The hip joint is a large bony joint that connects the femur bone and pelvic bone, 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 joint in the hip area varies - acute and constant, continuous and periodic. Most often, unpleasant sensations occur in people over the age of 50, although they can occur even in children. The causes of hip pain are very different. The most common is coxarthrosis, a degenerative disease with wear and tear of the articular cartilage, where the bones begin to move closer together and become deformed.
Pain in the right and left hip joints may have other causes:
- injuries - fractures, cracks, dislocations;
- connective tissue damage and autoimmune pathology;
- osteochondropathy;
- disorders of skeletal development;
- inflammation.
Sometimes the cause of relatively severe pain is damage to other parts of the body (eg, spine, sacrum, intestines). In this case, treatment should address the underlying problem, only then will the hip joint stop bothering the person.
Injury as a cause of pain
Sharp pain involving 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 "fracture of the femoral neck" is given to women over 60-65 years old, where the cause of osteoporosis is menopause and disorders in the function of hormone-producing organs. If your femoral neck hurts after a fall or bruise, you definitely need to carry out instrumental diagnostics!
A car accident can cause a pertrochanteric femoral fracture. A sharp pain appears in the hip joint when the nerve is pinched.
Also, pain on the right or left side appears against the background:
- bruises on bone joints due to a fall or direct blow;
- traumatic hip dislocation;
- congenital hip dislocation.
Birth injuries and bone deformities during intrauterine development can trigger congenital dislocations. Without treatment, children's legs may have a different length in the future, and coxarthrosis develops earlier.
Cause disease in adults and children
If symptoms recur, or pain in the hip joint becomes chronic, it is often caused by systemic pathology or disease of the hip joint itself.
In addition to coxarthrosis, the hip joint hurts for the following reasons:
Purulent arthritis. Occurs as a result of infection of the thigh 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. This disease occurs mainly 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 linked to heredity or occurs after an injury.Ankylosing spondylitis. Causes inflammatory damage to bone joints, which leads to limited movement due to fusion of the articular cavity.Osteochondritis dissecans of the femur. Hip joint cartilage delaminates, and tissue necrosis often develops.Bursitis and synovitis. In this case, severe pain in the hip joint area is associated with inflammation of the synovial bursa or capsule.
Why does the hip joint hurt on one or both sides, what other reasons are there?
The following diseases may be the cause:
- Reiter's syndrome;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- spinal lesions with radicular syndrome;
- leg, foot, knee deformities;
- enthesopathy.
In pregnant women, the cause of joint pain on the right or left side is often symphysitis - inflammation of the pubic symphysis when the pubic bone deviates. In rare cases, hip joint tumors and gout can trigger symptoms in people.
Pathological symptoms
Symptoms of the disease, as well as treatment procedures, are very different. Pain in the hip joint after a serious injury is strong, sharp, and localized in the thigh area. The surrounding tissue swells, and lameness is noted. The latter, with a slight bruise, disappeared quickly. If there is a dislocation, a fracture, the movement of the leg is limited or impossible.
For a hip fracture, the symptoms are:
- increased pain when moving;
- radiating sensation to the inner surface of the foot;
- swelling, bruising;
- lameness;
- click together;
- 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 painful pain, which is stronger in the morning and disappears during the day. With rheumatoid arthritis, the hip joint hurts with lumbago, the temperature in it rises, and muscle stiffness appears.
Burning and disturbing pain can be a sign of ankylosing spondylitis, and the sensation radiates to the pelvis, sacrum, and becomes stronger at night. The hip joint area hurts in chronic inflammatory diseases - arthritis, gout (not aggravation).
Disease diagnosis
Treatment for any of these symptoms should be started immediately after diagnosis by an orthopedist, surgeon or traumatologist. The doctor will be able to suggest damage to the left or right hip joint during the initial examination. During passive flexion and extension, pain, a burning sensation appears, limited movement, abduction to the side is very difficult.
The hip joint is located relatively deep, so instrumental examination becomes the main diagnostic method:
- CT;
- MRI;
- radiography.
In some cases, it is necessary to carry out additional diagnostic measures. Therefore, in the case of infectious and purulent processes, the study of synovial fluid is prescribed. If a malignant tumor is suspected, a biopsy is performed. If the hip joint canal is affected, ultrasound with Doppler ultrasound will be necessary. Before treatment for pain in the hip joint, a rheumatoid factor test must be performed to rule out rheumatism.
Treatment of hip pain due to injury and infection
In infants, congenital dislocation of the hip joint is treated. To do this, they use Freik pillows and spacers - special orthopedic devices that help keep the legs in the right position. The duration of treatment can be 6-8 months, if it does not help, bone reduction surgery should be done.
For hip fractures, surgical treatment is indicated, as conservative measures often do not help. Pins, screws are installed or endoprosthetics are performed. Only if there are contraindications, bandages are used on the legs from the waist to the heel. Unfortunately, in old age this rarely leads to fusion of the hip bones, and the patient cannot walk or sit normally.
What to do if the hip joint area hurts badly due to infectious inflammation? In this case, treatment with antibiotics is done. Medicines are given as injections, given as drips or directly into the hip joint cavity. Treatment also involves limiting leg mobility to speed recovery. To relieve symptoms, analgesics and anesthetics are injected into the joint. For purulent arthritis, surgery is performed to remove the abscess and wash the joint cavity with antibiotics.
Medication measures
The choice of drug treatment method is only carried out by a doctor, depending on the type of disease. Pain is usually relieved by taking analgesics, although the sensation often returns quickly. If your leg hurts badly and badly, a block with anesthetic should be inserted into the hip joint area. Treatment of chronic hip pathology should be carried out with a regular course of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - only they will eliminate recurring symptoms, although they will not affect the course of the disease itself. For coxarthrosis, hormonal drugs are usually prescribed, which relieve inflammation and pain for a long time.
Treatment of hip joint disease can be done using the following methods:
Relax the muscles. Used to reduce muscle spasms, which increase pain.Diuretic. Helps relieve severe swelling affecting soft tissue.Vitamin preparations. Improves hip joint nutrition, accelerates biochemical reactions.Chondroprotectors. They supplement the lack of chondroitin and glucosamine and help restore damaged cartilage.
If the child often has pain in the hip joint, and the diagnosis of avascular necrosis is confirmed, the basis of treatment is the intake and injection of vascular drugs. The drug improves blood microcirculation, metabolism and helps tissues regenerate.
Orthopedic devices and physical therapy
Treatment for hip joint disease includes the use of orthopedic products. Often it is used after an injury, when complete or partial immobilization is required for several weeks or even months. Therefore, for fractures, a rigid fixation orthosis is used, which, unlike plaster, does not cause irritation and allergies.
If a person has to lie down for a long time, he definitely needs an anti-pain mattress. During recovery after injury, walkers, crutches, and crutches are used for support. With symphysitis, pregnant women are recommended to wear a pelvic corset with rigid ribs. It is equally important during treatment and for prevention to wear orthopedic shoes that relieve the load on the feet.
Physiotherapy is also indicated to improve the condition of the hip joint. This treatment relieves symptoms, relieves pain, and optimizes blood circulation. During course therapy, inflammation decreases, swelling disappears, and the process of tissue repair begins. Laser therapy has proven itself the best - the laser beam heats tissue up to 10 cm thick, relieves pain quickly, and relieves inflammation.
Other physiotherapy techniques used are:
- electrophoresis;
- darsonval;
- magnetic therapy;
- shock wave therapy;
- balneotherapy;
- microcurrent;
- turpentine bath.
It is also recommended to regularly use the needle applicator at home - it improves blood circulation and helps reduce pain. In the acute stage of the disease, it is used for 5 minutes to 5 times a day, in the chronic stage, the time increases to 20 minutes three times a day.
Traditional treatment for pain in the hip joint
Traditional medicine can also answer how to treat hip joint disease. Unconventional treatment must be combined with conservative treatment, otherwise it will not bring the desired effect. External methods are less effective, because the location of this bone articulation is very deep. External steps can be used through sequences.
Treatment is carried out as follows:
- mix equal parts mint, hop cones, St. wort.
- pour 100 ml of Vaseline diluted in a water bath onto the spoon;
- leave in a warm place for 2 days;
- Heat the mass again, filter;
- Apply to rub gently with massaging motions.
Baths can be used in the treatment of hip joints - they quickly relieve pain. A decoction of mint and pine needles (50 g of raw material per liter of water) is poured into warm water, take a bath for 15 minutes, the procedure is repeated every day, 10 sessions are done. You should also take the following pain medications internally:
- Pour ½ cup of purple flowers into 250 ml of vodka, leave for 10 days, drink a teaspoon three times a day for 14 days;
- mix a spoonful of birch buds and linden flowers, brew 300 ml of boiling water, drink 150 ml twice a day for a month;
- boil 1 kg of beef bones, pour the broth into a portion container, eat 250 g of this "jelly" every day.
Other treatments
If the hip joint is affected, therapeutic exercises are indicated. Bone joints must move, then they will produce a larger amount of intra-articular fluid. As a result, the quality of nutrition and tissue recovery rate will increase. Training sets are selected individually; it is different for different diseases (according to the permissible load). At first the number of repetitions is small, after that it increases. You should not make sudden movements - they can trigger 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 severe bone deformation. They also operate on limbs when abscesses (ulcers) appear in joint cavities or in soft tissue.
The most popular types of operations are:
- endoprosthetics;
- pin installation;
- arthroscopy;
- osteotomy;
- osteosynthesis.
Prevention of joint disease
Pain in the hip joint can be avoided if preventive measures are taken in time. It is necessary to avoid serious loads on the femur and joints, protect yourself from impacts, falls, and do not lift heavy objects. Already at the initial stage, it is necessary to treat any inflammatory disease in the body, as well as keep vascular problems under control.
Gymnastics, exercise therapy, yoga, and swimming will help strengthen the hip joint. It is important to maintain a normal body weight so as not to overload the femoral neck and the entire hip joint. To lose weight, use a diet that avoids fatty, sweet, floury, smoked meat 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 see a doctor and receive timely treatment - this will help avoid surgery.