What Is Causing Your Hip Pain?
Hip pain is a common complaint that can be caused by a wide variety of problems. The precise location of your hip pain can provide valuable clues about the underlying cause.
The hip joint is made up of two bones: the pelvis and the femur (the thighbone). It is the largest ball-and-socket joint in your body. The“ball” is the rounded end of the femur (also called the femoral head). The “socket” is a concave depression in the lower side of the pelvis (also called the acetabulum). The femoral head fits into the acetabulum to form the hip joint. This hip anatomy allows for a lot of motion within the joint — for instance, walking, running, and climbing.
Problems within the hip joint itself tend to result in pain on the inside of your hip or your groin. Hip pain on the outside of your hip, upper thigh or outer buttock is usually caused by problems with muscles, ligaments, tendons and other soft tissues that surround your hip joint.
Symptoms associated with hip pain depend on the cause.
Symptoms include
– Limping
– Joint pain
– groin pain
– Loss of motion of the hip
– Warmth
– swelling over the hip
– tenderness of the hip
– difficulty sleeping on the hip
What conditions cause hip pain?
Hip Arthritis
The smooth and glistening covering (articular cartilage) on the ends of your bones that helps your hip joint glide may wear thin, causing hip arthritis.
Hip Bursitis
Bursitis is caused by inflammation of a bursa, a small jelly-like sac that usually contains a small amount of fluid. They act as cushions between bones and the overlying soft tissues, and help reduce friction between the gliding muscles and the bone.
Hip Revision
Surgery that is performed to repair an artificial hip joint (prosthesis) that has been damaged over time due to an infection, or due to normal wear and tear of the prosthetic hip.
Hip Fractures
A hip fracture is a break in the upper quarter of the femur (thigh) bone.
Femoral Fractures
A break in the thigh bone can occur anywhere along the bone and can range from small cracks to a full break that allows the bone to separate.
Hip pain can be intimidating. Some conditions that cause hip pain are more serious than others and that’s why it’s important to not self-diagnose and seek treatment from a physician. Our experienced physicians will help you move better, so you can live your life in full motion. Make your appointment today!
