In today's article you will learn what to do if your hip joint hurts.
It is this part of the human body that takes the maximum load when walking and running. Problems in this area can lead to serious complications. Even if the pain is intermittent, appropriate treatment is necessary. In this case, the treatment option should be prescribed by the doctor after the diagnosis is made, since the treatment option entirely depends on the pathology.
Causes of hip pain
First of all, you need to know the causes of the pain.
traumatic causes
If painful syndromes are strongly felt in the joints, the reasons may be:
- Congenital dislocation of the hip that can occur during childbirth. Such damage is most often diagnosed in newborns. This can lead to pinched nerves.
- Traumatic dislocation is accompanied by very severe pain. Hematoma and edema appear over the affected area. This type of injury requires immediate treatment.
- A femoral neck fracture is common in women over 60. The cause of the injury is a fall or hit. Unpleasant sensations are given to the inner thigh area. This disease causes pinched nerves and difficulty walking.
- With a transvertebral fracture of the femur, pain is aggravated by movement. The limbs can become numb and the pain is shooting.
- A bruised hip joint is manifested by moderate pain. In a static state, such signs disappear. In this case, lameness can also occur.
Traumatic injuries are a common problem and cause quite uncomfortable painful sensations. In some cases, surgery is even required.
If you experience numbness, it's important to seek help right away. What the diseased joint looks like can be seen in the photo.
Systemic diseases
With systemic diseases of the connective tissue, pain when walking can occur. An integrated approach is essential for this.
Here are some pathologies that can cause pain:
- Ankylosing spondylitis is accompanied by dull pain. The pain is particularly pronounced at night. The pain is localized in the sacrum or in the pelvis. At the same time, the knees hurt, it shoots, and there may be discomfort in the groin area. A strong inflammatory process occurs in the left and right joints.
- Reiter's syndrome presents with urogenital, conjunctival, and joint problems. There is severe pain and fever.
- Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the connective tissue is damaged. A complication of the disease can be coxarthrosis of the hip joints. At the beginning of the disease, swelling and edema appear. There is discomfort when walking, and the pain gives way to the legs.
- During inflammation, the temperature can rise. The development of the disease causes stiffness of movements.
Systemic pathologies can provoke the appearance of various types of pain. However, it is not always possible to cope with the disease on your own.
If the treatment is wrong, complications will arise.
degenerative changes
With this pathology, the pain is burning, drawing and sharp. They can be provoked by such diseases:
- Epiphyseal viral deformity often occurs during adolescence. The pain has a pulling and dull character. May radiate to the inner knee. After exercise, the pain syndrome intensifies. The joint can click.
- Coxarthrosis is a common disease. It takes a long time to treat such a disease. The disease cannot be started, as it causes the formation of destructive and degenerative processes in the joints.
If the joints began to hurt after a long walk, run or climb stairs, this can be considered the first sign of the disease.
In the next stage, the pain syndrome radiates to the groin and thigh. With daily stress, the intensity of symptoms can increase.
In this case, the work of tendons and muscles is disrupted. In the last stage, pain occurs even at night. The lameness becomes more pronounced and the muscles atrophy. Such pathologies must be treated in a timely manner, otherwise they can lead to permanent lameness.
infectious diseases
Discomfort can be caused by inflammation of the tendons, muscles and joint bag.
Such infectious diseases can provoke painful symptoms:
- Purulent arthritis is manifested by high fever, severe swelling, acute pain and reddening of the skin. Not only some movements are difficult, but also getting out of bed. Pain can shoot. In this case, urgent medical attention is required.
- Necrosis of the femoral head occurs when there is poor blood circulation in this area. This begins the death of tissue cells. Signs of the disease are acute pain that is accompanied by a burning sensation and radiates to the groin. An injection of analgesics is often required to get up again.
- Tubercular arthritis is common in immunocompromised children. This pathology develops slowly. The child gets tired quickly and walks a little. Over time, the joint begins to click and the leg becomes shorter.
- Bursitis is an inflammatory pathology of the articular joints. The main symptom is pain radiating down the leg. Particular discomfort occurs when walking.
Features of the diagnosis of pathology
First you should go to the therapist who will tell you which doctor to go to. The patient is assigned a comprehensive diagnosis.
The following procedures apply:
- ultrasound examination.
- X-ray of the thigh performed in two projections.
- General and biochemical analysis of blood. In this case, the presence of rheumatoid factor is determined by a change in the rate of erythrocyte sedimentation and the level of leukocytes.
- External examination with palpation and questioning of the patient.
- MRI.
After the examination, the doctor will make the exact diagnosis and prescribe a comprehensive treatment.
How to treat pathology
Therapeutic methods are largely determined by the causes that caused the disease.
congenital dislocation
With such a pathology, orthopedic devices such as braces, stirrups or a Freik pillow are applied to the child.
These aids keep the baby's legs in the correct position from a physiological point of view. They are used for at least six months.
In rare cases, when conservative methods do not help, surgery is prescribed. In this case, the femoral head is reduced. Even after removing the orthopedic aids, the baby needs a light massage that strengthens the muscles.
Traumatic dislocation
When such a condition is present, the doctor prescribes medications that help eliminate muscle tone and reset the joint.
It is important to keep the patient calm. If the limbs become numb, this indicates a pinched nerve.
In this case, an examination by a neurologist is required.
hip fracture
In this situation, treatment is carried out by a traumatologist. Most often, an operation is prescribed. If surgical intervention is not possible, a cast is applied from the lower back to the heel.
It should be noted that after 60 years such injuries practically do not grow together.
Bechterew syndrome
With such a disease, complex treatment is prescribed, which allows you to reduce the symptoms of inflammatory processes.
Therapy includes:
- Drugs - hormonal, immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory compounds.
- Therapeutic exercises - muscle stretching.
- Physiotherapeutic procedures.
- The right and left joints are massaged.
All exercises and preparations should be selected by a traumatologist, surgeon or orthopedist. To strengthen the pelvic muscles, you need to practice swimming.
If the case is severe, the patient may be prescribed an arthroplasty.
Reiter's disease
To treat this pathology, anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticosteroids and drugs that suppress the functioning of the immune system are used.
The treatment lasts about 4 months.
Such a pathology may recur in the future. You also need to maintain tone with the help of exercises - stretching.
Rheumatoid arthritis
This disease is considered very common. Every hundredth person suffers from it. At the same time, women are more prone to it than men. This is because the structure of the pelvic bones changes during pregnancy.
The main symptom of the disease is pain and stiffness when walking.
Treatment with hormonal drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cytostatics is used.
Exercise, stretch marks, and topical ointments are particularly effective. Surgical intervention is used in the last stages of the disease, when it is impossible to walk and sit.
At the same time, endoprosthetics and fixation of the joints are recommended. After the operation, there is a reduction in pain symptoms, improved mobility and the prevention of possible complications.
coxarthrosis
Corxarthrosis is a disease that causes problems with the hyaline cartilage.
It is most common in older people. A variety of measures and procedures are used in the treatment. It can be both medication and surgery. First, a course of medication is prescribed, and if it is not effective, surgery is prescribed. In the early stages, the disease is treated using conservative methods.
Chondroprotectors, NSAIDs, as well as means to improve blood flow are prescribed. For treatment, warming and analgesic ointments, as well as therapeutic exercises can be used.
In some cases, the joint may need to be numbed. If the symptoms are severe, injections are used. If the stage is the last, the coxarthrosis cannot be treated.
At the same time, any load will only worsen your well-being, and even getting out of bed will cause pain. In such a situation, only surgical treatment will help.
Endoprosthesis replacement is often used, but this method is not used for the elderly. After the operation, recovery procedures and simple exercise are required, but under the supervision of a doctor.
The load must be minimal.
Treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases
You need to know how to treat infectious pathologies. With such problems, treatment is prescribed by a doctor.
Therapeutic methods depend on the type of disease:
- In the case of purulent arthritis, it is first necessary to numb the affected hip joint. In this case, an analgesic injection is used. Antibiotics and antibacterial agents are used to fight infections. Abscess removal is also used. In this case, a splint or plaster is applied.
- In order to heal the aseptic necrosis of the femoral head, it is necessary to restore blood flow so that the dead areas are restored. It is necessary to anesthetize with the help of NSAIDs. Complexes with vitamins and agents for reducing blood viscosity are actively used. If the thigh begins to hurt, you need to use an anesthetic composition and massage it. Remedial gymnastics and physiotherapeutic procedures are also used. If the case is complex, joint arthroplasty and surgical methods are used.
- In the case of bursitis, the joint can be very painful, so it should be numbed. In this case, anti-inflammatory compounds and analgesics are used. In the case of severe symptoms, steroids are relevant.
- Tubercular arthritis is treated conservatively. The mobility of the joints is restricted by a special tight bandage. If an abscess has formed in the soft tissues, it is surgically removed.
treatment at home
Please no self-medication. Consult a doctor!
Folk remedies are an addition to the main treatment, but do not replace it. There are several ways to treat arthritis or osteoarthritis.
It should be borne in mind that all folk methods only help to drown out the painful symptoms, but do not help dramatically.
Here are some recipes:
- A horseradish compress is applied to the affected areas. To do this, the roots should be grated, and then boiled in warm water. After that, the compress is applied to the affected areas.
- cabbage treatment. This vegetable has long been used to relieve joint and bone pain. A compress can be made from leaves or cabbage juice. Juice can be squeezed using a juicer or from crushed leaves. The tissue is soaked in juice and applied to the affected area. Honey can be applied to the leaves and placed on the affected area overnight.
- An oatmeal compress is made like this. First, porridge is boiled in a small amount of water, and then placed in gauze. The compress is applied to the affected area.
- Grind the eggshell and mix it with kefir. The mixture is wrapped in linen or gauze, and then applied to the sore spot.
With arthritis, special solutions and decoctions are prepared for drinking. It is recommended to take apple cider vinegar several times a day.
In this case, a spoonful of the solution is added to a glass of water.
Do not use the composition in case of stomach problems.
A broth made from bay leaf is also useful. Half a pack should be taken in a pot of water. Then the brew should be filtered and drunk before going to bed.
They can be treated with the help of various juices. Beetroot, carrot, and other vegetable juice options are particularly effective.
With the right and quick treatment, you can cope with any illness.
The main thing is not to give up, but to follow all the recommendations of the doctor and, if possible, do therapeutic exercises.