red and swollen.
- Aseptic necrosis of the femoral head.The reason is poor circulation in the hip joint. The disease mainly occurs at a young age. Without treatment, there is a risk of muscle and tendon atrophy and the person becomes disabled.
- Myositis ossificans.It comes from inflammation of the muscles and connective tissue, is associated with heredity or occurs after an injury.
- Ankylosing spondyloarthritis.It causes inflammatory damage to the bone joint, resulting in limited mobility due to fusion of the joint cavity.
- Osteochondritis dissecans of the femur.The cartilage of the hip joint delaminates and tissue necrosis often develops.
- Bursitis and synovitis.In this case, severe pain in the hip joint is associated with inflammation of the bursa or synovial capsule.
Why do the hip joints hurt on one or both sides? What other reasons are there?
The following diseases may be the cause:
- Reiter's syndrome;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- spinal injuries with radicular syndrome;
- deformities of feet, legs, knees;
- enthesopathy.
In pregnant women, the cause of pain in the right or left joint is usually symphysitis, an inflammation of the pubic symphysis when the pubic bones diverge. In rare cases, hip joint tumors and gout can trigger symptoms in people.
Symptoms of pathologies.
Signs of diseases, as well as treatment procedures, vary greatly. Pain in the hip joint after a serious injury is strong, sharp and localized in the thigh area. The surrounding tissues swell and lameness is observed. The latter, with a slight bruise, quickly disappears. If there is a dislocation, fracture, leg movements are limited or impossible.
For a hip fracture, the symptoms are:
- increased pain when moving;
- irradiation of sensations on the inner surface of the leg;
- swelling, bruising;
- limp;
- joint clicking;
- muscle numbness.
When the bursa or synovial membrane is inflamed, the pain is accompanied by a burning sensation and intensifies when walking. With osteochondrosis, tingling and goosebumps appear in the hip joint. Coxarthrosis is accompanied by pain, which is most intense in the morning and disappears during the day. With rheumatoid arthritis, the hip joint hurts with lumbago, the temperature inside rises, and muscle stiffness appears.
Burning, persistent pain can be a sign of ankylosing spondylitis and the sensations radiate to the pelvis and sacrum and become stronger at night. The hip joint area hurts in chronic inflammatory diseases: arthritis, gout (not exacerbation).
Diagnosis of diseases.
Treatment of any of these symptoms should begin immediately after diagnosis by an orthopedist, surgeon, or traumatologist. The doctor may suggest damage to the left or right hip joint during the initial examination. During passive flexion and extension, pain, burning sensation appear, movements are limited, and abduction to the sides is especially difficult.
The hip joint lies quite deep, so the main diagnostic methods become instrumental examinations:
- CONNECTICUT;
- magnetic resonance;
- bone scan.
In some cases, it is necessary to carry out additional diagnostic measures. Thus, in case of infectious and purulent processes, a study of the synovial fluid is prescribed. If a malignant tumor is suspected, a biopsy is performed. If the vessels of the hip joint are affected, an ultrasound scan with Doppler ultrasound will be necessary. Before treatment of hip joint pain, a rheumatoid factor test should be performed to rule out rheumatism.
Treatment of hip pain due to injuries and infections.
In babies, congenital dislocation of the hip joint is treated. To do this, they use a Freik pillow and spacers - special orthopedic devices that help keep the legs in the correct position. The duration of treatment can be 6 to 8 months, if it does not help, it will be necessary to perform a surgical reduction of the bone.
In case of hip fracture, surgical treatment is indicated, since conservative measures often do not help. Pins, screws are installed or endoprostheses are made. Only if there are contraindications, bandages are applied to the leg from the waist to the heel. Unfortunately, in old age this rarely leads to fusion of the hip bone and the patient cannot walk or sit normally.
What to do if the hip joint area hurts a lot due to infectious inflammation? In this case, treatment with antibiotics is carried out. Medications are administered as injections, drip, or directly into the hip joint socket. Treatment also involves limiting leg mobility to speed recovery. To relieve symptoms, pain relievers and anesthetics are injected into the joint. For purulent arthritis, surgery is performed to remove abscesses and wash the joint cavity with antibiotics.
Medication measures
The choice of drug treatment methods is made only by a doctor, depending on the type of disease. The pain is usually relieved well with the intake of analgesics, although the sensations usually return quickly. If your leg hurts a lot, it will be necessary to perform blocks with anesthetics in the hip joint area. The treatment of chronic hip pathologies should be carried out with regular cycles of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; only they will eliminate recurrent symptoms, although they will not affect the course of the disease itself. Hormonal medications are usually administered for coxarthrosis, which relieve inflammation and pain for a long time.
Treatment of diseases of the hip joint can be carried out using the following means:
- Muscle relaxants.It is used to reduce muscle spasm, which increases pain.
- Diuretics.Helps relieve severe swelling affecting soft tissues.
- Vitamin preparations.Improves nutrition of the hip joint, accelerates biochemical reactions.
- Chondroprotectors.They replenish chondroitin and glucosamine deficiency and help restore damaged cartilage.
If a child has regular pain in the hip joint and the diagnosis of avascular necrosis is confirmed, the basis of treatment is the intake and injections of vascular drugs. The drugs improve blood microcirculation, metabolism and help tissue regeneration.
Orthopedic devices and physiotherapy.
Treatment of diseases of the hip joint includes the use of orthopedic products. Most often they are used after injuries, when complete or partial immobilization is needed for several weeks or even months. Thus, a rigid fixation orthosis is used for fractures, which, unlike a cast, does not cause irritation or allergies.
If a person has to lie down for a long time, he definitely needs an anti-decubitus mattress. During rehabilitation after an injury, walkers, canes, and crutches are used for support. In case of symphysitis, pregnant women are recommended to wear a pelvic corset with rigid ribs. It is equally important during treatment and as prevention to wear orthopedic shoes that relieve the load on the foot.
Physiotherapy is also indicated to improve the condition of the hip joint. This treatment eliminates symptoms, relieves pain and optimizes blood circulation. During the course of therapy, inflammation decreases, swelling disappears, and the tissue repair process begins. Laser therapy has proven itself: laser rays heat tissue up to 10 cm thick, quickly relieve pain and relieve inflammation.
Other physiotherapy techniques used are:
- electrophoresis;
- darsonval;
- magnetic therapy;
- shock wave therapy;
- balneotherapy;
- microcurrents;
- turpentine baths.
It is also recommended to regularly use a needle applicator at home as it increases blood circulation and helps reduce pain. In the acute phase of the disease it is used for 5 minutes up to 5 times a day, in the chronic phase the time is increased to 20 minutes three times a day.
Traditional treatment for pain in the hip joint.
Traditional medicine can also answer how to treat diseases of the hip joint. Unconventional treatment should be combined with conservative treatment; Otherwise, it will not produce the desired effect. External methods are less effective because the location of this bone joint is very deep. External measures can be applied through massages.
The treatment is carried out as follows:
- mix equal parts of mint, hop cones and St. John's wort;
- pour 100 ml of Vaseline melted in a water bath into a spoon;
- leave in a warm place for 2 days;
- Heat the dough again, strain;
- Apply by rubbing gently with massaging movements.
Baths can be used in the treatment of the hip joint: they quickly relieve pain. A decoction of mint and pine needles (50 g of raw materials per liter of water) is poured into warm water, bathed for 15 minutes, the procedures are repeated every two days and 10 sessions are carried out. You should also take the following pain relievers internally:
- Pour ½ cup of lilac flowers into 250 ml of vodka, leave for 10 days, drink a teaspoon three times a day for 14 days;
- mix a tablespoon of birch kidneys and linden flowers, prepare 300 ml of boiling water, drink 150 ml twice a day for a month;
- Boil 1 kg of beef bones, pour the broth into portioned containers, eat 250 g of this "jelly" per day.
Other treatments
If the hip joint is affected, therapeutic exercises are indicated. The joint of the bones must move, then it will produce a greater volume of intra-articular fluid. As a result, the quality of nutrition and the rate of tissue restoration will increase. The set of exercises is selected individually, it is different for different diseases (depending on the permissible load). At first the number of repetitions is small, then it increases. You should not make sudden movements, as they can provoke a new attack of pain.
In some cases, surgical treatment of the hip joint is required. It is indicated for injuries, advanced forms of coxarthrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, which cause serious bone deformations. They also operate on a limb when abscesses (ulcers) appear in the joint cavity or soft tissues.
The most popular types of operations are:
- endoprostheses;
- installation of pins;
- arthroscopy;
- osteotomy;
- osteosynthesis.
Prevention of joint diseases.
Pain in the hip joint can be prevented if preventive measures are taken in time. It is necessary to avoid serious loads on the femur and joint, protect yourself from impacts, falls and not lift heavy objects. Already at the initial stage, it is necessary to treat any inflammatory diseases in the body, as well as keep vascular problems under control.
Gymnastics, physiotherapy, yoga and swimming will help strengthen the hip joint. It is important to maintain a normal weight so as not to overload the femoral neck and the entire hip joint. To reduce body weight, use a diet that avoids fatty, sweet, floury foods, smoked meats, and salty foods. It is also beneficial for the hip joint to wear preventive bandages, comfortable shoes and insoles. When the first unpleasant symptoms appear, you should immediately consult a doctor and receive timely treatment; This will help avoid surgery.